By Trevor McNally

“Investing in career and technical education is just smart.” So says an op-ed co-penned by Biddeford Representative Ryan Fecteau and City of Portland Mayor Kate Snyder, which was published in the Portland Press Herald earlier this week on March 11.

And we at the Maine Mechanical Contractors Directory know this statement to be true. The issue seems to be coming up time and time again, whether in terms of educational initiatives or Maine’s impending workforce crisis.

But, as evidenced by this op-ed, folks in the state legislature and in local governments at last seem to be not only recognizing the urgency of the situation, but taking action by introducing legislation to address it.

Specifically, those bills are L.D. 859 and L.D. 1947, which were sponsored by Rep. Fecteau and would “put forth two different bond proposals that would allow for capital improvements and equipment upgrades at career and technical education centers across the state”, and a third sponsored by Sen. Erin Herbig (D-Belfast) “which would increase career and technical education investment through a general fund appropriation.”

Maine residents are already experiencing incredibly long wait times to see any contractors, and especially plumbing and HVAC technicians. To make matters worse, the large portion of the population about to retire- whose age-group makes up the better part of these skilled tradesman- are about to leave a tremendous void that the people of Maine will be left scrambling to fill.

Also, our entire nation- and indeed the entire world- will soon be feeling the squeeze as more and more jobs become automated. The effect that automation will have on employment in this country cannot be undersold. But, as Fecteau and Snyder point out, there are important jobs that will always be in demand that will never be automated.

“It is so important that we pair workforce needs with skilled employees. One way to do that is by preparing students for the jobs that will always need to be done and that will never be automated – welding, plumbing, carpentry, the list goes on.”

Now more than ever it has become crucial to provide more funding to career and technical education programs. But it’s also important to change the collective consciousness by encouraging students young and old that they don’t necessarily need to pursue a university education. There are plenty of great jobs with lots of money to be made in the trades, and many programs- like the ones mentioned in the op-ed, or like the earn-while-you-learn apprenticeship program provided by the United Association Local 716- to fit their individual interests.

To read Fecteau and Snyder’s op-ed in full, click here.

To learn more about UA Local 716’s apprenticeship program, click here.