he construction industry’s need for skilled human workers continues to grow, and organizations in Alaska are doing their part to encourage young people to learn about careers in the trades.

Alaska has a growing need for workers in construction, transportation, and maritime industries. According to the Associated Training Services report, Regional Construction Trends: Where the Jobs Are Growing Fastest, forty-one states added construction jobs in the past year, showing nationwide growth, and Alaska’s 20.3 percent growth was the highest percentage increase.

While companies are hiring, however, many in the younger generation face significant barriers to entering the workforce.

YouScience’s 2024 Workforce Report: Fixing America’s Broken Talent Pipeline—which highlights employers’ hiring needs, perceptions of student readiness for the workforce, and preferences for educational qualifications versus practical, on-the-job training—notes that 86 percent of employers report that entry-level talent requires substantial or moderate additional training to be successful in their roles.

In addition to lacking certain skills, barriers to employment can also include housing instability, a lack of training, and limited support networks. Working individually and together, however, Alaska businesses can provide these potential employees with a path to success.

“Alaska is facing a huge workforce shortage with all of the infrastructure projects coming in, which is going to require all of us working collaboratively to find solutions,” says Alicia Maltby, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors of Alaska (ABC-Alaska). “There are so many job possibilities coming into the state in the next couple of years, and all of these projects require skilled workers. But we have to have the workforce to make it happen.”

Another trade association, Associated General Contractors of Alaska (AGC), has a Workforce Development Committee focused on ways to bolster existing training and apprenticeship programs. One of these is We Build Alaska, a collaborative campaign by AGC of Alaska’s 501(c)(6) nonprofit, the Construction Industry Progress Fund. The goal of the campaign is to motivate and engage the next generation of workers, making them aware of career possibilities in the construction trades. It also provides access to local training programs as well as information on wages, training paths, apprenticeship opportunities, and more.

The We Build Alaska website maps out career paths for carpenters, ironworkers, laborers, truckers, equipment operators, electricians, plumbers and pipefitters, sheet metal and HVAC workers, and cement masons. Within each listing are job descriptions, wages, requirements to enter the field and links to classes, apprenticeships, training programs, and more.

Under the We Build Alaska umbrella, a new AGC program began on March 1, 2026, called Work Ready Alaska. AGC and Covenant House Alaska (CHA) will be working together to recruit youth at risk of homelessness or long-term instability to participate in a life skills curriculum. Designed for Alaskans aged 16–24 and aimed at transportation-related trades, the program includes youth who live at CHA in addition to young people in underserved communities who lack access to career advancement. Students will be provided with foundational employability skills training; vocational and technical training; employer and training partnerships, including apprenticeships and advanced training tracks; targeted recruitment; and wraparound support focusing on housing access, mental health, job coaching, and transportation assistance.

As the state’s largest nonprofit organization supporting youth experiencing homelessness and survivors of human trafficking, CHA offers emergency housing and a transitional living program. It also has a workforce training facility called Covey Academy. Through the academy, CHA helps young people gain the technical skills and the life skills they need to find employment.

According to Joe Hemphill, CHA’s chief development and external affairs officer, the organization provides access to training in the hospitality, culinary, and cosmetology industries, as well as training in the maritime, heavy equipment, and transportation trades following the national Jobs for America’s Graduates curriculum.

The program has proven to be a success: 240 young people gained or maintained jobs in 2025, and 252 young people engaged in onsite education programs. When CHA deployed its curriculum in Bethel three years ago, graduation rates improved by 40 percent in less than one year.

In addition to having each student complete the basic Work Ready Alaska certification, CHA is also tasked with helping thirty students to earn certifications and thirty students to obtain relevant employment, as well as help thirty youth enter apprenticeships or advanced training.

There is no cost to participants, who are required to take thirty hours of online learning or engagement for an estimated three to six weeks.

“In between these lessons are in-person interactions focusing on conflict resolution, mock interviews, CPR training, and life skills like getting a driver’s license or opening a bank account,” says Hemphill. “We then introduce students to a more specific training program in the field in which they’ve shown interest, which may mean online training to be a flagger, joining a trade union, or entering into an apprenticeship program.”

These seemingly simple steps can be insurmountable hurdles for youth who’ve grown up without a supportive environment. “While many people can go onto multiple websites and figure out what path to take to get a job, others face the psychological hurdle of thinking that they are not good enough or won’t qualify for these positions,” Hemphill says. “It can also be overwhelming to know where to start. So many people are missing so many opportunities because they have such anxiety about how to start the process.”

To augment what Covey Academy has achieved, Hemphill says CHA is partnering with AGC because the trade association’s member base gets jobs through state bids, and they will need workers to fill those positions. CHA will also be embedding the Work Ready Alaska life skills training program into AGC’s We Build Alaska brand, making it even easier to reach out to potential prospects. The organizations are in the process of co-marketing a series of digital ads targeting the 16–24 age group.

Hemphill notes that there is also a massive opportunity for employer partners to become involved in the Work Ready program.

“As we are upscaling young people with life skills, it’s just as important that employers recognize that we need to change the ways that we’re managing these young people,” he says. “It would be worthwhile for employers to do some reading about being trauma-informed, so that they could approach conflict with more empathy.”

Hemphill hopes that employers will recognize the Work Ready Alaska certificate and provide guaranteed interviews for its graduates as a result.

“Our hope is that this project works so well that it becomes a feeder to young people for jobs in the trades, and that fewer youth have to try to get to jobs after being on the street,” he says. “Our ultimate goal is to have fewer young people who need the immense amount of resources that are required to pull them out of homelessness and into stability.”

Representing one-third of the 2,400 registered apprentices in the state, ABC-Alaska knows exactly how important a ready and able workforce is.

“We’re facing a labor shortage, and we need to get new workers trained as quickly as possible,” explains Maltby. “We’re especially facing a shortage of journeymen in the electrical and mechanical fields.”

ABC-Alaska offers training in fifteen different trades, and more than 100 students graduate each year, representing one of the largest non-union apprenticeship training programs in the state.

“We used to see a lot of guys who tried college and it wasn’t working for them, or second-career guys, or those coming out of the military,” says Maltby. “But in the last two years, we’ve seen a lot more kids coming out of high school. It’s a real mix.”

ABC-Alaska partners with Junior Achievement of Alaska to visit elementary and middle schools and interest kids in construction trades. It also recruits at job fairs and talks to students who may be looking for a different path.

“A four-year degree program doesn’t work for everyone,” says Maltby. “Young people going into the trades get paid while they’re going through training and get out of school with no debt and high-figure salaries.”

Unfortunately, she observes, many of the students pursuing this career path may not have the soft skills they need to get a job and succeed in a workplace. For this reason, ABC-Alaska is introducing a soft skills training program to teach students how to write a résumé, handle a job interview, and even earn a GED.

“This is a new program for us that we’re just rolling out,” says Maltby, noting that most traditional schools don’t have the resources to offer these courses. “Talking to educators, they tell us that things like GED prep are lacking; those classes aren’t being offered in the community as frequently, so students don’t have the access they need—and to get into any of our apprenticeship programs, they need a GED or high school diploma.”

ABC-Alaska has established an education fund to cover this training and is partnering with other companies to teach things like interpersonal business skills, communication skills, résumé and interview skills, and more.

“The possibilities are endless once it’s fully up and running,” says Maltby. “We’re excited about what opportunities this can bring. And this is not just for those going into apprenticeships; if a journeyman in the trades wants to learn Excel so they can start their own business or learn how to write a proposal or do billing, we’ll be able to help.”

She adds, “We’re slow rolling it, but it’s coming.”

ABC-Alaska plans to let its member companies send apprentices to the program for free and to offer a discount for other workers who want to attend. With luck, grant money may extend the program to high school students interested in the trades.

“We’ve received really positive feedback from our member companies, the community, and our board and staff about offering trainings outside of ABC apprenticeship skills as a way to increase employment in the trades,” says Maltby.

“If young people are prevented from getting into skilled trades because of a lack of training, we’re really doing a disservice to students who haven’t had opportunities presented to them because of these barriers,” she adds. “We decided if there was a way to provide a solution, we’d find it.”