Northern Indiana’s construction industry touts paid apprenticeships, AI-proof jobs
High school students sold on the traditional college-to-professional career track face the prospect of graduating into an AI-shattered job market.
Local employers, labor and education officials hope to pivot many graduates onto another path — Northern Indiana’s booming construction industry.
”White collar occupations are beginning to feel the effects of artificial intelligence, particularly in fields such as finance, accounting, legal services, technology, marketing and administrative roles,“ said Kevin Comerford, the Construction Advancement Foundation’s director of professional development. ”Skilled trades remain largely insulated from widespread automation.“
Shawn O’Brien, executive director of South Bend’s Michiana Area Construction Industry Advancement Fund, said the past 20 years have been difficult for hiring in the industry.
”Worker demand is at an all-time high, having never fully recovered from the 2008 downturn and older baby boomer generation workers retiring,“ he said.
All hands are needed on deck for everyday construction of logistics and e-commerce warehousing, road and highway construction, in addition to major construction projects in the works and planning stages:
- Distribution centers for FedEx in Gary and John Deere near Lowell
- Gary’s 145,000-square-foot Lake County Convention Center
- Nippon Steel’s $3.1 billion modernization of U.S. Steel, Gary Works
- New construction and renovation of hospitals in South Bend and Crown Point
- Notre Dame University’s construction of $500 million research facilities
- New Carlisle’s $3.5 billion, 680-acre electric vehicle battery plant
- Multi-billion-dollar Amazon data centers and related NIPSCO energy infrastructure investments in Northern Indiana.
O’Brien said construction jobs come with perks as well.
”The union construction story is a great one to tell — skilled training, high pay and excellent benefits, and in some apprenticeship programs, an associate’s degree as well,“ he said.
The State of Indiana is aware of the need. It funded vocational education to the tune of $222 million this school year, said Allison Kuehr, associate commissioner for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
O’Brien said apprentices also get paid as part of the free programs.
”It’s a fantastic way to begin a lifelong career, without the debt of higher education,“ he said.
Holistic approach
Afshin Zahraee, Purdue University Northwest associate professor, said recruiting new talent requires engaging students early and convincing them of long-term career opportunities.
”Regional high schools partner with workforce organizations and trade foundations to introduce students to skilled construction careers through hands-on events, apprenticeship information sessions, and construction career days that bring industry professionals into schools,“ he said.
O’Brien said that outreach must include all students.
”I’m old enough to remember mandatory high school shop classes where everyone was exposed to learning the pride of using your hands to create and build,“ he said. ”High school CTE (career and technical education) programs today do a good job of introducing those students to the basics of construction, but unfortunately, they only reach those students who choose to participate in the programs.“
Other students might benefit from learning about the trades, O’Brien said.
”We are losing the opportunity to reach the rest of the students who think secondary education is their only and best pathway to a career,“ he said.
State educators are opening up high school completion prerequisites to include credit for work-based learning, under the Graduation Pathways and state earn-and-learn programs.
Kuehr said about 260,000 Indiana students take some form of CTE classes before deciding on a college-bound or trades-bound curriculum. Of those 11,610 are enrolled in a building trades program this school year.
”There is a growing future in skilled trades work to be electricians, carpenters, plumbers, pipefitters, ironworkers, millwrights and operating engineers,“ Zahraee said.
Lisa Daugherty, president and CEO of Valparaiso’s Center of Workforce Innovations, said the READY NWI initiative connects students with the tools they need to thrive as adults.
”We serve as a backbone organization aligning K-12 area schools, higher education, employers and other community partners to ensure students graduate into high-demand careers,“ she said.
The nonprofit has helped more than 7,500 students at 28 schools in 43 school districts.
”In the past year alone, the Region recorded more than 94,000 unique job postings and demographic shifts in the working-age population, signaling a sustained demand for workers,“ she said.
Career dress rehearsal
Porter County Career and Technical Education in Valparaiso provides juniors and seniors construction trades coursework in carpentry, electrical, HVAC and plumbing. The organization offers opportunities for industry certifications and even dual credit toward high school graduation and college.
Area schools, like those in Chesterton’s Duneland School Corp., ”offer internship, work-study and career exploration programs that place students in real work environments, giving them valuable workplace experience and insight into career options tied directly to their interests,“ Daugherty said.
Derek Bodley, director of the Gary Area Career Center serving Gary and River Forest schools, said his CTE facility provides a pipeline to career opportunities.
”It’s a dress rehearsal for students who are still trying to figure it out,“ he said. ”We try to reach our students first in middle school. We do an interest assessment to direct them to areas specific to their interest that they might be successful at.“
CTE isn’t just for students for whom a building trade job is the best they can hope for.
”We have young people who are interested in college-bound careers but first want to go directly into the workforce,“ Bodley said. ”Once they’ve completed their two years here, they have more options than if they rushed into post-secondary life, only to find out later they are working in a field that they’re not really passionate about.“
Ben Modlin, chair of Mishawaka High School’s building trades and industrial technology programs, said his students get direct hands-on learning.
”Our students help build a house from the ground up every year,“ he said.
Students are paired with professional building trades workers to do everything from carpentry to electrical wiring and tile installation.
Mishawaka’s CTE programs have grown to the point where the school may soon hire another teacher.
Modlin said one of his recent students, who came from a family of college graduates, turned down higher education. The student had high enough grades to be salutatorian of his graduating class.
”He didn’t want the debt,“ Modlin said. ”He’s a carpenter now. I expect he will go into business for himself, hire a crew and make some real money.“
Phillip Scott, a Larson-Danielson Construction carpenter, said he first became interested in the trades through his high school vocational training.
”That gave me hands-on experience and helped me see that construction was something I wanted to do as a career,“ Scott said. ”We toured job sites, and that is how I first learned about Larson-Danielson.“
Since graduation, Scott has worked full time in the carpenters union and has earned a welding certification.
”Learning new skills has helped me become more valuable on job sites and continues moving my career forward,“ Scott said. ”The trades have given me a clear career path and something I can be proud of.“
Getting the word out
Many high schools hold career day events or send students off campus to regional job fairs, including the Trades Day sponsored by the South Bend Chamber and the University of Notre Dame.
Comerford said the Construction Advancement Foundation hosts an annual skilled-trades show in Lake County where construction apprenticeship programs offer a hands-on approach. Students get to operate a virtual backhoe, put on an ironworker’s tool belt and a fall-protection harness and walk iron beams.
Larson-Danielson, a La Porte-based general commercial contractor, recruits at high schools and regional job fairs, partners with chambers of commerce, union training centers and local universities to support their workforce.
John Dudlicek, vice president and chief operating office at Highland’s Grimmer Construction, said he goes to high school career days to encourage young people to give his industry a chance.
”We stay in touch with labor organizations to be on the lookout for new people interested,“ he said. ”Gen Zers are showing much more interest in seeing there is a nice career in the trades to make good money to raise a nice family and show talent.“
He said some of his recruits only went to college for a couple of years but now are making ”good money“ working for him.
”(They) are going to have wonderful careers,“ Dudlicek said.
Derek Dodd, Indiana director of the Central Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters, said winning parents and educators over is part of the issue. His organization hosts career exploration nights for school officials and parents.
”Parents are reluctant for their children to work in construction until they find out how much they can earn and the skills we give that no one can take from you,“ Dodd said.
More than handy work
Kate Lee, executive director of education and workforce for the South Bend Regional Chamber, said it’s not all manual labor.
”Trades employers still need accountants and estimators and sales people,“ she said. ”A lot of people start with an apprenticeship program and go on to a bachelor’s degree in project management. Some want to start their own businesses.“
Tim Ervin, strategic initiatives director for Gary’s Powers and Sons Construction, said choosing trades can also mean going to college.
”Powers needs people in our offices as much as we need people working in the field,“ Ervin said. ”We need project engineers and managers who have college training and the past work experience.“
Some workers start off in trades jobs right after high school but later get a degree.
”We have someone who went to trade school, worked a trade and has gone to Ivy Tech and got an associate’s degree in construction management,“ Ervin said. ”So higher aspirations and his work, which gives him the soft skills, are making him a better job superintendent.“
PNW’s department of construction science and organizational leadership offers degrees for students with apprenticeships or associate degrees to advance their education, ”without starting over — reinforcing that trade careers can lead to leadership and management roles,“ Zahraee said.
Georges El-Howayek, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering department at Valparaiso University, said they offer degree majors in civil and electrical engineering, among others and deliver a 100 percent job placement rate for students.
Their students can test the skills they learn in the classroom outside it too.
During the university’s 2025 spring break, students went to Guatemala. They partnered with a nonprofit organization to install a water filtration and purification system to provide clean drinking water and were returning to continue their work this spring.
Apprenticeships with benefits
Joe Gambill, training director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 153 of South Bend, said they recruit at high schools and offer apprenticeships paying $20.70 an hour with full medical benefits.
He said those benefits resonate with Gen Zers wary of college debt.
”They would rather get out and earn money,“ Gambill said. ”Applications for our apprenticeships have gone from 300 to over 1,000 a year.“
Large-scale construction projects are one factor in that increase.
”With the advent of data centers, there has been a huge need for qualified electricians,“ Gambill said. ”We have over 1,600 traveling electricians from all over the country, including our 1,100 members working on our area projects.“
Dodd said offering a fair wage and benefits helps attract apprentices.
”Our first-year apprentices are north of $20 per hour along with a benefit package on top of that — employer paid pension and annuities, health insurance adds up to around $34 to $35 an hour and in some areas $40 an hour for a total package,“ he said.
Scott said he worked as an apprentice with the carpenters’ union the summer between his high school junior and senior years.
”That summer gave me real job site experience,“ he said. ”It helped me build confidence and grow my skills.“
Comerford said about 2,500 Northwest Indiana residents are now enrolled in more than 30 federally regulated and approved National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee debt-free, earn-while-you-learn apprenticeships across Lake, Porter, La Porte and St. Joseph counties.
”Even with today’s low unemployment rate, there is typically a strong pool of applicants competing for apprenticeship openings,“ he said.
Future proof
Larson-Danielson considers the growth and future of skilled trades talent vital, said Heather CyGan, a human resource generalist, and Nick Larson, vice president.
Larson-Danielson employs 75 percent of its workforce as union laborers, carpenters, cement masons, bricklayers, ironworkers, operating engineers and Teamsters.
”A career in the skilled trades is among the most future-proof career paths available today,“ Comerford said.
Technology won’t soon replace hands-on tasks, but it should make some of the work easier.
”Digital tools, automation and AI-driven planning are improving efficiency, precision and project coordination,“ Zahraee said. ”But they are enhancing, rather than replacing, the need for human trades skills.“
That might make trades jobs more attractive, Comerford said, because wages will rise if the labor supply stays limited and demand increases.
”As technology continues to reshape the broader labor market, the value of hands-on skills and real-world problem-solving in construction will only continue to rise,“ Comerford said. ▪
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