For nearly a decade, NEWB has completely redefined PEs’ and Sr. PEs’ idea of a hard day’s work by pulling them far from the comforts of the office and throwing them into the grind of the field.
The five-day crash course in all things Webcor Craft includes daily lessons and demonstrations with our concrete, drywall, and carpentry experts; insightful lunchtime discussions with Webcor executives; and team collaboration like they’ve never experienced before.
Each year, NEWBs are expected to build their assigned structure/s with their teammates by the end-of-week deadline. The field exposure is priceless—and humbling. Aside from instilling a level of appreciation for craft professionals that can only be understood through firsthand experience, NEWB gives participants a chance to see how their work (and mistakes) in the office influences what plays out in the field.
“It’s a very eye-opening experience,” says Project Engineer Yessica Mares Barriga, who went through NEWB this year. “As PEs, it’s difficult for us to understand just how much work goes into building something. It’s a great chance to actually be ‘bags-on’ and work outside instead of behind a screen writing RFIs and submitting submittals.”
This year’s NEWB leaders were Parker Jones and Jordan Davis, two SPEs who completed the program last summer at UCSF Health Helen Diller Hospital’s prefabrication yard.
The prefab yard setting left little opportunity for permanent in-place work—something Jordan and Parker were determined to incorporate in this year’s program. Fortunately, this year's location offered plenty of flexibility for NEWB’s leaders and mentors to plan activities that would immerse participants in hands-on building while leaving behind something beneficial for the project:
Monday: Layout, Formwork, & Concrete Pad Pours with Curbs
Tuesday: Layout & Framing
Wednesday: Drywall
Thursday: Doors, Frames, Hardware, & Curb Chipping
Friday: Picnic Tables
There’s no doubt that the mornings were about working hard, typically starting with a team huddle at 6 a.m. before transitioning to the day’s workload. But the evenings were about playing hard.
As any NEWB graduate will tell you, you don’t just end the week with hands-on field exposure, a heightened appreciation for craft professionals, and a new perspective on the impact of your work in the office; you also leave with friendships. Few experiences bond Webcor PEs and Sr. PEs quite like the universal exhaustion, confusion, frustration, and massive learning curve inherent in NEWB.
“Jordan, the NEWB mentors, and I all felt that the relationships we built during our NEWB weeks were the most meaningful takeaway,” Parker says. “With that in mind, we made sure this year’s program balanced challenging, rewarding work with space for after-work activities so NEWBs could spend time together outside of work.” “Jordan and I hope the NEWBs walked away with a greater appreciation for the craft and skill behind trade work, as well as real connections with their PE class. Most importantly, we hope they had fun.”
