Acquisition combines Digital Tools and AI to address $30B labor Inefficiency and the workforce shortage challenge.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Lumber, the leading construction workforce management platform, announced its acquisition of BuilderFax, a digital credential management platform for construction craft workers. This move integrates BuilderFax’s specialized credential wallet with Lumber’s AI-powered suite, creating a first-of-its-kind solution to address critical workforce challenges and empower skilled craft professionals in advancing their careers.
This integration comes at a pivotal time as the U.S. construction industry faces a significant skilled labor shortage. FMI Corporation’s 2023 Labor Productivity Study highlights the urgency, revealing that U.S. contractors incurred losses up to $40 billion in 2022 alone due to labor inefficiencies. The combined power of Lumber and BuilderFax directly tackles this issue by providing construction companies with instantly verifiable workforce qualification data while offering craft workers free access to digital tools that securely store, track, and share their certifications and qualifications.
“After 45 years in construction, I founded BuilderFax to give skilled craft workers ownership of their professional achievements and credentials,” said Kirk Samuelson, founder of BuilderFax and former Senior Vice President at Kiewit Corporation. “By joining Lumber’s AI-powered platform, we’re creating a comprehensive solution that helps companies operate efficiently while empowering workers to build sustainable careers. This integrated approach directly addresses our industry’s pressing labor challenges by improving retention and reducing turnover across the construction sector.”
Shreesha Ramdas, CEO and Co-founder of Lumber, emphasized the critical timing of the acquisition. “This acquisition comes at a critical moment for America’s skilled workforce,” stated Ramdas. “The national shortage of electricians is threatening our infrastructure growth, and we see similar challenges across all construction trades. By combining our AI-powered platform with BuilderFax’s credential management capabilities, we’re streamlining workforce management and supporting a national imperative to develop, certify, and retain skilled trade workers who will literally build America’s future. When credential management fails, workers lose jobs, and projects stall. Our integrated solution addresses this $12 billion problem while strengthening the career paths of craftspeople nationwide”.
Key benefits of the Lumber-BuilderFax integration include:
- Empowering Craft Workers: The application will remain free for all craft workers, enabling them to manage digital credentials that previously existed only as paper certificates across multiple disconnected systems.
- Strengthening the Labor Market: Streamlines hiring and compliance, reducing delays and administrative overhead. The platform will also facilitate access to a larger pool of skilled workers.
- On-Site Experience Ledger: Enables employers to validate on-site experience, making workforce skills more transparent and measurable.
- Addressing Administrative Burden: Connects credential data with time tracking, scheduling, and payroll to boost productivity.
- Enhancing Career Development: Includes resume builders, personalized guidance, union job boards, and training pathways based on credentials and job data.
- Strategic Partnerships: new partnerships with Vocational schools that can pre-install the app on student tablets, supporting direct career entry and certification tracking.
This strategic acquisition strengthens Lumber’s position as a workforce innovation leader and addresses one of the construction industry’s most urgent challenges. By combining credentialing, AI, and workforce management into a unified platform, Lumber is setting a new standard for how skilled labor is supported, certified, and deployed.
