Walk onto any active construction site and you will hear the same complaints about young workers that superintendents made thirty years ago. Millennials are lazy, entitled, and glued to their phones. They want remote work, extra pay for entry-level tasks, and a trophy just for showing up. The stereotypes follow them onto job sites, into […]
The building materials industry runs on people who know lumber, components, and the yards that move them. Careers in this industry look different from software or finance: they start on a loading dock or at a counter, they span decades, and they reward people who learn every part of the business. Knowing how to buy
The share of high school graduates heading to trade school instead of a four-year university is climbing, and the construction industry is the biggest beneficiary. Enrollment in vocational-focused community colleges rose 16 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, and the number of students studying construction at two-year programs is up
When a marketing executive moves from one building materials company to another, the announcement tells a larger story about how careers in this industry actually progress. The typical arc starts in sales, moves through product marketing and operations, and ends in a leadership role where one person shapes the brand for an entire distribution network.
A scholarship changes what a student can attempt. A backpack full of notebooks changes whether a student starts the year ready. A Hawaii-based lumber company runs both kinds of programs, and together they show how a building materials business with a long history in construction can move the needle for students across the islands. High
Skilled trades scholarships are multiplying across the construction industry. Employers, industry associations, and family-owned companies are funding training for students who want careers in manufacturing, construction, maintenance, or forestry. Programs that began as anniversary gestures often grow into multi-year commitments, and past winners are invited to reapply, so support follows students through several years of
Construction and manufacturing companies face a stubborn problem: the skilled workers retiring out of the trades are not being replaced at the same rate. One answer is showing up at company headquarters, not in the classroom. During Engineers Week, an equipment manufacturer opened its facilities to local schools, hosted a robotics championship on its factory
The construction and manufacturing industries measure progress in milestones. Sweden marked one when it opened a certified passive house preschool, a first for that building standard, and similar firsts arrive every year in other sectors. Workforce development has its own milestones, and one of the most instructive sits in Monaghan, Ireland: a nine-month OEM engineering
Small and mid-sized contractors wear many hats. The same person who bids a job also buys materials, schedules crews, and handles invoices, often from a truck cab or a kitchen table. In 2026, a national home improvement chain expanded its program for these professionals with job lot ordering, digital quoting, spend reports, and a three-tier
Stakes carry more weight on a construction site than their size suggests. They fix property corners before excavation, hold tomato plants upright through a growing season, and keep concrete forms aligned while the mix sets. A stake is a simple object, but choosing the right material, driving it to the correct depth, and pulling it
