Rebuilding the Pipeline: Investing in the Future of Skilled Trades

In the past few years, there has been a new, renewed interest in working in trades. I have personally heard it talking to friends and seen a growing interest in the media as well. The numbers seem to back this up as well.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor suggests there are more than 2,300 new apprenticeship programs nationally and nearly 300,000 new apprentices. This is up from more than 241,000 new apprentices that entered the national apprenticeship system in fiscal year 2021. In fact, we have seen somewhat steady growth in the past decade and a half, with slight dips in 2017 and 2020.

These numbers just represent new apprentices too. We continue to see a steady incline of active ongoing apprentices. The success stories are exciting too. Consider Tanner Clugston, who was an apprentice during college breaks. His experience helped him achieve an academic scholarship ...