The EXECUTIVE SUMMARY #32
The EXECUTIVE SUMMARY by Joe Chimenti
It’s time to change our thinking.
Recently, the Trade School, Shasta Builders’ Exchange met with representatives of Shasta College and the City of Shasta Lake. Our intent is to collaborate with the educational community and local governments to increase exposure of the skilled trades to our youth.
Sadly, the recent natural disasters will expose the significant trade skills gap that currently exists in our workforce. After decades of promoting college degrees, we now lack a workforce trained in the art and science of building. We need to work together as a community, and as a society, to encourage young people to seek rewarding careers in the construction industry.
Sometimes the most significant social changes result from a simple willingness to work together toward a common goal. To start, we need to bring trade training back to the high schools. Students must not only be encouraged to work with both their minds and their hands, they must be shown the career path that has literally built this country. As parents and grandparents, we should direct our children to follow both their interests and their aptitudes. In the Shasta Builders’ Exchange alone, there are numerous first and second generation multi-million dollar companies because of the economic power of the building trades.
It’s time to change our thinking.
It’s time to Train. Build. Succeed.