Colin Lane of Metro Walls demonstrates to his crew how to use a track bender.

Concord, NH – New Hampshire’s construction industry is facing a critical workforce shortage with thousands of well-paying jobs going unfilled.

Careers in construction offer high-wage, high-tech opportunities with growth potential, all right here in our state. Career and Technical Education Centers (CTE), trade schools and apprenticeships are creating a greater-trained workforce for skilled trades occupations, but the need still exists.

Preston Hunter, Vice President with Bedford, NH based Eckman Construction has experienced the shortage and believes that getting young people excited about construction is a great place to start. “There are great career opportunities in the trades,” says Hunter. “A career in construction teaches important life skills like responsibility, teamwork, and pride in your work. Those are skills that are transferable to any career.” 

Partnering with Associated Builders and Contractors of NH/VT, NHPBS and I Build NH created a series of instructional videos launched this month that tell the story of the trades through the voice of local tradespeople.

“Our goal is to inspire young people to explore careers in the trades by introducing them to individuals and their crafts,” says Peter Frid NHPBS President and CEO. “New Hampshire needs to grow its construction workforce and this series shows a variety of occupations and the rewards associated with them. Anyone can learn something from this series of videos.”

The instructional videos serve a purpose beyond instruction - they demonstrate the skills of those who proudly chose careers in construction in the Granite State.

“It’s inspiring to watch these New Hampshire construction professionals work on New Hampshire jobs sites,” says Jennifer Landon, New Hampshire’s Construction Sector Advisor for I Build NH. “These women and men take pride in building structures, and infrastructures, that matter to the communities where they live. Just think of how rewarding it must be to say to your family and friends,‘I built that!’”  

Colin Lane, General Superintendent and Safety Director with MetroWalls, was pleased to participate in the video series. “Projects like these videos are essential and necessary to help build our workforce,” says Lane. “I enjoy knowing this information will be getting passed down to our youth.”

Doug Cullen, Manager of Career Services with Pinkerton Academy, believes the PBS videos provide students a real and local sense as to what's possible for lucrative careers in construction. In addition, the videos serve as valuable tools for teachers to be used to augment instruction.

“This resource can also be highly useful to instructors at Middle and High School levels that don't have construction-focused lab facilities and rely on these videos to demonstrate best-practices in New Hampshire's construction-focused industries,” says Cullen.

The NHPBS instructional videos and accompanying curriculum are available via the PBS Learning Media. To learn more about this project or how you can get involved, contact jennifer@abcnhvt.org.