Mechanical Trades School Breaking Ground on New Location

The New Hampshire School of Mechanical Trades is breaking ground for its second location at 109 Towle Farm Road in Hampton.
 
Construction on the $1.6 million facility gets underway this month and will, say the school’s founders, meet a critical demand. The first school opened five years ago in Manchester and between 2015 and 2016, enrollment jumped from 607 to 956. The Hampton location is expected to open next spring.
 
“There is a high demand for quality education and training programs, particularly along the Seacoast, from the Massachusetts border right up to Rochester,” said Dean Millard, director of NHSMT. “It made sense to have our second location here. There are no other options for people who want a range of education in the mechanical trades.”
 
Millard said he and John Duff, vice president of the school, are contacted nearly every day by companies who need to have their employees trained for licensing and to be educated on the latest equipment.
 
New Hampshire, like the rest of the country, is wrestling with a skills gap, as a generation of tradesmen gets ready to retire. Millard said locating a second mechanical trades’ school not only provides an opportunity for young people to start training, but companies can send their employees for continuing education without devoting a lot of time to travel.
 
“It takes time to for Seacoast companies to send their people to Manchester to attend classes and distance is a road block for younger people just starting out,” he said. “We are ready to meet the demands of the workforce.”
 
The New Hampshire School of Mechanical Trades offers programs in the areas of oil and gas; heating; plumbing; electric, and HVAC and features working labs that offer students hands-on experience. It works with students to make the training affordable and works with companies to place graduates in the trades profession.
 
For more information about the school and its programs, visit www.NHTradeSchool.com or call 603-622-6544.