MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The state of Vermont is encouraging young people to go into the construction trades.
On Thursday, Republican Gov. Phil Scott highlighted a proclamation he signed earlier this month declaring October Careers in Construction Month.
Scott is trying to overcome another facet of the state’s well-publicized demographic challenge that includes a shrinking workforce. Scott says the state has 14,000 fewer people in the labor force than at the state’s peak a decade ago.
Scott says that without enough people working in the trades, there won’t be homes to buy, bridges to cross or parks to visit.
Scott and other officials spoke at a Montpelier news conference of some of the programs where young people can learn construction trades by taking advantage of, for example, paid apprenticeships.
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