A mobile workshop stocked with virtual reality headsets rolled into the Fort Worth area this month, part of a Meta-backed push to steer students toward construction careers.

The 18-wheeler is part of Be Pro Be Proud, a national workforce program that launched a Texas chapter this year to address a shortage of workers in the building trades, Texas Contractor reported. Inside, virtual reality headsets and simulators let middle and high school students try out more than 16 technical career fields, including welding, robotics and electrical work.

The Texas chapter is Be Pro Be Proud's third statewide chapter after Tennessee and New Mexico, according to Meta. The September kickoff event is backed by a $500,000 Meta investment and is part of a 10-stop national tour marking the program's 10th anniversary. Organizers are aiming to reach more than 1,500 students across the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the program's first six months.

"This mobile workshop focuses on real world career exposure to students — on the road and in their communities," said state Sen. Brent Hagenbuch on Facebook after speaking at the Be Pro Be Proud Texas ribbon cutting on Sept. 16 at Dallas College Coppell Center. "The workshop will visit high schools throughout North Texas, offering students a virtual experience in HVAC, plumbing, lineman, truck driving, construction, welding, electrician, and other skilled professions. When a student discovers they enjoy the virtual experience, they can connect with a career college or trade school to learn more about the programs they offer."

TEXO, The Construction Association, one of the trade groups backing the program.

"We have to do a better job of telling the story of these amazing career opportunities," said Meloni Raney, TEXO's president and CEO, according to the News and Tribune. "When you look at what's happening with the Texas economy right now, it's on the backs of construction."

The workforce push builds on Meta's broader spending in Tarrant County. The company has directed more than $5.2 million to local schools and nonprofits since 2018 through more than 215 community grants, including gifts to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail and the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, according to Meta's Building Texas site.

That funding traces back to Meta's Fort Worth Data Center, a $1.5 billion investment that broke ground in 2015, came online in 2017, and employed as many as 1,200 construction workers at peak, according to the company's Fort Worth Data Center fact sheet.

Tour dates and locations for Be Pro Be Proud's Texas chapter are listed on the program's website.