Ideas Whose Time Has Come

Previously, this column has noted both the long, glorious history of the plumbing trade and its current state of decline. We’ve decried the lack of available manpower and the lack of “recruitable” people to fill the ranks of those who are retiring from the trades—all the trades.

Despite the fact that a career in the trades is both financially and emotionally satisfying, we cannot seem to get the traction we need to put new bodies to work in the construction industry. Whether it is the decades of the “you need a college degree to be successful,” canard that has filled the heads of prospective new hires, or the plain lack of interest in work generally is a debatable question.

Sad to say that the political fixes espoused by the current administration all require legislative or political horse trading, debate, consensus, etc., etc. There are, however, a lot of good people out there who have recognized the problem and are actually trying to do something about it. One such person is Dr. Douglas Greene. Dr. Greene has developed a couple of viable solutions that can be “shovel ready” with support from trade associations, and local education boards at high schools and colleges.

About three years ago I made the acquaintance of Dr. Greene when he contacted me regarding an idea he had for rectifying the lack of qualified hires in the trades. Dr. Greene is a self-proclaimed “serial inventor” (one of his inventions is the remote control unit for fireplace log sets) who saw the situation in the construction industry and decided to do something to try and fix it. He contacted me at CONTRACTOR Magazine to discuss his idea, which he named, Plan B-New Collar Jobs.

I’m sure that I’ll over-simplify his plan in trying to describe it, but I’ll do my best. It basically was to convince the four-year college of the importance of construction industry education and to help them set up a degree program for the trades, parallel to the liberal arts programs that they already had. Recruiting students out of high school into the college that had the aptitude and desire to learn the trades and tailoring the curriculum to achieve the end of producing educated new hires for the construction industry.

The prospective new hires were not groomed for management positions like the Arizona State University Master of Science degree in construction management. Rather, the students would be taught a trade from the ground up, including some management training, but focusing primarily on trade craft and developing the necessary trade skills to be effective in the field upon graduation.

Dr. Greene was soon to be disappointed, however. In his own words, “Plan B is not the answer in the four-year colleges, as it interferes with the ‘academic version’ of the liberal arts curriculum.” Not surprising, because the college protected their vested interests in liberal arts education and considered his proposal not to be compatible with their “education” mission. A good idea consigned to oblivion by vested interests within the “education” establishment. I deliberately will not name the college(s) in the column, not for fear of any static it might bring, but because they are irrelevant to our discussion.

After Dr. Greene’s New Collar Jobs idea was summarily dismissed by the education cabal, one would think that he would retire to lick his wounds, euphemistically speaking. One would be wrong! You see, Dr. Greene’s philosophy is, “risk is the price you pay for opportunity.” 

Taking the experience and information he got while trying to get New Collar Jobs off the ground at one college, focusing on the basis for the rejection, he went to work and produced a new program to achieve the goals of the original. Basically, attacking the problem from a different perspective, adjusting his goals and parameters. He is now in the process of presenting his ideas across the board at NAHB, HBI and other influential organizations in the construction industry.

Dr. Greene told me, “I was at the NAHB in Las Vegas in January and attended several lectures, meetings, etc. at the NAHB, HBI and NKAB and talked about my STC (Skilled Trade Center) which got a lot of support. What surprised me was that they all supported the prototype I was developing, encouraging me to continue to think outside the box.”

The main thrust of the new program is to partner with industry leaders and, initially, a junior college to create a “from the ground up” program for recruiting and training the next generation of trade professionals. This proposal awaits review by the newly appointed President of Clark College, arriving in June. Currently, the proposal is being reviewed by several local construction companies, along with the Cascadia Tech Academy, in a collaborative effort to develop a unique Skilled Trades Center.

Similar in concept to Humberto Martinez’ Construction Career Days, Dr. Greene’s prototype would take the interest of prospective students, expand it and wrap it into a full two-year degree program, combining classroom education with hands on skill training. The plan, as envisioned, would produce skilled entry level (or above) trades people who would have the knowledge, skills and education needed for immediate hire. In other words, these folks would be able to hit the ground running!

If this program is successful, satellite programs like it could be quickly and easily enabled across the country with only a modicum of funding. It might not be a panacea, but it makes a lot of sense and it has the merit of being well thought out and ready to roll. If you would like to get an overview of the Skilled Trades Center plan, I include the link Dr, Greene sent to me, and his contact information for anyone wishing to know more about his idea. I believe it is worth your time to review.

Douglas C Greene

Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

2425 NW 69th Street

Vancouver, WA 98665-7013 Phone: 360/977-6162 Cell: 360/909-6110 E-Mail: [email protected]

You can review the proposed program at: http://bit.ly/CCCSTC-2020

The Brooklyn, NY-born author is a third-generation master plumber. He founded Sunflower Plumbing & Heating in Shirley, N.Y., in 1975 and A Professional Commercial Plumbing Inc. in Phoenix in 1980. He holds residential, commercial, industrial and solar plumbing licenses and is certified in welding, clean rooms, polypropylene gas fusion and medical gas piping. He can be reached at [email protected].