Washington, D.C. – May 26, 2020 – North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and its signatory contractor associations who operate the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment and Veterans Employment (CMRAVE) are thrilled to welcome David Porter as the new Executive Director for its Helmets to Hardhats program.

Porter joins Helmets to Hardhats from the United Association (UA) Veterans in Piping program (VIP), where he served as Lead Instructor aboard MCB Camp Lejeune. He has over a decade of experience in training, management, human resources, marketing and recruitment.

“David’s unique experience at the intersection of building trades and military recruitment and apprenticeship training will help take Helmets to Hardhats to greater heights,” said Sean McGarvey, the president of NABTU. “His ideas and passion for expanding H2H’s reach and impact in recruitment and training will be crucial as this CMRAVE program continues to grow and innovate in the coming years.”

Porter has worked extensively in building trades’ training and veteran recruitment including developing a national veteran apprenticeship training course for instructor programs. He worked as a foreman in the field, a project manager for signatory contractors and served as a joint labor-management apprenticeship training coordinator. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and completed a five-year registered apprenticeship with the UA.

“I am excited to join CMRAVE, and to build upon the years of work the leadership has done to help transition veterans into successful construction careers,” Porter said. “I love helping to provide more quality union training and career opportunities for the brave men and women who have served our country, because it is the right thing to do and these are exactly the kind of people we want and need in the building trades.”

Since starting his new position in March, Porter has already expanded the CMRAVE team by adding Rickey Fabra as the South Regional Manager and Kaitlyn Seger as Marketing Assistant. He succeeds Darrell Roberts, who departed the organization after thirteen successful years to become the Director of Organizing at SMART. Porter currently resides in North Carolina with his wife Shannon and their two children.

###

Press Contacts: Kaitlyn Seger, CMRAVE, kseger@helmetstohardhats.org; Betsy Barrett, NABTU, bbarrett@nabtu.org

About NABTU: North America’s Building Trades Unions is an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry that collectively represent over 3 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada. Each year, our unions and our signatory contractor partners invest over $1.6 billion in private-sector money to fund and operate over 1,900 apprenticeship training and education facilities across North America that produce the safest, most highly trained, and productive, skilled craft workers found anywhere in the world. NABTU is dedicated to creating economic security and employment opportunities for its construction workers by safeguarding wage and benefits standards, promoting responsible private capital investments, investing in renowned apprenticeship and training, and creating pathways to the middle class for women, communities of color and military veterans in the construction industry. For more information, please visit www.nabtu.org, and to learn more about the building trades efforts during this pandemic, please follow the hashtag #buildingtradeswhateverittakes.

About CMRAVE/H2H: Helmets to Hardhats (H2H) is a national program that connects veterans, transitioning active-duty military service members, National Guard and Reservists with skilled training and quality career opportunities in the construction industry. The program was created by the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment and Veterans Employment, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, joint labor-management driven entity.  The program is designed to help military service members successfully transition back into civilian life by offering them the means to secure a quality career in the construction industry. Over the last seventeen years Helmets to Hardhats has built a solid network of relationships and communication lines that are unique and invaluable to our nations’ veterans, transitioning active-duty service members, National Guard and Reservists. In this time H2H has helped over 36,000 military service members find quality careers and training in the construction industry. Please visit www.helmetstohardhats.org for more information.