Jesse Godsey credits Laurel Ridge Community College’s Construction Project Management course with catapulting him to career success.
He took the class through the college’s Workforce Solutions division in fall 2025. Godsey had been in the construction industry for about four years when he enrolled in the program, which qualifies for both Workforce Credential Grant funding as a FastForward program and G3 funding. The former covers two-thirds the cost of tuition, while G3 picks up any remaining costs for eligible students.
Prior to working in the construction field, Godsey, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, had done electrical and avionics work on helicopters, but had no formal education when it came to construction.
“I was trying to get some official training, some official education on construction project management outside of the jump-in-headfirst-and-learn-how-to-swim method,” he said. “I chose Laurel Ridge because it’s a good location – I live in Front Royal. Also, someone I respected a lot in the industry, Bill Potempa, was the instructor.
Godsey worked in construction business development, rather than hands-on building, for a construction service provider. It was an enjoyable field to be in, but he wanted a little more.
“My big complaint was I never got to see a project through from start to finish,” he said. “I wanted to be involved in building something from the beginning all the way through to the end of the project.”
The chief benefits of the Construction Project Management course were discovering the importance of scheduling, understanding and tracking costs, and learning how to effectively communicate with various groups of people, according to Godsey.
“I liked the course a lot,” he said. “There was a lot of really good in-depth information on how a small change or a small skill can have a butterfly effect, creating a much larger influence on a project’s budget or outcome.”
Jesse Godsey working at construction site.
A lesson on various leadership styles was especially impactful.
“One of the biggest things I took away from it was learning to meet people where they are,” Godsey said. “You have to adjust how you lead based on someone’s experience, confidence and ability. You can’t manage everybody exactly the same way. I use that in my day to day.”
Just a year and a half ago, Godsey was beginning his career in construction management as an assistant project manager.
“Typically, it can easily take five to seven years to progress from an entry-level project management role to becoming a project manager,” he said. “In about a year and a half, I went from being completely new to construction management, to being promoted to project manager.
“A lot of what I learned in the Construction Project Management course at Laurel Ridge, I apply directly to how I manage my projects today. The course helped give me a foundation that would otherwise have taken years of experience to develop, and it’s had a huge impact on my ability to succeed and progress as quickly as I have.”
Students who successfully complete the program earn a credential from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). According to Career Coach powered by Lightcast Data, there is projected 12-percent growth for construction managers in this region, with a median hourly wage of $47.
The next class starts Sept. 21, and meets Monday and Thursday evenings until Dec. 7, at the Middletown Campus. It will be offered at the Fauquier Campus starting March 15. Learn more by visiting https://laurelridgeworkforce.com/ or calling 540-868-7021.