College works with private construction companies on class project

RIVER FALLS — Chippewa Valley Technical College’s Residential Construction program has a new construction manager for its annual home building project in the River Falls area.

Todd and Tami Kucera of Lund Builders in River Falls admit, though, that River Falls Instructor Justin Borgwardt and Program Director Brian Barth are handling the day-to-day management as well as the instruction and supervision of the students, just as they have always done. What brought Lund Builders into the picture is a partnership in which CVTC works with a private construction company that owns the project and will sell the home when completed.

Adam Wehling, dean of agriculture, energy and transportation at CVTC, said the program had been building houses on its own previously. CVTC would buy the land, order supplies, hire subcontractors, and sell the home to recoup costs.

“We would do everything, even act as a real estate agent in selling the home,” Barth said.

Wehling noted that a few years ago, CVTC had partnerships with the Chippewa County Housing Authority and Lyman Lumber that took some of the pressure off the CVTC program leaders. The arrangements worked out well, so the college has turned back to active partnerships in a more comprehensive fashion. “It’s better to partner with someone so the college doesn’t carry the financial risk,” Wehling said, explaining that if the housing market turned volatile, there would be no guarantee CVTC would get its investment back, leaving taxpayers to absorb the loss. “Our partnerships continue to evolve. This is a good one that’s working well right now.”

“The partnership benefits Lund and the CVTC program,” said Tami Kucera. “It supports the industry by bringing in the next generation of builders. And it frees up our workers for other projects.”

“Partnering with CVTC for the last two years building twin homes has been great for our company and CVTC,” said Cody Filipczak, owner of C& M Home Builders, the program’s partner in Eau Claire. “It allows us to build another property we wouldn’t be able to otherwise, and it gives CVTC the opportunity to build two properties in one. It is a win-win for both of us, and hopefully we can continue the partnership going forward.”

“There’s a whole lot less risk and less on my and CVTC’s shoulders,” Barth said. “Justin at the River Falls program and I can concentrate on teaching and managing the house projects.”

Borgwardt feels the partnerships are good for students, too.

“It provides more opportunities for the students to learn different methods and techniques,” he said. “For example, in the Eau Claire area, drywall finishing is usually finished with an orange peel texture, but in River Falls it tends to be flat. It can vary from region to region or between different contractors.”

Borgwardt added that it’s also good for the students to see how a contractor like Lund works with their subcontractors.

In Eau Claire, CVTC is working directly with Matthew Schumacher, a 2010 graduate of the program who has been with C& M for a decade. Seeing how he has succeeded as a graduate shows current students what’s possible for them.

“The partnership helps us at C& M, too,” Schumacher said. “It provides future employees and helps us build more homes.”

“The CVTC Residential Construction program is very important for our industry,” Filipczak said. “There is a large labor shortage right now which is having a big effect on housing prices and timing. A lot of our best carpenters graduated from CVTC. The program has benefited our company greatly and has also benefited a lot of students who now have good jobs.”

Submitted by Chippewa Valley Technical College

Photo courtesy of CVTC