The Service Trades Are Still Hiring
The coronavirus pandemic has brought our country – the world in fact – to its knees in a way almost nobody alive has witnessed in our lifetimes. Too many people are getting sick and dying, and our economy is facing its biggest challenges since the Great Depression. Businesses everywhere are shutting down or drastically cutting […]
Equal Pay For Equal Work
The headline reflects a goal that has served as a rallying cry for feminists. Various studies show a large discrepancy in pay scales for women versus men for similar types of jobs, but I recently came across an article that opened my eyes. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, across the […]
The Trades Protect The Environment
April 22 marks the 50th Anniversary of an annual celebration that has come to be known as Earth Day. On April 22, 1970, some 20 million Americans, about 10% of the population at the time, took to demonstrations on college campuses and the streets in hundreds of cities to protest environmental degradation from oil spills, […]
DOL Boosts Apprenticeship By $100 Million
Recent news caught my eye that has large meaning for the trades. On February 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded nearly $100 million to 28 public-private apprenticeship partnerships to support the large-scale expansion of apprenticeships through the federal government’s Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap grant program. These grants reflect a renewed awareness of […]
The Trades Are Still Working – At Least Some Are
Amid the coronavirus shutdown, some states – Illinois and California among them – have deemed construction projects as essential businesses and allowed projects to continue. Others have ordered construction sites closed except for those involving health care and other critical facilities. A survey in late March by the Associated General Contractors (AGC), a national organization […]
The Skilled Trades Gap Is Global
Do a web search on “skilled trade shortage” and you will be directed to scores of articles detailing the dire situation not only in our country, but throughout the western world. For instance, this survey from the United Kingdom shows that for the 7th consecutive year the skilled trades were ranked by employers as the […]
The U.S. Needs More Apprenticeship
A nationwide shortage of trade workers had led many businesses and politicians to support more trade education and apprenticeship programs. I addressed this in a previous blog. What is meant by apprenticeship? The term is loosely used to describe a variety of on-the-job training (OJT) programs, but true apprenticeship involves a more formal structure of […]
Blanton’s Air, Plumbing & Electric Visits Local Elementary Students
At Blanton’s Air, Plumbing & Electric in Fayetteville, NC, the team had an extraordinary day with local elementary students! Along with a showcase of cool tools, the students received awesome coloring books and a visit from Coolidge. It’s never too early to “explore the trades”!
Why Are Today’s College Graduates So Stupid?
I had a grandfather who never made it past third grade. But he read a newspaper every day and could carry on intelligent conversation about current events. He wrote me letters when I was serving in the U.S. Army. He didn’t know any fancy words and expressed himself in simple language, but most of his […]
Student Loans Become Ever More Burdensome
It’s been widely reported that federal student loan debt now totals a staggering $1.5 trillion, give or take a few billion. It’s hard to wrap your head around numbers that large, but within that big amount lay some disturbing trends that spell bad news for the U.S. economy as a whole, and especially for the […]