KENT, Conn.—With the number of skilled tradespeople declining and demand for their services increasing, educational focus is shifting from an overwhelming emphasis on going to college toward a recognition that satisfying careers can be found in traditional employment.
The shortage of skilled tradespeople is being driven primarily by an aging workforce. With more than a quarter of current skilled trade workers aged 55 or older, retirement accounts for about 40 percent of all annual job openings. For every five who retire, only two new workers enter the field, and this foreshadows a massive loss of institutional knowledge.
This disparity has caught the attention of everyone from former U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who spokes recently before the Salisbury Forum about the need for educational innovation, to local tradespeople like Mason Lord, who initiated the TradesUp program that introduces local youth to a wide variety of vocations.
Now, a desire to spark enthusiasm for manual trades has spread to the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association. Since its inception in 1984, the organization has focused on educating the public about early industrial and agricultural methods, but now it is embracing young “apprentices” in a new steam program.
“We’re trying to lead CAMA in the direction of education,” said Jack Hayward, president of its board of directors, during last week’s Fall Festival. “We’re building a team of young adults that are learning all kinds of skills in our Industrial Hall.”
Many of CAMA’s members are retired engineers and are eager to expose young proteges to different career paths. “We’re a bunch of retired engineers interested in making this more than a silly hobby,” Hayward continued. “Next year we will start the steam program as a way to generate interest among young people, to help them understand the past and inspire the future.”
Frank Vopasek, CAMA’s chief stationary engineer in the Industrial Hall, is among the enthusiasts. Currently chief engineer at Hackensack University Medical Center, he has been a teacher and steam engineer for more than 30 years, according to Hayward. “Besides that, he has played Santa all over the place every Christmas since 1980. He is even in the Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving.”
With twinkling eyes, a white beard and a face filled with bonhomie, Vopasek is the embodiment of Santa, but also an inviting presence for young people captivated by the big machines in Industrial Hall. Vopasek says the restored machines are not simply a vestige of the past, but living history. He asserts that the Industrial Hall, with its 22 operational vintage machines, “is the greatest physics lab on the face of the Earth,” taking one form of energy and converting it to another.
“It’s a great motivator,” he said. “The kids can see all the moving parts, they learn teamwork, take pride in working together and getting their hands dirty. The kids who come here are champing at the bit—sometimes they are here from 9 a.m. until midnight. They take ownership of the building and can explain the nuances of the machines to visitors.”
Brandishing a brightly colored cloth, he said, “This is an old-fashioned apprenticeship. Everyone starts out with a rag in his hand, polishing the machines and works up from there.” He said some of his former students have gone on to engineering careers.
CAMA may be implementing its own youth program, but it has already provided the space for a neighboring trades project—TradesUp, started by local contractor Mason Lord.
TradesUp, which holds two SPARK! festivals title each year, offers the opportunity for young people to try the trades alongside professionals who love what they do and want to spark interest in the trades. Typically about 30 trades, ranging from carpentry and house painting, to plumbing and electrical work, masonry to wall building, are demonstrated during the festivals.
SPARK! will be held on the CAMA ground Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
