Media Release - June 13, 2007

Jace Albrecht may be asking his dad for a raise.

Jace Albrecht with his father Gux Albrecht

The 20-year-old Okanagan College Carpentry Apprentice is now back at work at his father’s company, Gux Construction, after winning the Skills Canada Competition held in Saskatoon this past weekend.

“I am proud of myself,” says Albrecht. “To be honest, I didn’t find the project that difficult. After all, that is what I am trained to do.”

Ask the eight competitors who didn’t even finish the project in the allowable time and they might have a different take on the task. Of the 12 competitors, Albrecht was one of four who finished the project. He did so with time to spare and according to the judges, did it better than anyone else.

“Jace is an excellent carpenter,” says instructor Don Campbell, who accompanied Albrecht to the competition. “Now he has proven he is not only the best in BC but he is the best in Canada.”

Albrecht qualified for the competition after winning the BC Skills Competition held in Abbotsford in April. He earned the right to compete at Skills Canada where the project was more time intensive and complex.

Competitors were given 13 hours to build a children’s playhouse from blueprints to completion. They were allowed half an hour at the beginning of the competition to study the design and ask any questions they might have. On the first day of competition the carpenters were given 7.5 hours to build. The next day they began at 8 a.m. and worked through until the time was up. Albrecht finished his project early on the second day, which gave him time to go back and fix anything that he thought could be improved upon. After checking his work and touching everything up, Albrecht was finished in 11 hours and seven minutes.

“I decided to build my project from the bottom to the top so that I didn’t have to go back and forth and waste time,” explains Albrecht. “I also cut all of the pieces I would need ahead of time and then assembled everything rather than cutting piece by piece. I think that definitely saved me some time.”

At the awards ceremony Albrecht received the gold medal for Carpentry -- the first Carpentry student from the College to win gold at the national competition -- and was also awarded the Best of Region award for delivering the top score of all competitors from the BC contingent at the competition. 

“That was a surprise,” says Albrecht. “I think there were about 35 different competitors representing BC in different events.”

While he is happy with his results and proud of the title, Albrecht is mostly appreciative of the support he has received throughout the process.

“I have to say thanks to the College,” says Albrecht. “They paid my way to the competition and that was a big help.”

Also supporting Albrecht was his wife, who never misses a competition, his instructor Don Campbell and Trans Canada Lumber. The Westside supplier paid for Albrecht’s wife to attend the national event and outfitted him with all of the tools he needed for the competition.

“Jace is a prime example of the quality of our students at Okanagan College and we are extremely proud of him,” says John Haller, Dean of Trades and Apprenticeship. “He has certainly capitalized on the ability to blend excellent instruction with industry support and practical job training. Learning under these circumstances is what makes our students the best.”

Albrecht will continue working at Gux Construction until January when he will complete the final six weeks of his Apprentice training at Okanagan College.