Civic Warriors

Building Brighter Futures With Home Builders Institute

Civic Warriors Episode 67: Stories of Success at HBI

In this episode of Civic Warriors, we sit down with Ed Brady, President and CEO of the Home Builders Institute (HBI). Ed shares his journey to HBI, the importance of their mission, and how their programs provide no-cost pre-apprenticeship training, certifications, and job placement for at-promise youths and adults, displaced workers, underserved populations, and anyone interested in a career in the building industry. Hear inspiring success stories from HBI graduates, insights into the state of the construction labor market, and ways you can support this impactful organization.

Accessible, affordable housing is critical to our society.

Transcript:

This podcast was transcribed through a third-party application. Please disregard any misrepresentations.

Brad Caruso:

Welcome to Civic Warriors, brought to you by Withum. On this podcast, we bring the conversation to you, sharing, engaging stories that motivate and build consensus in the nonprofit community. This podcast is about the innovators, the leaders on the front lines of adversity, guiding lights in the nonprofit industry affecting change. And through their stories, we can all join forces to become civic warriors. Hey, warriors. Welcome to today’s episode of Civic Warriors. Brought to you by, Withum, I’m your host, Brad Caruso, leader of Withum’s Not-for-Profit practice. Uh, today’s guest is Ed Brady, president and CEO of Home Builders Institute. Home Builders Institute serves more than 15,000 individuals annually through five program areas, including academies, job corps, military community, and licensing. HBI provides its students with no cost pre-apprenticeship training and certification programs and job placement services. HBI programs are taught in local communities across the country to at promise youth and adults, displaced workers, underserved populations, and anyone interested in a career in the building industry. HBI ensures that all participants graduate from the program with the necessary skills, experience, and credentials to be successful in the workforce. So, certainly a very relevant topic to today, something that’s not always talked about publicly. And also providing jobs to many individuals and helping them be able to attain jobs. So certainly, uh, HBI is providing an extreme benefit to the public here and, and many, many individuals. So, with all that said, ed, welcome to the show. Appreciate your time.

Ed Brady:

Thanks, Brad, and thanks for having us on, and I look forward to, uh, as you say, creating some transparency and visibility to this really important issue.

Brad Caruso:

Love it. Love it. So what I’d love to start off with is just giving us a little background about yourself. You know, how did you arrive at HBI read a little bit about your bio on the website, and, uh, and, and why, why is this cause and why is the, the mission and programs of the organization so important to you?

Ed Brady:

I have been in the building industry, you know, since I grew up. My father started a business in the early 1960s after working for lumberyard. And so I’ve had this industry talked about at the kitchen table, uh, in Thanksgiving and holiday dinners for, uh, almost 60 years. And so it’s near and dear to me. It’s pa I’m passionate about the home building industry. I’m passionate about delivering the part of the American dream, and that is a sound roof over over your head, and providing that for our citizens. I built homes for 32 years, ended up being a chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, working, advocating through the ladders, through the different organizations at the local and the state level. And when I finished my leadership, uh, at NAHB, the Board of the Home Builders Institute asked me if I’d be interested in coming to help lead, uh, this organization, which is about 57 years old.

Ed Brady:

Uh, and so in 2018, I, uh, kind of jettisoned my building career and went into the nonprofit business and, um, in, in helping lead an amazing group of people at the Home Builders Institute to perpetuate, to advocate, to create opportunities for young people to get into the trades. Uh, and that’s obviously a passion of mine in the sense that without skilled labor, we can’t build what we need in this country to house our citizens. We can’t repair and maintain the infrastructure that we have. And so it’s been a real, a heartfelt passion of mine to provide the industry with good people. But also, HBI’s mission is the individual student, and the student that doesn’t have an opportunity or doesn’t have awareness to this industry. And the great work and career path that it could provide is something that each and every one of our 300 plus employees are dedicated to. And that is to help diversify and, and create those opportunities to introduce, to engage, to learn about, and then ultimately to train and learn a trade to provide that career path that will, uh, last forever.

Brad Caruso:

Yeah, I love that. And, and it’s often untalked about, I I had, um, one of our last episodes we actually had on, they provided scholarship or funding for certification programs and other programs that led into trades. And and I thought that was unique. And this episode actually goes further into it as, as you’re fully immersed in it. And I find that many people don’t talk about it a lot. But I mean, it, it definitely is very important, um, that we get back into, uh, these types of programs, these types of, uh, certifications, uh, the training involved, um, and getting people into these types of jobs. ’cause as you said, uh, it’s integral to fuel the infrastructure of America itself, uh, as a whole. And to hear that no one, you know, like even as we’re going through a presidential election right now, I didn’t hear anybody talk about it, you know, no, no one’s like, this is like a really important issue. But this is a really important issue because I, you know, from what I’ve gathered, there’s a little bit of a shortage of, uh, employment or individuals that are willing to go into some of these, uh, job roles. So yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s interesting. But I I, I, I’m looking forward to learn a little bit more about it.

Ed Brady:

Just to follow up on that, I, I couldn’t agree more. For the first time in my professional career, we have had presidential candidates talk about housing and affordability, right? And, but they’re not talking about the workforce and why it’s not affordable and why it’s not available and accessible. And the inventories are low. And you have to take this one step further to say, the challenge with affordability and access is there is no labor force. There is, shouldn’t say there is no labor force. We have a great labor force, but not enough labor force. And so to raise this awareness to kind of once and twice remove from why is housing not accessible or affordable, it’s the crisis we have in the skilled labor gap.

Brad Caruso:

I appreciate you sharing that. Why do you believe that exists? Like, what, what, what do you think drives that skilled labor shortage? Has this been like a perpetual, you know, you’ve been in this industry for a long time, um, or is it, is it a new thing? In the last recent X number of years?

Ed Brady:

It’s, I would say almost generational now, because it, over the last 20 to 30 years, we have driven young people to college, to four-year degrees, and to steer away from manual labor, to steer away from the trades. And so the culture has been over the last 20 or 30 years that, you know, I don’t want my kid to be a plumber. I don’t want my daughter to go into electricity, electrical and, and go to four year universities. In fact, we have to reflect on how that’s worked out. 60% of the kids that enroll in four year universities don’t graduate, don’t have a degree. They have college debt. And so this has been building, um, as the population ages out of the skilled trades as the average plumber’s, 50 plus years old, 55 plus years old, we don’t have enough young people coming in. And so it’s gonna continue to create this.

Ed Brady:

I do see some tailwinds, uh, for skilled trades. I, I think part of our tailwind is the cost of higher education, uh, the graduation rates, the lack of jobs that, um, can create good income. Um, our, our path in the trades creates a everlasting, perpetual opportunity for entrepreneurship and for, for good paying jobs. And so I think we have some tailwinds, but this has been, this has been going on for a long time. And you combine that with the industry’s recession, the great recession in the 08 through 10 and 11, we lost a lot of people in the industry. We lost builders. We lost plumbers and electricians. There wasn’t enough work, and it just, the faucet was turned off. And so people pivoted to have another life, uh, a career path. And you combine those two things. And today there’s still 400,000, 350 to 400,000 empty jobs in the construction industry. And that’s gonna take a long time to make up when you’re talking about aging people out and, and retiring and not bringing enough in. And productivity could probably get worse, will get worse before it gets better, because a 55-year-old plumber is more productive than a 22-year-old plumber. It just takes time to learn that skill and trade to be as good as that 50-year-old plumber that’s been in a, in the business for 30 years. So it took time to get here, and it will certainly take time to get out of this crisis.

Brad Caruso:

Yeah. With, without a doubt. And, and we’re seeing, uh, something very similar. I’m in, you know, I’ll define my industry as the accounting world, and we’re seeing something very similar. We’re seeing a lot of individuals nearing retirement or retiring early because, you know, it’s an interesting business. So as a whole, and we’re also seeing that there’s less individuals actually going to college for it, graduating for it. So with that said, um, you know, maybe talk a little bit more about HBI and how you are bridging the gap between the skilled labor shortage and creating a more sustainable workforce or creating a workforce, if you will. Talk a little bit about some of your programs. Share a little bit with the audience about different verticals you have and kind of how they help.

Ed Brady:

Yeah. No, I’m happy to. We started 50 years ago, 50 plus years ago, but 50 years ago, we, we, uh, created a contract with the US Department of Labor and Job Corps you mentioned it, uh, at the beginning. And that’s a program that is for most part, residential program where opportunity Youth, those that, you know, may not go down the traditional high school path or may not go or are struggling with homelessness or cultural challenges. Um, we train a very diverse population in the Job Corps system, uh, which is really rewarding because without this opportunity, um, they may not have an opportunity. Uh, and so we started there, but, uh, since we’ve been doing community programs in Second Chance and prisons to juvenile justice and drug rehabilitation programs in, in a number of different community programs historically, um, that, that we’ve been involved with that, those are the two pillars that we start with.

Ed Brady:

And then about six years ago, we started a transitioning military program, and the Department of Defense realized that people go into the military at 18, they come out at 22, and they don’t necessarily have a marketable skill. They have more discipline, they get their more maturity, but they don’t have a marketable skill. And so to their benefit, the Department of Defense allows a skill bridge program to where we go in fully funded by the Home Depot Foundation, which I have to give kudos to. They allow our soldier sailors Marines to enter our 12 week program without any expense. It’s, it’s free to them. In many of these programs, they have to use GI Bill resources, but in our program, they don’t. And we train about 1500 students on 10 military base throughout the country. And our job is to train them. And then when they get out, uh, timed around our graduation to place them in an industry, and we’re successful in about 85, 90% of the cases to where we’re placing them in an industry job and then building that career.

Ed Brady:

And so that’s our third pillar. And then the fourth and fifth are fairly new. The fourth is something that we lost during the great recession of budget crisis. And that is introduction into the schools, the high schools, maybe even the junior highs. And so we have a licensed curriculum that we can put into a school for a CTE program. And if we aren’t successful there, and we don’t touch those young students in eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade, we lose an opportunity. And so that will build on itself as we are in almost 350 locations now in schools, 400 different programs to license our curriculum to introduce and do some light training pre-apprenticeship. We’re not, we’re not an apprenticeship program. And 20 to 30% of those young people eventually will go into the trades, um, that we wouldn’t have gotten. And then finally, and that, and that has to grow.

Ed Brady:

I mean, that’s just a, that’s just a thimble of what opportunity there is in the schools. Um, and then our fifth is our, our academies, which you mentioned. And we’ve gotten, we have six academies, seven academies, excuse me, from Sacramento to Orlando, Charlotte, everywhere in between, uh, Houston, new Orleans, Phoenix, uh, Denver. I think I’ve got ’em all. But, uh, and that is where it’s just a big box. And any, and the, all of those students that I just talked about in our other four pillars can, can enroll and come for a nine week introductory kind of crash course to learn the industry, to learn what it takes to be in the industry. And then again, our job is to place them in an entry-level job or an apprenticeship job that will build their career. And the, the fun thing about, uh, the residential industry is it’s full of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Ed Brady:

So you can be a plumber for two or three, four years and then start your own business with a truck and tools, and you hire our students and you build the infrastructure or the workforce to build the infrastructure that we need. So our academies have really built, been building momentum. There’s a lot of interest and a lot of need, always have to continue to raise money to help fund those resources. But, uh, um, so, you know, we’re touching, you said 15,000 last year. We touched over 20,000 students, uh, in, in a entry level introductory level or, or a deeper training level into the industry.

Brad Caruso:

Wow. Yeah. That’s incredible. And, and, and what I like is the diversity in your approach, because you’re covering various different individuals, right? You’re, as mentioned, some underserved populations, uh, individuals that may be in prison that have a difficult time after they get out, having, uh, obtaining a job, uh, military, which, you know, there’s a whole psychology around that of, you know, finding, finding a job will give them a purpose and then, you know, prevent some of the other challenges that result from being in combat. And then the student population, the education side of that, because many students themselves don’t necessarily receive the education of, this is a viable career for me, unless, you know, like yourself, it’s in the family.

Ed Brady:

That’s right. And many of our students just don’t have exposure to those types of career paths. So, you know, their exposure is to flipping burgers and kind of retail or or service industry, hospitality industry. But giving them this opportunity to show that as a plumber, you can make $75,000 a year, two, three years out of high school. You see a lot of eyes light up and a lot of thoughts and dreams. And so it’s, it’s really rewarding in that, in that respect. And even accountants, children should look at this <laugh>, just because you’re an accountant or just because I’m a builder doesn’t mean that my son shouldn’t go in, or daughter shouldn’t be an accountant or shouldn’t be a plumber. So we have to broaden that awareness and, uh, be open-minded to what happiness is.

Brad Caruso:

Can you delve into that a little bit more about how, how you get in front of students, what that program itself kind of in further detail looks like, and, you know, how are you educating individuals, you know, a little more detail on how are you educating individuals that this is a good career?

Ed Brady:

It’s a really uphill battle. It’s a, it’s a challenge because it’s been ignored for so long. You know, you almost have to start with counselors and legislators and educators to say, this is not a second choice. This is a first choice for many people. So let’s change that dynamic and say, you know, there’s a number of choices out there, and the trades is one of them. It’s not a second choice. It’s not like your alternative choice. Um, and so we have to educate the education system and the infrastructure that we operate under. Um, but then you’ve gotta get the awareness. And so like anybody else that’s marketing to young people or on social media or on, uh, influencers or, or advertising on Google, we’re advertising in the schools to help create these programs. Um, we’re showcasing success stories about people that get outta high school and are making 60 and 70, $80,000 a year, and now actually own their own businesses.

Ed Brady:

So it’s a lot of storytelling. Brad and I say it’s an uphill kind of uphill climb. Um, we’re gaining on that because our chief economist here at NAHP, National Association of Home Builders told me an interesting, what I think factoid about ai. And, and that is that AI will take some office jobs, right? Let, let’s hope it doesn’t decimate the workforce, but it will be beneficial, hopefully, in a positive way, but it will take some office jobs. So some of those office jobs that people are anticipating going into aren’t gonna be there anymore. So now what is the option? And so it, this, this again, is kind of a tailwind to HBI and our cause and our mission to help populate this next generation, but it’s all of the above. I’m thrilled to be on your show because the listeners will help advocate for this. And hey, that’s a, that’s an interesting idea. And so it’s just, it’s an ongoing education that I think, uh, will take time. Success will breed success. And, and so, you know, we’re on that mission to help populate this next generation of skilled labor. And if we fail, think of the consequences, right? And, and so it’s, as you said, it’s an important topic.

Brad Caruso:

Oh, without question. Yeah. Yeah. And, and I appreciate, like I said, the opportunity to, to share it, um, with people we work with, with, you know, we have a, our our company has about 2,400 employees. Uh, we work across all different verticals, you know, construction industry, financial service industry. I’m in the not-for-profit industry, you know, technology. And so it reaches a, a big audience as well as I’m a parent and I’m, you know, I’m gonna have my, you know, kids listen to this. And not that they like listening to dad, uh, talk on the podcast <laugh>, but, but I, I try to, I try to give them, you know, the same thing. Like, I want, I like the awareness, I like the education. I like knowing that there are various options. And at the end of the day, I mean, my, you know, my entire life, my grandfather was a barber for 58 years, and at the end of the day, it was, you know, just have a job. Go there every day, do the best you can, and things will work out for you. And whether-

Ed Brady:

And enjoy what and enjoy what you’re doing.

Brad Caruso:

-And, and enjoy what you do, and add the last piece. Enjoy what you do. And, um, you know, from that front, um, that’s why I, I greatly appreciate this. I really like your website where you list a lot of your success stories. And, and one of the things I wanted to, to really ask here and, and kind of dive into is maybe if you have a couple that you know you’re really proud of or that you’ve wanna share here, I think it would be great. I love success stories. I love hearing how people help people.

Ed Brady:

We’re in all 50 states, and we have operate programs in schools in all 50 states. And so what fuels me is going out to our programs and talking to our instructors who are passionate. I’ve got, I’ve had instructors that have walked students down the aisle because they didn’t have parents. Um, that’s pretty, that’s pretty cool because they’re, they’re mentors. They’re, they’re life coaches as well as training a skill. I had one in particular student at a job corps center that was homeless. And when I talked to her, um, she was, you know, ultimately thankful for providing an opportunity. She ended up sleeping on her sister’s floor. And then when she went into the job corps program and graduated, she got an immediate job at an electrical company, and she was able to help support her sister’s rent. And so she, but she was homeless to begin with.

Ed Brady:

Um, I’ve had a father son that, uh, we’re in the military program at Fort Carson together, uh, a 42-year-old, soon to be veteran and an 18-year-old. ’cause we, we will train military families’ members if we have an opening or spouses, which was available at this point. He was gonna retire from the military at 42. They were gonna go into business together and, and form a framing, uh, crew and, and carpentry company, and then ultimately flip houses. I had a, uh, a spouse of a military that was being transferred to Germany. And unbeknownst to me, I didn’t know that military spouses can’t work off base. She went through our program so that she could work on base, oh, uh, for the two years that he was gonna be, uh, stationed in Germany. Endless stories of hope and opportunity and, and availability to, to create a positive atmosphere in their life, a positive, uh, outcome to a career.

Ed Brady:

Uh, and, and so, and we’ve got public, as you said on our website, we’ve got a number of, of those success stories, and they’re just, just a handful compared to the, to the many. We actually train about five to 6,000 students a year with, with our employees, with our instructors. Um, and I got a shout out to our instructors because it’s, uh, it’s not an easy job. Uh, they’re giving back to the industry, uh, five to 10 years of, uh, of experience in your trade before you can teach our students. And, and so they’re giving back. And that’s hard to come by as well. Uh, to find that person that can, can really take a student from introduction to not only the skill, but the employability and the mentoring and life coaching that they provide, uh, is really rewarding.

Brad Caruso:

Yeah. And it’s the gift that keeps on giving, as you mentioned, because a lot of the training and skills that are gained through your programs themselves, you know, aren’t single use in the military example, I’m sure there might be moving around. And now that person has an additional skill and it’s a little bit easier for, it’s a little bit easier for them going forward. So.

Ed Brady:

That’s right. If you’re an electrician, you can do that in Portland, Maine, or you can do it San Diego, California. I mean, it’s portable.

Brad Caruso:

You can move to another country. You just gotta figure out how to use those crazy outlets that I don’t understand. But <laugh>,

Ed Brady:

That’s exactly right. And so we’re giving ’em a life skill.

Brad Caruso:

Oh, Yeah. Yeah. And, and it’s a life, it’s a, it’s a, a benefit, uh, on a variety of fronts. I mean, I know, I know it myself. Um, I, I won’t even touch electricity in my house. You know, I’m a volunteer firefighter over here, and I go into people’s house all the time, and I’m like, you know, there’s two things. I don’t, you know, there’s only one thing I know how to do with electricity, and it’s to turn the main switch off <laugh>. That’s the only thing I know how to do with, and, and stay away from it. Those are the two things that I was taught in, uh, in my fire. I took a whole class on electrical safety, and basically for 45 minutes instructed, he worked at PSE&G, which is, uh, up here in New Jersey. And he, the whole class was just him saying, and you stay away from it, and you shut it off <laugh> and you don’t touch it, and you stay away from it, and you shut it off and you don’t touch it.

Ed Brady:

I got a success story because I’m, I’m like you, I’m afraid of electricity, but one of our instructors when I was on base taught me how to, uh, handle a, an install a, uh, ceiling fan. And so recently I’ve installed three ceiling fans at our home. So, um, and you know, every one of ’em say, I’m afraid of electricity when I say I’m afraid of electricity. They said, that’s good. You should be, you should be respectful of electricity. And so those are the kinda lessons, but, you know, just respect it. Don’t be afraid of it. Learn how to do it, uh, which they taught me. So that’s a success story.

Brad Caruso:

Without a doubt. Yeah. Yeah. It wouldn’t get me up there installing a ceiling fan. <laugh>, <laugh>. Um, you know, you shared a couple statistics, you shared a couple success stories. Are there any other statistics or information that you feel people should be aware of, or maybe I didn’t ask a question on related to kind of some of the impact you’re having and, and just not just general knowledge, I love getting general knowledge from people that are experts in this area. And anything that maybe I didn’t ask that, that you think would be a good thing that people should know when it comes to the impact you’re having?

Ed Brady:

Yeah, the idea that there’s anywhere between three and 400,000 open jobs in the trades. Um, if you’re thinking about a career path and you’re willing to dedicate and become really good at it, there is huge opportunity. It, it’s not like you go to school and hope that there’s a job out there, there’s a job out there, uh, and, and maybe you have to relocate depending on where you are, but there’s a job out there. Um, I also think that there’s a perception that it’s not a good paying job. It’s hard work. There’s no doubt about it. It’s in many cases, it’s manual labor, it’s manual work. Um, and it’s, there’s, there’s a certain amount of physicality, and I want to touch on that for, in a second. But, but the other statistics, um, that I think are, are, are forgotten is you can make 30, $40 an hour, you can make 60 to 75,000 a year doing, uh, uh, this, taking this career path.

Ed Brady:

Um, that, but there are so many different, you know, um, electricians for instance, they’re not just wiring houses, low voltage electricity, look at what they’re doing with EVs and car. I mean, all of this, the industry, even in that little fraction faction of electrical is so broad, uh, in the, in the spectrum of what you could do, um, carpentry, you can rough carpentry, you can, you can, uh, frame a house or you can hang cabinets, you can hang windows and doors. Um, and so the, the, but, but it’s a, it’s a good paying job if you work hard and you’re willing to work hard and put your time in and learn the skill. Um, that’s a statistic that I think people don’t really understand and isn’t promoted as much as pos-, as as we could. And that is that, um, you’re, you’re not living at the poverty level in this industry.

Ed Brady:

If, if you’re, if you’re doing what you’re doing and you’re good at it, you’re gonna make a living and a good living. Um, but I, but I also think that affordability is an issue. So when we talk about statistics, and we mentioned it early on, accessible, affordable housing is critical to our society. And the fact that we don’t have what some would say a million and a half short of inventory on housing, uh, some would say five to 6 million units of housing that we’re short. Um, and so without the workforce, that’s a statistic that’s not gonna improve. We’re not going to, to, uh, have more output. In fact, when I was building homes, we used to build ’em in three or four months. Um, today they’re building them in eight or nine months. And so because of some of the regulatory burdens and other supply side, uh, supply chain issues, but a big part of it is labor.

Ed Brady:

And you, you pour a foundation, you wait a month for a framing crew, and time is money, and it’s a, it, it costs money to wait. And so those statistics on the housing needs, and goodness, if you, you talk about the affordable housing, and I say housing affordability is just as critical, but affordable housing, uh, there’s millions of people that are paying over 50% of their wages on housing costs. And that’s, that that puts you, there’s other things like healthcare education and things that are left behind when all you have to do is pay, you know, your rent. Um, so it is, and that’s why you’re talking about it at the presidential level of housing affordability and accessibility and, uh, um, I just want them to move down the chain. It’s not all organized labor, because residential is not all organized labor. In fact, 10% of the workforce in the trades in this country, or organized labor, there’s a lot of, of people not in a union or under an apprenticeship program. Um, so there’s just so much opportunity.

Brad Caruso:

Yeah. And, and as you said, the housing market is certainly, uh, in an interesting spot right now. And, uh, both affordability and accessibility. Um, I, I see a lot of construction going on lately, but it doesn’t seem to be, you know, it seems like there’s more demand than there is supply at the current time, especially when you see like, you know, home sales and things like that. I mean, put a house in the market, it sells in a day these days, and that tells you everything you need to know.

Ed Brady:

And that softened up a little bit with the higher interest rates over the last couple years. But, you know, we had such low interest rates that, that, you know, this as a financial accountant and, and, uh, that, um, interest rates certainly, uh, squash the availability to be able to afford not only a house but rent, but that’s to open up. I mean, think we’re on the right path, hopefully with, you know, the interest rates receding a little bit to make accessible, more affordable accessibility, more affordable. So, uh, I think we’ve got some real opportunity over the next five to 10 years to make an impact on this skilled labor shortage. And I’m not just talking about new construction. Look at the maintenance and the, and the, the rehabilitation that we have to do with our existing housing stock. It’s overwhelming to think about it. And the last thing I’d say on this, on, on that, on that is innovation will take care will help in some cases.

Ed Brady:

Um, but, um, I, I started to say women in construction in the trades have been historically 4%, 3%. Innovation has helped create the physicality gap narrow. And so women should not think "this isn’t for me." I have three daughters and one of my daughters went into the business after I left and has since gone into the healthcare industry, but a huge opportunity for women in this industry, not only in the trades, but in ownership and entrepreneurship. So that’s a, that’s a segment of this population that the industry has not really advocated for or welcomed, and we need to make a adjusted effort to do that.

Brad Caruso:

Agreed. And I think it’s great that, you know, raising that awareness that this, you know, especially with innovation as well as technology that we can use, that it, it allows for a more inclusive work. You’re able to be more inclusive.

Ed Brady:

Yeah, exactly.

Brad Caruso:

Be more inclusive with the ability to join. So I think that’s, that’s a positive as well. There’s a construction labor market and impact report you issue. Can you talk a little bit about that, what that report is, how it impacts constituents?

Ed Brady:

We found it necessary to, on a, on a twice a year basis to publish where we are today. Uh, it’s a snapshot in time. And so we publish it to all the stakeholders, um, uh, in partnership with the NAHB Chief Economics team. And that shows, it raises the awareness of what kind of crisis is the first one that I read, that report came out. I said, this is a crisis, right? I, I thought it was, but this is, this is now, it, it codifies where we are in this industry. And that report released early this month, said, suggested that we need to bring 720,000 new people into the trades annually for the next three years to just keep up with demand. I’m training or educating our intro producing up to maybe 20,000. And I’m one of the larger, you know, skilled trades, training contractors in the country and pre-apprenticeship. So you can measure kind of the impact that we’re having, which I think is significant, but not enough. And the biannual report that comes out just really raises the awareness to legislators, to policy makers to the public about what kind of crisis we’re in. And if we don’t deal with this crisis, it’s gonna get worse. And so we’re really proud of it. It gets exposure, um, and, uh, we’ll continue to do it until we don’t have to anymore.

Brad Caruso:

Yeah. I mean, listen, 20,000 people a year this year, uh, is real impact. And when you, when you, um, you know, when you talk about numbers like a three to 400,000, uh, person shortage, or as you just said, 700, over 700,000 person shortage. I mean, when you look at those things, it’s not insignificant at all. I mean, 20,000, I mean, think about the effort that has to go into training 20,000 people and the funding that has to go into training 20 thou, and the infrastructure to be able to facilitate that and be consistent about it and make a good experience for all 20,000. It’s, it’s incredible what you’re able to accomplish and the impact that you’re making. And, and I, I appreciate hearing what is that gap like, what is that challenge that’s out there? And, and, and knowing, quantifying, if you will, uh, as an accountant, I love quantifying things. Quantifying, yeah.

Ed Brady:

Yeah, your account’s coming up.

Brad Caruso:

Coming up with numbers. This is great. Uh, yeah, you quantify it, but, but it, but it puts perspective on it that this is a real issue that publicly more people should be talking at and should be encouraging individuals. And at the end of the day, I mean, I think everybody wants everyone to have a job. And, and I think a lot of people do find purpose in having a job, and you’re provide, you’re affording that opportunity to individuals that otherwise may, may not have thought about or gone down that path or been able to go down that path, I should say. How can the public help you? How can external parties help you? How can, um, you know, what, where is it that you feel that you would have a need or that individuals listening or, or those that will, will get ahold of this can help out the organization?

Ed Brady:

And thanks for this question, because it’s, you know, uh, I, I, I’ll I’ll reiterate, it goes to, uh, awareness and open-mindedness to the industry, right? You’ve gotta start there because, uh, you don’t want people to think that you’re, you’re not accepted in society if you’re a plumber or an electrician or carpenter. And so just that public awareness, this is a good, honorable career path, and they should be congratulated if they, they start that career path in high school, they continue it in in adulthood. Um, but we can scale. Uh, we’ve been around for 57 years, but scaling means resources. And so, uh, when I do, when I do get frustrated and where people, we need more, we need more financial resources. Um, and we’re nonprofit. So I’m not, I’m not, I’m not begging for profitability here. I’m begging for resources. And, and when, um, the vice president talks about building 3 million new units, um, under her presidency and providing 3 million new households and providing a $25,000 down payment, that’s all great.

Ed Brady:

If we can afford it, that’s all great. But we need to invest in the, build the, the, the workforce. And we’re not putting enough resources into the workforce. And so as, as a, as a large national training contractor, if we could serve 40,000 students, we would, but we don’t have the resources. And so community has to come together. And I say we, we have kind of a blended kind of, uh, uh, funding, uh, investor resource, government certainly is part of it. Department of Labor has, has put in resources, um, uh, different states have helped fund our, our corrections, which is a huge opportunity to, to give purpose and a skill to those that have, in many cases been in jail. But, you know, minor in, you know, in today’s society when things are more legalized, uh, they’re still in jail for things that are now legal.

Ed Brady:

Um, quite frankly, they, they are huge opportunity for the industry and for themselves. But that takes an investment in the prisons and in those, in, in the corrections system. Um, but, uh, it also takes an investment in the high schools to build more CTE campuses or to allow more of these introductory programs to go in into place. Uh, so I, I, I think where people can help is to talk to their legislators, talk to their educators and say, you know, there’s a huge need. And it’s not a secondhand, uh, career path. It’s a, it’s a good career path. And you know, when, when people, legislators talk about infrastructure, you imagine we have a shortage now, and then the federal government’s gonna throw all this money for bridges and roads and all the improvements they’re gonna pull from the residential industry to do that. Um, because we don’t have the workforce even in the commercial side, which is gonna aggravate.

Ed Brady:

Uh, so it’s a vicious cycle. And we just need, we just need more investment in our, uh, I, I started to say we have a blended funding government, uh, philanthropic. We, we, we have a lot of philanthropic. Home Depot Foundation is our largest philanthropic funder. They understand the need. Um, they, they, they believe in our mission. Um, but many other corporate foundations have contributed. Um, but we also need individuals, um, that, uh, wanna give back to their community that wanna make a difference and an impact in individual lives. And so we, we look at this holistic to, uh, wealth and government and philanthropic and corporate, uh, to help us fund our activities. Um, and, and just promoting that, um, is probably my ask.

Brad Caruso:

I love that. And if someone wanted to donate, how could they find you?

Ed Brady:

They can go on hbi.org. Uh, we should have at the very top "donate here." Um, just click that button. Um, we’ll have a giving, uh, Tuesday, um, like many organizations do as nonprofits, the, the week after Thanksgiving encourage you to go on there. Um, and every little bit counts. Um, every student that we touch is a, is a victory. And, uh, so, um, you know, no, no contribution, no donation is too small.

Brad Caruso:

Yeah, no doubt. And, and, and appreciate that. And obviously, um, you know, to be able to offer those programs and to scale, uh, requires funding and to further that impact. Um, so yeah. Anyone, anyone, uh, listening, if you’d like to make a donation, if you go to hbi.org, I always appreciate short website names. It’s easier to remember, it’s easier to find. Uh, so that’s a good thing.

Ed Brady:

<laugh> Yeah.

Brad Caruso:

Uh, there’s a Donate Now button, so, you know, feel free to make a, uh, drop in, make a donation to, uh, to support Ed and team on their, uh, on their mission here. I really appreciate your time today. I think it’s a very important discussion that I’m happy that we had your time to share as an expert in this industry, running an organization serving over 20,000 people a year. And you think about the long term impact that, that has, uh, over the years, and the many people that you’ve trained and the many people that you have provided access to, uh, to training, to. So I really appreciate your time. Really appreciate what you’re doing for the world, and, uh, yeah, I hope, I hope we can get this message out to as many people as possible.

Ed Brady:

I appreciate it and back at you with Civic Warriors and what you’re doing and promoting these types of discussions. Uh, really appreciate your work as well. So, uh, thanks for having us.

Brad Caruso:

And Warriors, thank you for listening. Subscribe and meet us right back here for another episode of Withum’s Civic Warriors. Thanks everybody.