DENVER (AP) Ed Carpenter moves through a maze of construction in the heart of T-REX — past grunting big rigs and rumbling cranes — to get to one of his work crews.
“How is work going?” he yells in Spanish — a greeting few supervisors along this project could say without language classes offered by their employer, Southeast Corridor Constructors.
They aren’t alone. A growing number of businesses across Colorado are offering their employees language classes, specifically Spanish, to close the language gap.
The reason: Colorado’s Spanish-speaking work force — those between ages 18 and 64 — has increased nearly fivefold since 1990 to about 100,000 people today.
The number will undoubtedly continue to grow, especially as the state’s Hispanic population rises from about 802,000 to 1 million within the next seven years.
“There’s no single group that has made a greater labor contribution to the state of Colorado in the last 10 years,” said Sal Gomez, of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “(The trend) symbolizes ... the importance of this work force.”
Along T-REX — the 19-mi. (30.5 km) construction project on Interstates 25 and 225 — about 75 of the 500 craftsmen speak Spanish.
Southeast Corridor Constructors decided there were enough Spanish-only speakers to justify language classes for those who couldn’t communicate effectively with the workers, said Karen Morales, project spokeswoman.
So last year, the contractor hired Workplace Language Programs, which provides English and Spanish classes, to offer Spanish instruction twice a week for 10 weeks.
In the case of T-REX, lessons are keyed to the construction industry. For instance, when teaching construction supervisors, the language company’s founder, Jeanette Castillo, focuses on words such as “casco” for hard hat, “guantes de seguridad” for safety gloves and “la grua” for crane.
About a dozen of the project’s 75 supervisors have taken the classes, which will likely be offered a few more times through the life of T-REX, which is to be completed in 2006, Morales said.
Southeast Corridor’s goal is to improve job-site communication and safety, said Carpenter, who learned Spanish several years ago but took the course to polish his skills.
On a recent day, Carpenter used his Spanish skills to give a crew directions on how to cut a massive concrete panel while they stood on a cherry picker several feet in the air.
He was able to tell the Spanish-speaking workers how to make the cut and what safety items they needed to wear for protection — chaps, gloves, hard hats and masks.
Bobby Herrera oversees a Spanish-speaking crew for a construction company that’s on contract to do work along T-REX.
“This is needed to make sure the job gets done right,” Herrera said of the ability to speak some Spanish.
The language skills go deeper than job-site direction — they’ve also helped build relationships between supervisors and workers.
“They come out here and talk to us about our families,” said Jose Corales, a laborer who migrated from the Mexican province of Michoacan and speaks only Spanish. “It shows they care.”
At Denver International Airport, where 25,000 people work, city officials saw the need for classes about three years ago.
Spanish speakers are now a significant part of the airport’s work force, but the exact number is unclear because most work for contractors, officials said.
About 100 people have taken the courses so far, and the city’s Department of Aviation, which oversees the airport, will continue offering language lessons every quarter, said Mary Jo Snell, manager of training and organizational development.
The classes have helped communication and overall productivity, specifically in construction and maintenance, she said.
Ultimately, she believes companies that offer such courses to their employees will have an advantage over others.
Castillo’s Workplace Language Programs was started in the 1990s with a handful of contracts. Today, her business has blossomed to include four other teachers and contracts with Southeast Corridor Constructors, the Department of Aviation and hotel chains.
“There’s a great need for supervisors to know the language,” said Castillo, who operated a similar business for 25 years in Venezuela. “The biggest problem out there is communication.”
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