ABC's NH/Vermont Chapter Focuses on Finding Workers

Joshua Reap, president/CEO of ABC NH-Vt. chapter. Photo by Matthew J. Mowry.

The NH & Vermont chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has a new leader. Joshua Reap took the helm as president and CEO in the fall after long-time president Mark Holden, who had been with the association for 33 years, retired. Among Reap’s top priorities? Addressing NH’s workforce shortage.

“We have a serious lack of skilled craft workers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters,” he says. “It’s a huge problem now. For us at ABC, workforce development is a top priority. We work to get the word out that construction isn’t a dirty, low-paying job. It’s high-tech, it’s sophisticated and it’s high paying. There’s always been this mindset that you go to college, get your degree and that’s how you get your middle-class dream. You can be a plumber and make $60,000 a year and be at home at night and not have the student debt your friends have.”

Reap says there are contractors with backlogs that are 18 months out, which is a good sign for the economy but also an indicator of the lack of workers. “The backlog indicator is the best I’ve seen since before the recession. Things are hopping,” Reap says, noting that NH’s unemployment rate in the construction industry, and overall, is “super low.”

“There’s not enough workers to do the work,” he says, adding he doesn’t foresee change anytime soon. With the national workforce aging, Reap notes there are 2 million crafts professionals expected to retire in the next two years nationwide.

Reap says he wants ABC to be a bridge between educators and construction companies and to become the “go to” organization for skills training. “We’re getting into the classrooms and schools and telling people what construction really is,” Reap says. “It’s about changing the narrative and getting parents, students and educators involved and educating them you can earn $80,000 a few years out of school.”

ABC’s NH & Vermont chapter produced a series of videos, featuring members, that have been made available to guidance counselors, schools and students to highlight job opportunities in the trades.

While much of the attention in education is focused on getting kids interested in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) professions, Reap says it’s important for people to understand how construction fits into that movement. “Today’s construction site is more high-tech than people know,” Reap says.

One challenge with connecting students with craft careers is the shortage of instructors at Career Technical Education (CTE) centers as they can earn so much more in the private sector, Reap says. To resolve that, Reap participates in the state’s CTE advisory committee.

Nationally, ABC spent more than $1 billion in 2017 on craft and safety training, Reap says. “We’re putting more emphasis on workforce development,” he says.

Reap has been involved with ABC for almost eight years, most recently as vice president of the ABC Empire State Chapter in Albany, NY. Reap says he is committed to meeting each of his 214 members before summer starts. He also wants to grow the chapter’s membership.

For more information, visit abcnhvt.org.