Crews are still busy as summer days shorten.(Construction work in the Buffalo area)(Statistical Data Included)

The area's building trades and contractors remain busy thanks to school projects in the Southern Tier and construction of the new General Motors engine plant in Tonawanda.

Factor in a $3 million modification at the University at Buffalo, cleaning up the Pfohl Brothers Landfill, and general road construction and you have steady work well into winter.

"New construction-is very important to us, but so is modernization-and retrofitting," said Dan Boody, president of the Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council. "They are very labor intense projects that will require lots of work."

Boody said despite a recent construction boom, the trades were struggling just five years ago.

"We missed out on opportunities in this portion of the state while other areas were profiting," he said. "We were struggling to maintain what we had with some growth but that has changed."

The council has prepared a curriculum that focuses on skilled trades with hands-on experience for students who elect not to go to college. …