(WACO, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Building Construction program added this fall a second associate degree track aimed at commercial construction management.
The associate degree is offered at the Harlingen and Waco campuses.
Students pursuing the commercial or residential tracks take many of the same classes, such as Residential and Light Commercial Construction Drawings and Construction Site Safety and Health. Commercial track students are taking four additional classes: Construction Materials and Methods I and II, Commercial/Industrial Blueprint Reading and Concrete II.
Rick Vargas, TSTC’s director of alignment for the statewide Building Construction program, said students on the commercial side needed to learn about advanced concrete construction for beams, columns and tilt-wall panels along with metal stud framing.
“The capstone course will continue to be Construction Management II which shows our students in the project manager’s role in the construction industry, including bidding, cost and schedule management and how to communicate effectively,” Vargas said.
The Texas Workforce Commission’s Texas Wages and Employment Projections predict there will be a need for more than 91,000 construction managers by 2034, with more than 7,300 annual openings. There will be a need for more than 110,000 first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers by the middle of the next decade, with more than 8,700 projected annual openings.
Joey Trevino, executive director of the Rio Grande Valley chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America in Harlingen, said construction companies have been busy with commercial projects throughout the region focusing on liquified natural gas, retail and aeronautics.
“The (Rio Grande) Valley has been a gem that no one has ever noticed, and I have always tried to promote it,” he said. “If you come to the Valley, and you start a business or expand here, you will do well, especially in the construction and development field.”
Construction data from the city of Harlingen’s Planning and Development Department shows commercial growth. In 2025, the city had 37 new commercial projects valued at more than $134.6 million and 71 additions and remodels to commercial properties valued at more than $1.2 million. As of September 2026, the city has had 16 new commercial projects valued at more than $12.2 million and 53 additions and remodels to commercial properties totaling more than $4.8 million.
Trevino said project managers and site superintendents are in real need now in the region to keep the momentum going. He said more women are needed in the field for their expertise.
“What we need to do is encourage younger folks to go into the trades and go into the industry and get certified and get their experience,” he said.
The city of Waco’s Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report touted the opening in early 2025 of the $18 million Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Distribution Center and Graphic Packaging International’s opening of its recycled paperboard facility.
Grayson Huskey, president and CEO of the Central Texas chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America in Waco, cited the Waco Downtown Redevelopment Project for building excitement about the possibilities along the Brazos River. The project includes the under-construction Barron’s Branch District along with a future Ballpark District, Mary Avenue District and Waco Square District.
“Right now, folks are staying busy,” Huskey said. “Waco is kind of a hotspot in the Central Texas area. It seems like every day when I look at bid lists or those turning in bids on projects, there are new contractors I have not heard of.”
Huskey said the regional chapter works to get in front of students as young as middle school age to encourage them to think about the construction industry. The chapter has also partnered with the Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy and with TSTC on curriculum development.
“There is always that stigma or stereotype that it (the construction field) is not glamorous for jobs, but there are a lot of other fields to pursue such as construction management, architectural design, drones,” Huskey said. “There are other kinds of cool things that are happening in the industry.”
Registration continues for the spring semester at TSTC. For more information, go to tstc.edu.