Jaynes Millwork Sponsors SkillsUSA New Mexico Leadership and Skills Conference

Given the long-standing skills and labor shortage in construction, Jaynes is doing all it can to help grow and develop the next generation of skilled workers. Jaynes has focused on supporting career and technical education (CTE) programs in the Southwest. Our continued support as an Industry Partner of Ace Leadership High School is one example of backing regional CTE efforts. Another more recent example is our sponsorship of SkillUSA’s annual New Mexico State Leadership and Skills Conference. For Jaynes, this was a perfect opportunity to support CTE efforts locally to help develop the next generation of rising stars in the skilled trades.

SKILLUSA’S 2025 NEW MEXICO STATE LEADERSHIP AND SKILLS CONFERENCE

In this statewide competition, held March 27- 29 in Albuquerque, over 1,200 high school and college students, instructors, and business sponsors gathered to celebrate healthy scholastic competition and the education of young people preparing for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. It’s a valuable opportunity for high school and college students to showcase their talents and skills.

Hosted by Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), competitors in over 60 career and technical education classes, ranging from culinary arts to cabinetmaking, were competing to advance to the SkillsUSA prestigious national competition. Jaynes Structures Millwork sponsored this conference and provided the judges and material kit for the cabinetmaking competition.

In the cabinetmaking competition, competitors received instructions on entrance into the CNM’s cabinetrymaking workshop. The assignment was to build a piece of cabinetry using drawings and the supplied project materials. The competitors were expected to analyze the drawings provided, create a cut list, and prepare the project parts using various state-of-the-art tools available in CNM’s well-appointed cabinetry workshop – drills, hinge boring machines, hand tools, and table and miter saws. Judges from Jaynes Structures would later inspect competitors’ finished products with an eye on the accuracy of assembly, specified in the drawings, and a number of other criteria.

Andrew Sisneros, Jaynes Director of Millwork Operations, judging at the SkillsUSA Cabinetmaking competition

Andrew Sisneros, Director of Millwork Operations at Jaynes and a SkillsUSA NM Board of Directors member, was part of the Jaynes team of judges. Miquel Acosta and Jermaine Jim, rising journeymen carpenters at Jaynes Structures, were also judges.

THE SKILLSUSA TALENT PIPELINE

Andrew Sisneros emphasized the value of volunteering for SkillsUSA and the importance of their mission and messaging. “The talent shortage in construction is severe, and SkillsUSA is important in refuting the outdated concepts that a career in construction is low-tech, without a defined or fulfilling career path, that’s not creative, that’s low-paying. Entry-level careers in construction now pay the equivalent of entry-level jobs that require a college degree. And from my perspective, without that college debt, I see many young employees at Jaynes move quickly into financial self-reliance. I see motivated employees grow into more senior-level positions and create great careers and lives for themselves. SkillsUSA helps educate young people on potential career paths, and gets accurate info out on career choices better than any organization I’ve seen.”

THE SKILLSUSA COMPETITION

Preparation for the SkillsUSA New Mexico state competitions began in classrooms across New Mexico months ago. Local competitions at high schools and colleges across NM determined the competitors.

SkillsUSA is a nonprofit association serving middle-school, high-school, and college students and their teachers. Founded in 1965, it has supported more than 12.5 million members since. Organized into more than 19,000 school chapters and state and territorial associations, its central mission is to help young people develop personal, technical, and workplace skills—to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders, and responsible citizens.

SkillsUSA focuses on Career and Technical Education (CTE) and helps educate students in more than 130 occupational areas, including architecture, law enforcement, information technology, and construction. 31 million people, one quarter of America’s workforce, are employed in one of the 130 occupational market segments served by SkillsUSA.

The SkillsUSA curriculum focuses on workplace skills such as communication, decision-making, teamwork, and leadership. On the CTE side, it focuses on technical skills, computer and technical literacy, job-specific skills, and professional development.

The competition at SkillsUSA does not end at the state level. Just like the recent March Madness NCAA basketball tournament, winners at the state level head on to the next bracket. Each state holds a competition, and all state-level gold medalists from each competition category move on to represent their state at the National Skills and Leadership Conference in Atlanta this summer. This National competition offers employers a chance to speak (and often offer jobs) to promising, skilled potential employees motivated about careers in their specialization.  

SkillsUSA’s mission is critically important in the construction industry, where there has been a well-documented shortage of skilled workers and labor. But other trade skills are represented in SkillsUSA’s mission, from automobile maintenance, crime scene investigation, and cabinetmaking, to paramedic and EMT first responder skills.

Judge’s scorecard for the Cabinetmaking Competition at 2025 SkillsUSA

THE CABINETMAKING COMPETITION

The competitive grading was strict in the cabinetmaking competition, applying formulas jointly developed by SkillsUSA experts and Jaynes.

Judges graded categories including the competitor’s layout skills, oral interview, measurements, machine skills, safety, neatness, finished product, and valuable soft skills from the SkillsUSA professional development test, most importantly presentation skills and resume quality.

In addition to hosting the event, CNM also fielded student competitors. CNM’s CTE programs, especially Cabinetmaking, are strong. And their results backed that up. In the college-level cabinetmaking competition, CNM swept the podium.

SKILLSUSA NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY CABINETMAKING COMPETITION WINNERS

• Gold: Caleb Cooper
• Silver: Ian Leslie
• Bronze: Victoria Fernandez

SKILLSUSA NEW MEXICO HIGH SCHOOL CABINETMAKING COMPETITION WINNERS

• Gold: Lane Roberts, Carlsbad High School (Go Cavemen!)
• Silver: Travis Williams, Gallup Central High School (Go Wildcats!)
• Bronze: Kyrah Keeto, Gallup High School (Go Bengals!)

Congratulations to all competitors and winners. Competitors, think you nailed it at the millwork competition? Submit your resumes to Andrew Sisneros at Jaynes for job and internship opportunities today! Best of luck to Caleb Cooper and Lane Roberts as they go on to compete at the SKILLSUSA national competition in Atlanta in June.

Check out SkillsUSA for more information on their amazing mission to further career and technical education.