Apprentices at Vermont Construction Academy (VCA) after an introduction class on roof framing. (Photo Courtesy of VCA)
Armed with credentials from boot camps, apprenticeships, community college programs and more, a new cohort of tradespeople is entering the NH workforce—and its arrival couldn’t be timelier.
Sweeping partnerships among business, industry, government and educational institutions in the state are creating a “toolbelt generation” meant to fill the labor gap caused by a retirement surge in the trades.
The need is critical. Nationally, five tradespeople are retiring for every two entering the field, per industry analysts.
A recent study by both the NH nonprofit Bring Back the Trades (BBTT) and the F.W. Webb Company examined seven trades and concluded that one in four trade jobs nationally will be open by 2030. BBTT COO Shana Brunye says that deficit represents $325 billion in lost GDP.
The gap is even more pronounced in certain trades: 33% of construction jobs are expected to be open, and 37% of auto mechanic jobs, according to the study, which looked at electricians, mechanics, plumbers, welders, construction, HVAC, and carpenters. A new study is researching the gap in 14 additional trades.
“Ten years ago it was a problem and today it’s a crisis,” says Joshua Reap, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors of NH/VT.
New Hampshire, with a population that’s one of the oldest in the nation, is especially hard hit. Michael Skelton, president and CEO of the Business & Industry Association of NH (BIA), points out NH has the highest percentage of workers over the age of 55 (28%) of any state in the country, “and that share is even greater when you look at the trades.”
To address the gaps, business, government and education officials are offering a variety of programs and initiatives to entice prospective tradespeople through training (often at no cost), scholarships, earn-as-you-learn apprenticeships, and the promise of a good-paying job without the hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt that often accompanies a college degree.
At the same time, they’re fighting the old stigma that a degree from a four-year institution is somehow a superior career pathway.
“Somewhere along the way, the trades went from respected professions to something guidance counselors steered struggling students toward,” says Brunye. Young people today don’t buy into that stigma as much, she adds.
The challenge is convincing their parents and guidance counselors that things have changed. “A lot of people may still think of the trades of 50 years ago, where it may have been dirtier and safety wasn’t taken as seriously as it is now,” she says. “Today, you can often eat off the floor.”
To advance its goal of increasing awareness about the trades and the job opportunities they offer, Brunye says BBTT staff meet with high school guidance counselors to talk about the trades and how a four-year college is not the only path to success.
Community Colleges Play Vital Role
A key player in the trade resurgence is the Community College System of NH (CCSNH), which offers programs like ApprenticeshipNH and WorkReadyNH.
Funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, ApprenticeshipNH promotes registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships in high-demand areas like auto mechanics, construction, HVAC and advanced manufacturing with input from employers in those fields.
Apprentices earn progressive wages as their skills develop and have on-the-job training with mentors. The program, launched in 2017, now boasts more than 3,500 apprentices across 500-plus programs.
With participation from employers and high schools, pre-apprenticeships combine classroom and hands-on learning to build skills necessary for an apprenticeship. The college system works with K-12 to build youth apprenticeships that allow students to start training while still in high school. A recent “Pre-Apprenticeship Connection Summit” at Concord’s community college, NHTI, drew more than 60 attendees.
After discussions with employers, in 2011 the Community College System also launched WorkReadyNH, a tuition-free professional skills program meant to build foundational workplace skills. It has served more than 8,000 residents since its inception.
With federal assistance, CCSNH also offers grants to help cover the cost of childcare and transportation for those in need, and partners with the Metallica Scholars Initiative to offer grants that help trades students cover some of their tuition as well as the cost of books and other necessary equipment like uniforms and tools.
Chuck Lloyd, vice chancellor of CCSNH, says the community college system also partners directly with employers on career fairs and job shadow opportunities. (Lloyd will become chancellor of CCSNH on Aug. 24.)
An attendee operates a front loader in a virtual reality program provided by TechEd at the expo. (Photo Courtesy of BBTT)
In November 2024, CCSNH collaborated with several businesses to bring Mike Rowe, a podcaster and host of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” show, to NH. Rowe is widely credited with bringing new respect to the skilled trades. The event drew more than 4,500 attendees and 90 vendors and awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships to prospective tradespeople.
Many employers offer scholarships of their own. Lloyd notes that the NH Auto Dealers Association provides more than $100,000 in scholarships to students enrolled in an automative program, while Northeast Delta Dental in 2024 donated $500,000 for NHTI, CCSNH’s Concord school, to address the shortage of dental hygienists and dental assistants.
BBTT offers a $1,500 scholarship every month to someone going into the trades, according to Brunye, in addition to $2,500 awards offered at the trade events it hosts. In April, it awarded $35,000 in scholarships at a sold-out skills expo in Londonderry. In addition, it partners with Milwaukee Tool and the Electrical Training Alliance to award two kits with $1,500 worth of tools each month to public schools and nonprofits to modernize vocational workshops in NH.
Grappone Automative Group in Bow and Concord has supported CCSNH by donating cars and helping with resume-building, and its managers sit on boards of community colleges across the state, according to Amanda Grappone Osmer, president and a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Bring Back the Trades. The company also takes in automative apprentices and was an early sponsor of BBTT.
BAE Systems has also partnered with Nashua Community College to run a 10-week “microelectronics boot camp” in addition to efforts at Manchester Community College to offer career pathways for advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity. All CCSNH colleges provide workforce training opportunities that respond directly to the needs of their regions.
“People are seeing more and more that the trades, essential workers, are necessary,” Lloyd adds. “The real ticket to prosperity was always thought of as going to a four-year university. Now, having a tangible career path is really the most desirable. They know if they come for a boot camp or a certificate, they’re getting jobs on day one.”
Creating Sustainable Futures
Some companies are taking an active role in cultivating the next generation of tradespeople. PROCON, an architecture, engineering and construction management firm in Hooksett, has 12 interns this year, all paid. Ben Saturley, the firm’s senior vice president of field operations, is a BBTT board member and Tracey Pelton, PROCON’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate affairs, sits on the Governor’s Workforce Innovation Board and the BBTT task force, which encourages collaboration among all parties interested in advancing the trades.
The company also offers an 18-month career start program for project engineers in which they spend six months in the field, six in the office with a project manager, and six in the estimating department to see where their best fit lies, according to Saturley.
Associated Builders and Contractors of NH/VT (ABC NH/VT) is also taking a lead role in attracting the next generation to the trades. Last year, ABC NH/VT opened a 10,000-square-foot Construction Training Academy in Winooski, Vt. to provide technical training and certification and provide students with hands-on experience in the trades. It offers boot camps and apprenticeships and recently graduated more than 100 students. Participants start with a boot camp then move up to apprenticeships paid by employers.
“We’re going to see if we can bring that model to New Hampshire,” Reap says. “At the end of the day, we want people to be aware...these careers are right here in New Hampshire. You can make a great living right where you grew up.”
Many say addressing the workforce shortage will also redress some of NH’s bigger challenges like a lack of affordable housing and an exodus of young people.
“If we don’t have our construction workers, carpenters, plumbers and electricians, the housing problem is going to get even worse,” says Brunye. “We’re trying to make sure the workforce is there not only to build and repair more homes, but to maintain and repair vehicles; data shows an extreme challenge in regards to having enough auto mechanics to meet consumer demand. If we think things are bad now, it’s only going to get worse if we don’t start working on this
problem now.”
Skelton views economic growth in terms of interconnected needs being met. “BIA is focused on pro-growth policy changes, like increasing housing supply and childcare capacity, that will help more individuals join and remain in our state’s workforce.”
