Craftsman Center, a new trades education program, is underway in Taylor.
Partnered with local plumbing businesses S&D Plumbing and Coppera Plumbing and Commercial Services, Craftsman Center seeks to help fill a workforce deficit by making construction trades more attractive to high school students and adults.
Sam Dowdy Sr., owner and operator of S&D Plumbing, said Craftsman Center will allow students to be able to earn their tradesman plumbing license prior to graduating high school. The license lets the holder earn anywhere from $20 to $30 an hour in their first plumbing job.
“If we can teach one kid the trade, look what we could do for that family for generations,” Dowdy said. “It takes so long for the person to get into the plumbing industry, we’re trying to change that a little bit.”
On Aug. 11, the two businesses signed contracts with the Department of Labor to be able to offer the pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs to high school students, which was ultimately the creation of the Craftsman Center.
The program began teaching plumbing classes at Taylor High School last month.
While the program only offers plumbing lessons currently, it has a long term vision to offer multiple pathways.
Craftsman Center also will offer plumbing apprentice classes to adults starting Oct. 3.
Besides simply offering trade licenses, Craftsman Center plans to teach business skills to its students. Lindsie O’Neill Almquist, president of Craftsman Center, said providing training on non-trade items like finances is essential to meeting the needs of their students.
“Craftsman Center is really a grassroots effort to focus on redefining the trades,” Almquist said. “It’s not like a student, whether it is a high school student or an adult, will come through and just know the trade. We want them to also have entrepreneurship leadership, so they can develop a business of their own.”
Dowdy believes making trade skills like plumbing more attractive to high school students is necessary because there are not enough workers to meet demands stemming from frequent population growth.
He said the deficit in construction trades is due to the popular notion that high school students need to attend college.
“The story is changing, and it has been changing for the last 10 years or more,” Dowdy said. “Schools are recognizing that this is not very smart, so we’re in this little nowhere zone. (Craftsman Center), if we set it up properly, can have a huge effect and make a huge impact on the community.”
Currently, 12 students have been attending the Center’s first stage of plumbing classes taught by longtime plumber L.C. Parker. Classes meet twice a week either at the high school or Coppera’s lab site.
