Greg: Welcome to The Tim Faller Show, where production is paramount, and we discuss the tools, time and people associated with getting jobs done and making a profit.

Greg: On today’s episode of The Tim Faller Show, we will be Bridging the gap Collaborative Approaches to Industry education with the help of our guest, Jake Carter, the director of construction for habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County in Bremerton, Washington, alongside Tim Faller . I’m your co-host, Greg Woleck . Here is the Tim Faller.

Tim: Hey, everybody, Tim Faller here. Welcome to another exciting episode of The Tim Faller Show. Send in your ideas. Where we’re working like crazy to bring you new content and, keep this thing exciting and lively. So you have ideas. send them in, Tim, at remodelers advantage.com. So we are back on the training kick. So for those of you who have found this podcast recently, myself and co-hosts Steve Wheeler and now Greg Wallach have spent hours and hours in previous episodes discussing how we can be more active in training another generation in the trades.

Tim: I think we’ve talked to just about every kind of person in this business fo vo tech teachers, company owners, production managers, even people who are doing tech programs on how to train and hopefully making it a little easier to train through their platforms and it seems like countless others. And then we moved on to some other activities, and I right now we’re circling back.

Tim: And so over the next few episodes, you’re probably going to hear a lot more about the training. So it feels like the industry is making strides as I travel around and talk to a lot of different people, but it also feels a little bit like there’s some complacency creeping back into our world. So I illustrate this with a friend of mine who is a retired Remodeler.

Tim: He’s working with an industry organization, and they’re trying to develop a skills training platform that the companies of their organization can use to trade train new people coming into this market. Now, I met up with him up at JLC live and I said, hey, how’s it going? Because I’m kind of excited about this training thing, right? And I hate to tell you that he was a bit discouraged because he was feeling like it had started out with a great bang, and now he was kind of alone trying to make it work, because the people who were engaged before had slowly drifted off and were doing other things.

Tim: And so the great cry of, hey, we need to train people has subsided, and people have kind of jumped on the bandwagon, if you will. And I think it’s partially because maybe the immediate need for skilled workers has eased a bit, or maybe it’s because we just shifted our focus to, hey, make hay while the sun shines right?

Tim: And so we’re not as focused on that. So what we’re trying to get across everybody through these episodes that are coming up is we need to keep beating on the drum. We need to keep the drumbeat going, that even though it feels like the positions are full right now, we cannot let up on the training front. And so we’ve got several episodes coming up to this fact.

Tim: let’s make it happen. So, Greg, let’s get started.

Greg: Sure thing. Tim, Jake Carter is the director of construction for habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County, based in Bremerton, Washington. He served the area through providing affordable new home construction. Jake has 12 years experience in a variety of roles. Property management, development, and construction. With his core competency being project management, he came to Kitsap Habitat with a desire to scale homebuilding production to better serve the community.

Greg: Along with his role at habitat. He is passionate about recruiting and educating new trade workers, and he sees a direct correlation between housing affordability and the shortage of folks in the trades. He’s on the board of Kitsap Building Association and co-chair of their Workforce Development committee. Welcome to the show, Jake.

Jake: Hey, Greg. Thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

Greg: Got it.

Tim: Hey, so give us just a little bit more background about your background. I think you said 12 years of of different things with a core competency of project management. A little bit more about that just so people can identify with you.

Jake: Yeah, absolutely. So I started out in kind of the property management development side of things. working for a few different developers and got on a new construction project, kind of overseeing that as, like an owner’s rep. Really enjoyed that side of kind of property management and development. And, decided that when my wife and I relocated to Washington State, that I wanted to pursue construction more.

Jake: I thought it was a good idea to get out into the field and bang some nails and and plumb some lines and figure out the basics of that. and then and got my self into an office role, in 2017 as an assistant project manager for a local general contractor, and worked my way up to a full blown project manager where I was running jobs from, from start to finish, estimating subcontracts, prime contracts, the, you know, the whole gamut of things.

Tim: All right. So I know, in your intro, there it is, Kitsap Habitat. I know a little bit about Bremerton. so anything unique about that habitat? chapter there that maybe is different than a lot of others.

Jake: you know, every affiliate across the country is is ran kind of independently, ours based in Kitsap County. we’re a small affiliate for the population. so there’s, about 275,000 people within Kitsap County. good percentage of that is, is Navy personnel and federal contractors, because we have two large bases here. And, so our affiliate, it needs to grow.

Jake: And so that’s part of the reason why I’m here, is we want to be able to serve more people. We built 106 homes in 30 years. And, we’re trying to to increase that to where we can get to, to ten homes a year and, like I said, provide more, more impact for our community. We got a big housing shortage.

Jake: You know, it’s been been a been a problem here for a long time. And Covid really just exasperated that.

Tim: So just in case someone doesn’t know, how habitat works, give us a little bit about that structure and, and how a house gets built and that, that sort of thing.

Jake: Yeah, absolutely. And again, I’ll speak to our affiliate because each affiliate can can work a little bit differently. so we’re, affordable homeownership program. We, select families that purchase these homes. so they do sign, you know, a 30 year mortgage. It is structured a little bit differently than a traditional mortgage rate. There’s some some other things on the back end going on, but they do purchase the home.

Jake: in addition to purchasing the home as part of being a habitat family, they also have sweat equity that is involved. And so if it’s a couple that’s on the mortgage, each person would would have to work 250 sweat equity hours on their home. and this started at the origination of habitat. You know, back in the, in the late 70s.

Jake: And it was a way, to have people not only participate in the construction, but learn about how a home is built and hopefully how to maintain it. Right. We have, educational programing that they go through even before they can apply to be a homeowner. And then once they’re accepted, you know, we’re not only just, providing a home that they purchase, but we’re helping them with budgeting and really, you know, the basic fundamentals to to purchase this home and then maintain it.

Jake: Right? Because purchasing a home is a fantastic opportunity, but it is a big responsibility.

Tim: So I know the, home prices around here are just skyrocketing. house across the street from me sold probably for twice as much after three years or four years or something like that. So is there anything in this? And this is just a little bit of my cynicism coming out? Is there anything in this that says you can’t sell this thing a year from now unless you’re moving out of state or something like that?

Tim: Or is it unlikely that people would just do a flip, if you will?

Jake: No, that’s a that’s a great question. And it’s a very common question. So currently we are finishing out a short plat that we started a handful of years ago. And in those homes there are deed restrictions. and two ways. One is through a second mortgage, basically a silent mortgage that we issue. And the third is actually through some of the funding that we get through our state Department of Commerce.

Jake: And so there is little, limited equity appreciation for these homes. And within the first five years, if there is a quick move. we have first right of refusal so we can bring that back and then get it directly back into, another affordable home. Now, what the big transition happening is, is we’re actually exploring different models, like a land lease model where we would actually.

Jake: And then that would enable us to retain, who who owns the home in perpetuity.

Tim: Yeah. That’s interesting, because the island that we go to in the state of Maine, the, local housing nonprofit, because, you know, the winter homes are very few. And so people who come there to work and fish during the wintertime, they can’t find a place to stay at a reasonable price. So they use something like that. What you’re talking about, that land lease kind of thing, and it stays within an organization and not totally belonging to the person.

Tim: So that’s a that’s a great model to use. So I understand habitat uses volunteer is probably 50% of our audience has been a volunteer on a habitat job. At some point in time. but we’re also talking about training here. And so how does you know, providing affordable homes and the volunteer world did end to training new skills or new people for skills coming into the construction industry?

Jake: Yeah. So it’s a couple components there. First off, it’s that we’re really empowering DIYers. Right. And so when when we’re in an area where, a remodeler to do a bathroom is booked out 18 months and, and someone just really just wants to replace the old tired vanity and do a refresh, but they’re not quite sure how to do that.

Jake: they can they can come volunteer with us. get, you know, guidance and education from either. our staff, we have a, you know, a site superintendent or some of our, you know, kind of long term volunteers that maybe are retired contractors, right, that are quite proficient. Right. And so they’re not only benefiting their their neighbors and their community, but they’re learning skills.

Jake: And then they can go and use on their own home. So that’s one way just writ large. why people a lot of people enjoy volunteering at habitat now, specifically to more trained professionals are getting folks into the trained professionals. We don’t have a lot in place currently, but we have multiple programs that are in the works.

Jake: so we are in we actually just had a lumber delivery yesterday to a local trade school. We’re partnering with them and the school students, juniors and seniors in high school are going to build the walls for one of our homes. So they are learning all of the basics of framing, layout, you know, wall assembly, everything. Right. and so their teacher teachers doing that.

Jake: Right. But habitat provided the materials and then, you know, they’re going to provide the walls back to us. Right? A tremendous partnership. and then beyond that, we’re looking at working with some other, you know, kind of agencies. I’m involved with the Kitsap Building Association, like Greg mentioned in the intro and a few others to where we could potentially align with some apprenticeship programs and provide young folks hours, right, on a job site that could, you know, fast track them to getting, a certification or a license.

Jake: Sure.

Greg: can you say more about the trade school program that you have the lumber job? I saw your story on Instagram was very cool. Are they are they like, how did you get connected with them?

Jake: Yeah. So it really this is just like a perfect it was meant to be kind of thing. So, like you mentioned in the intro, I, I’m on the board of the Kitsap Building Association for, for this year. prior to joining the board, I become very involved in our workforce development committee, and, we promote the trades, you know, in any way possible.

Jake: Right. And so I did we had the trade school, had a new teacher coming in the school year of the 2324 school year. And so myself and the other co-chair of the, committee had met with him. we’re both on his advisory council, along with, a few other trades folks. We got a couple of union representatives, you know.

Jake: Trying to get a diverse group of people in there to kind of advise where the program needs to go. And, the first meeting we were talking on, like, hey, I’m looking at joining habitat. And he had mentioned that they wanted actual projects to work on because historically, the program had built a small mock house and, and students learned and I know kids that graduated five years ago from there that are very successful in the trades.

Jake: But they were, you know, kind of building a mock house and then demoing it and then building another one. And he was like, you know, why don’t we? There’s got to be a way that we can actually do something productive that they don’t then have to tear apart. Right? Especially if you’re trying to foster that, that drive in the trades.

Jake: That’s that’s what everybody says, right? It’s like they drive by. It’s like, oh yeah, I built that. Right. And so give that sense of pride. And I was like, maybe we can work something out. And then a couple weeks later we had another meeting and it was just meant to be.

Tim: So if any of those students then come out and work on the house in the field. like after that. I mean, is that kind of the idea? Maybe it hasn’t happened yet because the lumber just got dropped in. So, you know, you know, they can’t do it quite yet. But, is that the idea?

Jake: Yeah. The goal would be for that to to be a possibility, unfortunately. this school is an aggregating school, so he actually has students from ten different districts. Oh, wow. So he has he has a morning class and an afternoon class. They’re only 2.5 hours long. So some kids are taking the bus. Some kids are driving themselves. Some kids are carpooling.

Jake: The transportation becomes, a bit of a challenge. Okay. but at the at the lumber delivery yesterday, I met with the director and principal and she’s like, yeah, we want to figure out how to get them out to to job sites and, you know, see things firsthand. So that that’s certainly in the works. But there’s limited time, right?

Jake: If you get 30 kids by the time you get them on a bus and get them to a site, you’d only have 45 minutes or so. But yes, we’re we’re exploring that. And then also just saying, hey, you can advance your, your curriculum and have a better resume if you come volunteer on a habitat site on a Saturday or this summer.

Jake: Right?

Tim: Yeah, that’s I was thinking more of the Saturday kind of thing where they could maybe even get some extra credit or something like that because I was, you know, you were talking about that and I was thinking like, I know those walls are being built inside. And so that robs these wonderful kids of the experience of working under gray, cloudy, drizzly, rainy, nasty skies.

Jake: Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s only we only have that six months of the year, you know, so they’ll get their opportunity. Yeah.

Tim: Yeah. So I was thinking like, we got to get them out on the job site and let them see what it, what it’s like right there. So that’s that’s amazing. That’s fantastic. They have that that trade school kind of thing. So give it talk a little bit more about the HBA Association, Home Builders Association and their involvement.

Tim: Your involvement in trying to develop and train, people into the trades.

Jake: Yeah. So the Kitsap Building Association has, workforce Development Committee, like I said, I’m the co-chair of and, it was really put in place kind of post-recession. Right. as as construction started to come back, residential construction started to come back. We’re in a unique area in the in the Puget Sound. Right? I can see Seattle from certain parts of my drive on a daily basis.

Jake: So as the crow flies, it’s a few miles away. But to get there can be, you know, 30 minutes to an hour and a half, right? And so, historically, the folks who worked in the trades that wanted to to make good money and have a big career commuted to Seattle or Tacoma and worked more commercial work. Right. And so Kitsap Building Association was like, hey, we’re we’re coming out of this recession.

Jake: We’re starting to build again. And they realized, you know, ten years ago, it’s like we don’t have quite enough workers to to, to fill all the needs. And so, they started grassroots, doing a variety of things, you know, as builders do. Right. Go talk to their, their wife, you know, school or, you know, get the inroads.

Jake: So five years ago, we formally created a foundation and created a scholarship program. It’s called the builder Grant program. And, we’re in our fifth year now. And so it is a internship program where member companies agree to take on an inexperienced young person aged 18 to 24 for six weeks. And so the association raises money for, for this foundation.

Jake: We, benefit both the young person and the member company in that we reimburse, up to $5 an hour in the wage to the company so they can help absorb that. Right. We all know you lose productivity when you take on someone that that hasn’t swung a hammer before or measured, you know, PVC pipe to put on a foundation drain or whatever it may be.

Jake: Right? and then we, we offer a $500 scholarship to, to the young person. And so that’s intended really to you know, buy boots, hard hat, a couple essential tools. And, it’s been quite successful. We’re, we’re revamping it and trying to restructure it now, last year we placed 38 people into local companies, for those six weeks.

Jake: And at the end of the year, 32 of those were still working full time. And so it’s really, really like a placement program more than an internship program. And honestly, that’s one of the kind of the things you two are a couple smart guys, if you can think of a a name other than internship. But but yeah, so we’re really proud of that.

Jake: Like I say, we’re we’re getting to the point now where it’s a capacity thing and it’s like, well, you know, how do we restructure the program a little bit to, to continue to be successful, but really exciting, really, you know, enabling our member companies. Right, that are plumbers, roofers, civil contractors, homebuilders, all all of the above painters right, are benefiting from this program.

Jake: And kids get a, on the ground training like you talked about out in the gray weather and mud. Learn and learning the ropes.

Tim: Yeah. So just one one follow up question. And Greg is going to jump in. when we tried to do this here in Connecticut, the big the big, red flag was who pays the insurance. So who pays for the insurance for this 18 year old to, to be on the job side is does the builder do that or is that part of the foundation.

Jake: So that was that was a lot of the same questions that the KBA had 6 or 7 years ago when they were exploring this. And so what they decided to do is the company actually hires the young person, okay, directly. And so that way there’s no question of insurance, or any of those types of things, you know, payroll and taxes, any of that.

Jake: Right. And so the obligation and again, so that’s kind of why it’s only member companies that can use the program. And that’s why we try to contribute a little bit to that hourly pay. but it just shows the need right.

Tim: Yeah. That’s fantastic.

Greg: So I get that it’s a member companies from the Kitsap Builders Association. Where were you able to find I’m that’s a lot the that many placements is really cool. Like where did you find those folks willing to get into this.

Jake: Yeah. So I think 13 of them came from that trade school that, that I’m working with, with with Kitsap Habitat. Right. They, they have around 40, graduates a year that come out of the construction careers program. It’s kind of an aggregating, you know, trades program. and then otherwise we are out and about in schools, mostly high schools working with CTE instructors and career counselors.

Jake: you know, we’ve got a variety of career fairs that are held, in different school districts. two weeks ago, we were actually, at a middle school as the first time our program was able to get into a middle school. Right. Because that’s the the realization is, here locally, the problem isn’t just like, well, I need I need a plumber tomorrow, but I also need, a plumber in ten years.

Jake: Right. And so we’re trying to bridge multiple gaps. And so, we’re, we’re seeing that these young kids nowadays. I mean, I graduated high school in 2007. I’m not that old, but, you know, a junior, a junior in high school nowadays has a lot more information at their hand, right, with, with with technology. And a lot of them already have their mind made up.

Jake: And so if you’re if they’re not are already trending towards considering a career in construction, we’ve lost them. And so this, this last 18 months, we’ve started to, to try to focus more towards, freshmen and sophomores and, and now even into the middle schools. So it’s, it’s a combination of all of those boots on the ground type activities.

Jake: and then it’s also marketing. Right. We’ll, we’ll, we promote at our home show, and then that’s where you get in front of the parents. Right? And then the parents are like, hey, you know, I don’t know if I want to spend $100,000 on you to go to college. Look at, you know, look at all these careers. You know, we’ve we’ve been looking for somebody to build our deck for two years and can’t hire anybody.

Jake: You know, you can go learn it and help your dad on the weekend kind of thing. Right?

Tim: Yeah. That’s so fantastic. I would just at JLC live, last week, and I was talking to a business owner whose son was, you know, had joining the business, and they told me that their career counselor had just harangued and pushed and prodded, you have to go to college. You have to go to college at go to college.

Tim: And they finally said, no, he’s going. And he said, no, he’s going in the trades. And so, I commend you for getting engaged with the career counselors. And I just want to say that I did the thumbs up with the marketing because I asked people all the time how much marketing are you doing to bring people into your business other than sales?

Tim: You know, it’s like you got to do that. So any resistance from the career counselors that you guys have have had and maybe some ideas on how to kind of get around that if someone’s trying to do something like this.

Jake: Yeah, absolutely. There’s still folks, right. Again, we’re in the Pacific Northwest right across from Seattle. You know, the tech industry, computers, you know, software, all of that. I mean, there are people over there that are 26, 27 years old making half $1 million a year for bringing Amazon. Right. And so, there are certainly, people within the schools and the counselors that are like, you know, college really can be beneficial.

Jake: And we’re of course, not saying that colleges is a bad thing. Right? I never want to be adversarial in anything. And that’s a quick side note, is that I’m also trying to bring, to the table that we do need college educated people in construction, right? We do. We need the brightest folks, whether they want to be a framer and and work out in the in the rain, in the sun, 12 months a year, or whether they want to be a structural engineer or an architect or a civil engineer or go work for a jurisdiction, you know, one of the biggest challenges we have right now is permitting.

Jake: Right? And so there’s all these places that that people can fit in, whether they’re pursuing college or not. but yeah, so it really housing the, the lack of attainability and affordability is so bad. And literally people cannot build or buy a home that they’re like, hey. And so that opens the door that we can say, hey, we’re we’re actively placing these kids.

Jake: It’s not just an arbitrary scholarship, not to disparage any other, you know, efforts across the country, but we’re not just giving a kid $500 to say, go pursue the trades. We’re actually putting them to work. Here’s $500 to go buy your boots, a tool belt, a hard hat, and and get to work.

Greg: So we don’t have the video, we don’t put the video up. But Jake’s got a water bottle and it says 50 pascals on it. Total building science nerd. I know that about Jake already, but are you able to incorporate any of that, that BSM beer knowledge that we have in into the habitat work?

Jake: Yeah, absolutely. So, BSM beer is an incredible movement. First off, the.

Greg: NBA stands for Building Science, by the way.

Jake: Most of the time it depends on how many.

Greg: Beers, right?

Jake: Yes. Yeah. So, I know Greg and I have virtually known each other online for quite some time on Instagram, and there’s a community there and, and on, you know, the green building and visor forum and things have created this beer and beer movement, ever since Covid. And it’s just a community engaged, you know. Persistent and and passionate group of people that are trying to better themselves and the industry at the same time.

Jake: So they’re chapters all over the country, large and small. And then, you know, you got catalysts construction. Really. Travis and Joe, got the symposiums going in Kansas City, and now they’re 4 or 5 of them a year across the country. So that’s a quick plug for BBS and beer. Fantastic movement. Anybody can be a part of it.

Jake: come learn a little bit. But in terms of our habitat homes, honestly, that’s part of my journey to joining habitat. so habitat for Humanity International, right, is kind of our governing, entity. And they’re actually asking all affiliates to build two Energy Star. And so, you know, there’s enough research out there to understand that it’s, again, it’s not just the the purchase price and that attainability the first time, but it’s the long term operational cost, maintenance cost.

Jake: And so how do you make something affordable beyond just that getting into the door and having the key right. How do you make sure that it’s affordable for 1020 years. Right. Some systems are going to have to be replaced. But but so yeah. So we’re we’re we’re looking we’re we’re not quite building the energy story yet, but I’m pursuing that.

Jake: And, you know, it can be a bit of a challenge, right? We we have tight budgets. but there are ways to approach building in a systematic way that you can get a good, efficient envelope without having to go to, you know, extremes and, and, and find a happy medium. And so that’s really part of the reason why I’m here is, is, looking at the economical side, looking at the science, looking at what code is requiring what a potential program like Energy Star is requiring and finding that that happy, comfortable, durable, efficient home, you know, kind of somewhere along the spectrum.

Tim: Yeah. I was thinking, many, many of us who have built kind of feel like Energy star is the bare minimum. Is that a fair assessment?

Jake: You know, I’d like to think so. you know, Washington State has a fairly, progressive energy code. It’s kind of us in Massachusetts that that lead the country, our codes heavily amended. so it is one of the most unique outside of California. But of course, they do everything you need. and so our, our, our new code just went into effect last week, actually March 15th.

Jake: And, I had finished all of the, modeling and take offs, but it’s, it’s very close to Energy Star already. All right. but you know, in terms of production builders, unfortunately, no. Right. Especially in a, in a, in a market that has, low inventory and high cost, they’re just they’re just trying to build as quick as they can and as cheaply as they can.

Tim: So I’m just kind of curious if someone out there around the country, you know, wants to do something like this foundation with their association or something like that, is that something that that you guys are willing to share, that sort of template, that blueprint of how you did that and how it’s done? Is that something that could be shared from one association to another?

Jake: The bone certainly could be shared. We’ve been working with our state association, the BW, the last couple of years on kind of what works and what doesn’t at a high level. because it’s it’s a statewide priority. Right? Really. I think it’s a national priority for Nahb. Right. And so they they provided a few kind of roundtable sessions where other associations within the state will will provide what what’s working, what’s not, you know, we are a volunteer run building association.

Jake: So I’m not going to say that it’s we have a perfect business plan with all these spreadsheets and data metrics and everything. Right. but yeah, we would be happy to share the, the essentials and, you know, reach out to, to, your local association or your state association or even the nahb. Right. They’re all, realizing that this is continually, going to be an important topic for years to come.

Tim: Yeah. So, I think I’m known around the country at least that, I don’t do a lot of Instagram and things like that, but I, I’ve, you’ve referred to it a couple times. Greg said something about it. So just, give listeners an idea about how they might connect with you in as many different platforms as you’re you have out there, because I’m sure it helps to have as many folks as possible feeding information into these chains.

Tim: And you learn something every time, I’m sure. So give us some idea of, of where you are on those platforms.

Jake: Yeah, absolutely. so yeah, I’m on, Instagram. My handle is Dogwood Building, the acronym for Building Bldg. And, I’m pretty involved on LinkedIn as well. that’s really the two main sources where, where I connect with people. and yeah, would be love to to chat. Greg and I have, sometimes random conversation on Instagram about a variety of topics.

Jake: But that’s the great thing, is that you can, you know, Greg and I, I think spoke online for a year and a half or so before we met in person at IBS this year. Right. And so you can you can connect and share ideas and thoughts and, you know, even disagree with people and say, well, why did you flash the window that way?

Jake: You know, and it’s just a great, great place to network and grow and learn.

Tim: Yeah. That’s fantastic. So if people want to get in touch with you, what’s the best way? Is it through the Instagram or, is there an email that’s better or.

Jake: Yeah, any, any spot on Instagram? I’m on there all the time. But yeah, my email is, just the letter J. Carter. kits, habitat.org. Happy to act and chat.

Tim: Yeah. That’s fantastic. So, thank you very, very much. You know, I really didn’t quite know what to expect as we were getting into things. Oh, by the way, if Greg ever says anything mean about me, you got to tell me, okay?

Jake: You know, and then I’ll do that moving forward. No, that’s.

Tim: But, I really appreciate it. I think what you’re doing is absolutely spectacular. I love the apprenticeship thing. And, really appreciate you taking a little bit of time today to be with us.

Jake: Yeah, it was my pleasure. Thanks for having me. any any anyone that like you, all that’s trying to disseminate and share information and make us all better is greatly appreciated. So happy to to spend a little time with you guys today.

Greg: Jake, thank you for joining us today on The Tim Faller Show. Keep up the good work with habitat and workforce development. It’s such important work and we are so grateful for that. And we’re looking forward to having you back on the show. What did you think, Tim? What’d you learn?

Tim: Oh, man, I you know, I said right there at the very end, I wasn’t quite sure where we were going with this. And of course, before we, you know, started recording everything, we talked about how we might go in some different directions and stuff. And, I mean, I tell people all the time on these podcasts, when you hear my my voice get excited, it’s real.

Tim: There’s no you can. I’m not I’m not trying to, you know, fake get everybody excited. I love of this apprenticeship program, the foundation that they set up, it sounds like they, you know, had these workforce development meetings and they and I can picture this, you know, all these guys, maybe some women in the, in the room talking about like, how do we make this work?

Tim: And then all the debating it goes on. But they came out of it with something that is incredible. I mean, you think about I wrote the number down 38 people have been through this apprenticeship program and 32 of them have stayed working with the companies that they were placed with. That’s a huge I mean, what is that? That’s almost like 90% or it maybe a little bit more than that of the people.

Tim: And if we could do that all over the country, it would be just an incredible impact on the workforce.

Greg: Yeah, this this episode certainly gave me the, the warm fuzzies, really excited. And that that number there blew me away. But also middle school. I love the fact that we’re getting into middle school. That was when woodshop was still a thing for me. I was able to, you know, we made, probably pinewood derby cars or something, but we still had a blast.

Greg: I think I still have a toolbox I made in, like the seventh grade. But yeah, I love the fact they’re getting into middle schools.

Tim: Yeah. I mean, and I just want to reinforce this, and this is something I have been preaching, if you will, for years and years and years, that it’s contractors are serious about being involved in workforce development. They have to get into the schools. And the example that I have is when I worked with the Connecticut homebuilders on this workforce development.

Tim: I visited one of the low tech schools, and the teacher there said the union sends somebody into the school every month, and they talk about all the opportunities that are out there. And then he said, and guess where the students go when they leave here? They go to the union. And then when I went to the contractors and said, look, you have to get involved in the schools, it was like, oh, we don’t have time for that.

Tim: You know, rah rah rah rah rah rah rah. We have to make the time and getting involved. And it isn’t just once a year going in and doing a presentation about everything. It’s it’s getting in there, meeting the kids, adults. If you have adult, you know, education, training programs and getting to know them and helping them understand what great opportunities are out there.

Tim: And again, suggest that I think part of the battle is getting into the schools and the career counselors, helping them understand some of the the real possibilities for income as well as consistency of of jobs, because we can be really full by what’s across the sound. I mean, Jake mentioned, you know, 26 years old, making $500,000 a year.

Tim: That’s not everybody. There might be a couple of people that are doing that. We hear that story all the time and everybody thinks, oh, anybody can do that. Not so. And so we have to get back to reality and get people grounded as to what what is really possible for all of us who are good people. We’re smart.

Tim: We love working with our hands. We can make a great living out of this business, but people out the general world don’t doesn’t know that. And we have to tell that story.

Greg: I couldn’t agree more about getting into schools. you know, we were just at JLC last week, and, we were so fortunate because the vocational schools brought them to us. There was tons of students there on Friday. so, like, we’re I’m, I’m certainly grateful for meeting who I got to meet, that day. Once again, we would like to thank Jake Carter from habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County for joining us.

Greg: And thank you for listening to another episode of the Tim Faller Show.

Tim: And remember, at the Tim Faller Show, we’re working hard to eliminate it is what it is from your vocabulary.

Greg: I think this has been another episode of The Tim Faller Show. Would you like to hire Tim or myself to help fast track your growth? Please send me an email. Greg Remodelers advantage.com for more information about our Production Manager and Design Manager roundtables. To get more information about consulting for your team, or if you have ideas for the podcast, please subscribe to the show, comment on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Greg: Thank you so much for listening.