Construct Tomorrow event builds interest in trade careers – Duluth News Tribune

DULUTH — Students have long been encouraged to obtain a college degree, but that trend is shifting with the growing need for workers in building trades.

“Traditional educational pathways are no longer the only road to a successful career,” said Jack Carlson of the Duluth Building Trades Council. “Apprenticeship programs offer unique blending of on-the-job training and classroom instruction, providing individuals with the skills and experiences that they need to thrive in their chosen fields.”

Area high school students attended the 2025 Construct Tomorrow event Tuesday and Wednesday at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, where they gained hands-on experience of the work performed in building and construction trade careers.

The event taught students about the high-demand paid apprenticeships and living wage careers vital to the region’s economic growth. Additionally, Duluth Construction Career Night on Tuesday was open to the public for those interested in building and construction trade careers.

“We provide opportunities for individuals from all backgrounds,” Carlson said. “Breaking down barriers and creating a more equitable job market by offering careers and construction apprentices to help build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society.”

Attendees engaged in activities involving wire circuits, troweling cement, setting tile and more as they moved through a series of stations staffed by representatives of 15 local union apprenticeship programs in the construction field.

“Construction is one of northeast Minnesota’s key industries, with over 1,000 construction firms and more than 7,300 jobs across the region,” said Elena Foshay, director of Duluth Workforce Development.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced bipartisan bills, including the American Apprenticeship Act and the Apprenticeship to College Act, to help more people get the skills they need to work in high-demand industries where they could earn a living wage and have good benefits.

Denfeld High School sophomore Marquis Ealy tried the excavator simulator during the event with the help of Operating Engineers Local 49 career navigator Akeethia Lloyd. Ealy was tasked with bench loading.

“It actually has a motion sensor seat, so it’s supposed to give that real field experience for him as he loads trucks,” Lloyd explained. “From honking the horn to communicating with the truck drivers, all the way down to learning the basic functions.”

A crane operator by trade, Lloyd provided support and mentorship to the students — and many were surprised by the possibilities of the field, she said.

“If I can learn this, you can learn this,” Lloyd said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, what it is that you were doing prior, you can learn this industry.”

Local 49 offers the Operating Engineers Pathway program for those interested in learning how to operate and maintain equipment. Roughly 740 people undergo the apprentice program annually across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

“The demand is always high,” said Local 49 business agent Eric Gulland. “We’ve got a lot of older roads and bridges in the state that need to be rebuilt.”

Gulland guided students on how to use another simulator of an excavator that would be found on a typical road job, noting that apprentices often get signed on with contractors immediately.

Gulland said that while they might not get “a ton of seat time” right away, apprentices may earn an estimated 70% of the journey worker’s scale, or around $40 per hour, plus benefits.

“Some people say it’s a job,” Gulland said. “There’s a lot of people that like to work with their hands, not run a computer or whatever. So you can make a living at this. It is a career.”

Local 633 training center coordinator Moke Eaglefeathers manned the cement masons’ booth. Attendees were mostly surprised to learn about the vast array of projects cement is used for, such as building bridges, skyscrapers and stadiums.

Eaglefeathers has worked in masonry for 27 years since moving from a small town in Montana at 18 years old.

“I wanted a little bigger world than living on the reservation,” Eaglefeathers said, highlighting the different opportunities for advancement. “I’ve moved from being a regular concrete finisher — building roads, curb and gutter — to a foreman, and now I’m the training coordinator for our union.”

Union organizer Jeremy Lambert guided attendees as they gave the steel erection process a try at the Hermantown Iron Workers Local 512 booth.

The station featured a beam over an image depicting the laydown yard at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center where worksite equipment is stored. The $900 million project was just one example of the type of work contracted by the union.

Lambert anticipates iron workers will be busy with similar projects over the next decade, including the

Sofidel

paper plant’s $780 million expansion, Minnesota Power’s upcoming power distribution hub project and the

Lakeview 333

mixed-use building near Essentia in downtown Duluth.

“We actually have ongoing recruiting every day,” Lambert said. “As a union organizer, I travel the state doing that. We definitely are gonna need another 100 members in the next year or two.”