TAMPA, Fla. — Operating heavy machinery, being the king of the construction site and making six figures doing something fun — what's there not to love?
“I never really knew what I wanted to do until this opportunity came up,” said teenager Bradley Smith, who loves being a crane operator.
The recent high school grad from Ocala is enrolled in Tampa’s Sims University, which is reaching out to young men and women in the Tampa Bay area for careers in crane operation.
“College isn’t for everybody,” said Sims University’s Dean Sims. “The average crane operator makes about $30 an hour in wages. But with benefits, health and welfare, retirement, it’s actually a $50 an hour package.”
Students are paid to attend a 16-week course in crane operation.
“Everything on a construction site depends on the crane to help load and move materials around the site,” says Sims.
