Joey: I'm here with Joe Chimenti, executive director of Shasta Builders Exchange and The Trade School. Right? I got that, right?

Joe: You did.

Joey: You know, I've heard a lot of good things about the programs. We work with a lot of contractors in the area, and your name pops up a lot. The Trade School pops up a lot.

Joe: That's good to hear.

Joey: And so they'd said, "Hey, you need to go talk to Joe and talk about what The Trade School's doing in the area and some of the programs they have."

Joe: Let me back up a little bit and just give you a quick history of builders exchanges. Builders exchanges were places where contractors went to look at blueprints, but as the digital age came upon us and everything went online, that social networking kind of disappeared. So there's still relevance to a builders exchange but in a different context than it was before. I came with a business background. When I looked at the model, I said we want to maintain that. Certainly, we want to provide jobs to our contractors, and we want to open that market as much as we can using digital technologies. But where is the greatest opportunity? And when you look at this area and the nation, the opportunity for skilled trades and people getting into the skilled trades is significant.

Joey: Absolutely.

Joe: There's been a significant gap over the last 20 years in people entering the skilled trades. And, of course, I have an opinion on that. I think we spent 20-plus years telling everybody they needed to go to college. Now, don't misunderstand me. I have a college degree. I have a master's degree. I'm not minimalizing that. But not everybody is wired for that. So, we had a lot of young people coming out of high school with no real career path. And sometimes, you'll go in any direction when you need a real direction. And I strongly believe in the very simple philosophy: the difference between someone who's a benefit to society and someone who's a drain on society is often a good-paying job. And if you empower them, they're going to be productive, and we're seeing a lot of these social ills diminish. People are always going to want to have a roof over their heads. They're always going to want to have electricity that works. Lights that turn on. That's the reality of it.

Joey: Absolutely.

Joe: And you can, and you will make a very good living in the trades, but I really think it starts with the mothers and the fathers, and it starts with our society saying, not only do we embrace people in the trades, but we encourage it and support it. And we want to talk to our kids about it. So, as we looked at the market, we really looked and said, where's the greatest opportunity? Millions of jobs are going unfilled because we don't have people who can do them.

Joey: I think college became synonymous with opportunity, and they're not. They're not synonymous. You know they may be. It may be synonymous with higher education, as far as past high school, but it needs to be clearly synonymous with opportunity. The cost of college has skyrocketed. It's insane. These people. They have a master's degree, owe $180,000, and are unemployable. I'd be a little angry, too. If I just spent six years going to school, four to six years, and I'm in debt and unemployable? Do you know what I mean?

Joe: Understandably so and rightfully so.

Joey: Yeah. Absolutely. At the same time, the trades have yet to be populated. Anybody who owns a home and calls and says, "Hey, can I get you to have an estimate?" "Yeah, I'll be there in four weeks." Excuse me? Those are the clear signs that we don't have the people where we need them.

Joe: Absolutely.

Joey: So, The Trade School, do you have a list of standard trades you're training for? I know you guys have different programs.

Joe: Yeah. We are NCCER-certified, National Center for Construction Education and Research. We offer three main disciplines: electrical, carpentry, and plumbing. And they are designed right now to be earned as you learn. So right now, for our electrical program, you go to school two nights a month, and then you're out in the field, so you can immediately start making money. We look at three markets. We look at people in the trades who want to upgrade their skills. We look at people coming out of high school who are still figuring out what they want to do. College is different from the path for them. And then, we look at at-risk people who are either aging out of foster care or have gone through the criminal justice system and are looking to improve their lives. So we offer that and then offer our Get To Work Now programs. These are one-day seminars designed to empower somebody to get a job tomorrow.

Joey: Oh wow.

Joe: And often these are for people who are at that point in their lives where they don't know which way to turn, or maybe they've had some trouble. So we offer a forklift program, a flagging program, and a CPR and first aid program. They can come in within four to eight hours and have a certificate that makes them more employable. A person can go through a four-year program or a journeyman level because it may only sometimes be four years. It would be under $10,000.

Joey: Oh wow.

Joe: It would probably be closer to that $8000, but it would certainly be under $10,000. Having raised four boys, two of whom have gone to college, $10,000 gets you a year at a state school.

Joey: If that.

Joe: If that, at a state school. So it's that same kind of mentality. I want intelligent people wiring my house. I want intelligent people.

Joey: I hope so.

Joe: Putting the plumbing into my house. And I want to encourage intelligent people to do that. You come to our school, you can immediately start working in the trade on day one.

Joey: And I bet that pays a lot better than a sandwich artist, right?

Joe: I would. Often, you start at the bottom, like in any profession. The more value you can add to the organization and the more you continue to improve your skills and grow and work and develop as a tradesperson, the more money you're going to make, and you can make, and many do make six figures.

Joey: Oh yeah, absolutely. I have several friends who are contractors that are doing very, very well. You must provide a good service in a smaller community like Redding, where word of mouth is powerful.

Joe: It's critical.

Joey: Marketing gimmicks only go so far. You have to put out a good product, a good service. I work with a lot of contractors. They've transitioned to, Hey, we really need labor. We really need people who are qualified and skilled. They can come to work right now. That's a much bigger ask now than I need more sales. So you talked about a couple of different programs. You have the day program for something like the forklift, the flagging, things like that.

Joe: Right. Get To Work Now.

Joey: The journeyman.

Joe: Journeyman level training.

Joey: Is that four?

Joe: Yeah, it's designed right now to be four years. I'll use the electrical program as an example. California electricians require 640 hours of classroom and shop and 8000 hours of on the job. Obviously, we can accelerate the classroom portion, and we're looking to do that for all the trades, but you can't accelerate the 8,000 hours. You have to do the 8000 hours. The benefit, though, is the more skills you get upfront, the more money you can make over those 8,000 hours.

Joey: Absolutely.

Joe: Because your employer's going to say, "Well, you know a lot more right now than you did a year ago." Most successful businesspeople know their most important asset is that employee, and they will invest in that employee. Again, employees must be willing to work, show up on time every time, and want to grow in their profession.

Joey: There are people waiting to employ them immediately.

Joe: Yes.

Joey: There is a line of business owners that are calling you, saying, "Hey, do you have. "

Joe: Every day.

Joey: Getting in contact with you is going to start there, guaranteeing them an education and employment. They're just going to bring the work ethic and the desire to do it.

Joe: And one of the things we also, we're part of the Golden State Plan Service. We now have access to about 15 builders exchanges across the state. So, if you're a skilled electrician and still looking for what you want in Redding, we can get you into San Diego, Berkeley, and Oakland and exposure to those markets.

Joey: If somebody comes into the program, it's not hard to immediately place them, granted that they have the business acumen and the work ethic, but I mean, you're immediately able to put them.

Joe: Normally within, and it's anecdotal, but I'll use a personal story. Our very good friend, their son, got involved in the program for three months. He was in construction and within. He's a year into the program now. Within about six months, he was actually working for an electrical contractor. The beautiful thing is you can immediately engage in your profession. When I left college, my father said, "Great, you have a college degree," which he wanted for me, "Now go learn a trade." And I did. I learned how to become a framer. So, I did the framing, stick framing, and exterior trim. And one of the greatest satisfactions you have when you get to the job in the morning was in Colorado, so we actually had foundations. They don't do foundations in California. They do slabs.

Joe: I don't quite understand that. But you would get there, and it would just be a foundation and a stack of wood. By the end of the day, you would have a subfloor down, and you start building walls. Depending on the size of the house, by the end of the week, you may have the whole house framed. So, a week ago, there was nothing there. Literally, there was a hole in the ground. And now, a week later, there is a home that someone will live in for 50, 60, or 70 years. How often do you get that job satisfaction where you can walk away from the job site knowing, "I actually did something today"? We want to reignite that fire in young people. Like, look what you created.

Joey: I know what you're talking about. I play with Legos. And so it's.

Joe: That's addictive.

Joey: That's about as far as these hands, about as deep into construction as these hands get.

Joe: Everybody has their place. God has a place for all of us.

Joey: Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.

Joe: Yeah, you're welcome.

Joey: That helps.

Joe: You're welcome.

Joey: So the cost is $8000 to $10,000. What can possibly have greater returns on investment than investing in yourself?

Joe: Absolutely.

Joey: And the returns on investment are immediate. $10,000, and you're getting 8000 hours. I mean, you're getting that back immediately.

Joe: You are.

Joey: But is there any financial help for, if there are younger people that they're like, hey, I don't have $10,000?

Joe: Our goal is to give an education to anyone who wants one, and no one will be denied the opportunity if they don't have money. We will figure out how to get the money for them.

Joey: Of course.

Joe: And that's my commitment and our commitment as an organization. We offer discounts to veterans. We do fundraising right now and grant writing. We have an event this year. We'll be doing our third fundraiser. It's called the Electricians Ball.

Joey: When is that?

Joe: It is March 9th. It's at the new Sheraton Hotel. This will be our third year doing it. We're very proud because we greatly supported building the Sheraton. What we do there is it's a dinner, and it's a silent auction. We go out to the community and ask them to bring us anything they've handmade so that we can auction those items off. That money immediately goes to scholarships, training instructors, retaining instructors, and upgrading computer equipment and electronic tools.

Joey: So if I were to put together a Lego set, I could donate that?

Joe: Please. We would graciously accept it. And I'm sure if it's a Lego set you built, it'll be really cool.

Joey: Well, I may have lied a little bit about building the Lego set. My kids actually do it, but I fund it.

Joe: Wherever you get it.

Joey: I'm a producer in this.

Joe: Okay. That's cool. That's cool. Someone's going to fund it.

Joey: Hey, someone's project management. Right? You know what I mean?

Joe: You going to have it.

Joey: So if someone's interested in getting a table or donating crafts for this, how do they contact you?

Joe: You can go to our website, it's thetradeschool.org.

Joey: Thetradeschool.org. So this goes out to all of the local artists. This is an opportunity to showcase your talents for a good cause. In turn, do something positive for the community and someone and individuals directly that'll be affected by this.

Joe: We are trying to really engage the community because this is a community effort. We can empower people, especially young people and at-risk individuals, with the skills necessary to make a good living. In that case, they become an asset to the community. That's value to everyone.

Joey: Absolutely.

Joe: It's absolutely valuable to everyone. Support a young person in getting a skill because the skill you have is a skill you have all of your life; no matter what the economy does, no matter where you live, as long as you have skills, you will always be able to make a living. You will always be able to feed yourself. And that's powerful.

Joey: We can reduce crime.

Joe: We can.

Joey: And we can do it from the angle of taking the people that are at-risk, giving them an employable skill set. Let them earn a living and feel better about themselves. Overwhelmingly, the psychology of productive people, how they feel about themselves, and levels of depression.

Joe: And the timing is perfect because, in California alone, the jobs that are going to be available will be for years. And when you look at the infrastructure investment that the federal government wants and needs to make at this point, good jobs will be available for decades. The time is now to develop your skillset and start getting that experience that will make you very marketable and put you in a position to continue to make more money. The more you know, the more you grow, the more you make. It's a very simple formula.

Joey: We've been talking about The Trade School Shasta Builders Exchange, but I want to talk about you a little bit. I know that you went to college.

Joe: Yes.

Joey: And I know you worked in construction.

Joe: Yes.

Joey: But I think you also were on the job, weren't you?

Joe: Yes. I grew up in a law enforcement family. I grew up on the East Coast, and my dad and all his brothers were New York City police officers. I went into the business, but I'm very clear that I was not in New York. I was in Colorado because I had moved to Colorado to climb rocks and bang my nails. And I spent seven years in law enforcement. I loved the job. I was very good at it. I went back to school at night, got my master's degree in Business, and then went into the private sector. And I currently have a son who's on the job now.

Joey: In the blood, for sure.

Joe: Yeah. That is the case. But I know what it's like to go to a domestic disturbance. I know what it's like to go to a crime in progress. I know what it's like to have a weapon pointed at me. I appreciate what these men and women go through and the support our community needs to give them. I spent 25 years in business development. I traveled across North America and parts of Europe and Asia, setting up distribution networks. I understand business and entrepreneurial business, the cornerstone of economic growth and development.

Joey: Absolutely.

Joe: A lot of times, when you've been in the system a long time, you really don't see the forest for the trees. And I've had the benefit of the last four years of looking at our government system from the outside and trying to be as objective about it as possible, looking at where we're good and where we're not. My end game, as a person, is to really add some value to the community. I made a decision some years ago because if you listen to me long enough, you'll know I did not grow up here; besides, I just told you that. But I raised my kids here for a reason. This is a fantastic community, and I believe that with heart and soul.

Joey: Great.

Joe: And I see how generous and giving this community is. We have problems like communities have, and it requires leaders willing to take some risks and work very diligently to create the kind of community that Shasta County is capable of becoming. There's that book called Good to Great and. You know Good to Great?

Joey: Yes.

Joe: And it talks about businesses, well, it's true of communities, too. And I can play a role in that, and I hope I'm given the opportunity.

Joey: I always gravitate towards people who say, "Oh, there's an issue here, and I have a solution." And I also gravitate towards people who want to head it off at the pass who are like, "I don't want to stay at the tail end of this problem, constantly picking up after it." That's why I like your solution. Like, you know what? If we can employ more people. Statistics are overwhelming that they're less prone to commit crimes. You're going to have my vote. So, I'm in. I don't know how that whole county district. Yeah. I want to understand how that works.

Joe: It's districts, yeah. You have to be within a certain district. Well, you can certainly tell your friends if you're not.

Joey: I think I'm telling 'em right now.

Joe: I think that's. Yeah. That's the goal.

Joey: I want to see more people with your vision and your ideas in charge.

Joe: Thank you.

Joey: And less of, "Let's hammer this problem. Let's hammer this problem." Haven't we been hammering it for a while? Is that really working?

Joe: I hear a lot about what we can't afford to do. And having raised a family, anyone who raises a family knows no matter how much money you have, it's never enough. Nope. When you're raising a family. Having been involved in business for many years, there comes a point where you have to say, no matter the cost, we need the results. So we need more money. So what we need to do is find the money. We need to figure it out. We need to get grants. We need to follow the money. The state gives us lots of money for mental health and jail services. And I'm not saying it's being mismanaged. Let's look at it and see if there are ways that we can better use that money or more effectively use that money. But that's the decision that a supervisor or a city councilperson has to be willing to take that risk. We must do that because it's in the community's best interest.

Joey: I've been involved in a few different industries and seen where they go through cycles. And one of the cycles I see repeats, and when the market starts to turn down, two personalities rise. One is to cut all costs and tighten. Those are the ones that I see lose the most. The other one is now when we ramp up. Now is when we double down on moving forward. I remember the contention for the Turtle Bay bridge. And that is overwhelmingly a success. So those voices of no growth, we don't have money. Those are the opposite of what I was talking about. Those are the negative reactive people. That's the Ralph Nader. It says we have a problem. Oh, here's the solution. Well, let me tell you what the problem is with your solution.

Joe: It's the mindset. For many decades, this community was known as poverty flats. What will be the prevailing mentality of those living in poverty flats if you're known as poverty flats? So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And we approach businesses like that, too. We'll only get certain businesses because we only have a certain skill set. But if you empower people and you train people, they will. And that's the cultural shift that needs to take place, and that is taking place. And even I saw that with the Sheraton, their general manager, a brilliant young woman from San Diego, came in with this attitude of, "We're not going to go to the Redding market; we're going to bring the Redding market to us." And that is so profound in its simplicity that we're not going to say, well, that won't sell here in Redding.

Joe: No. We're going to say, "This is what we offer. And Redding needs to come to us. We're not doomed to a certain socioeconomic level because we're in Redding. We are capable of whatever we're capable of as children of God. Whatever we're capable of doing, we're capable of doing." We need to embrace that. And it is, as simple as that sounds, it often is very staggering for people to really embrace that and say, "I don't have to be stuck here. I can grow as a person and add more value." So there's just so much dynamic that needs to go on. And I always say, it's not rocket science, it's social science. These are the simple dynamics if you look at very successful companies and very successful communities. You create a culture of can-do, opportunity, training, and building and have a great place to live.

Joey: Absolutely. A culture of forward positive movement.

Joe: One of the blessings of this community is that it's so community-oriented and it's very family-oriented. So that's where we call out to parents because parenting is important in raising children.

Joey: Absolutely.

Joe: Well, actually, my wife raised four boys because I traveled most of the time. And she did.

Joey: Team effort.

Joe: She did a tremendous job. And we have four great sons. I'm very proud of them.

Joey: What's her name?

Joe: My wife's name is Debbie.

Joey: Good job, Debbie.

Joe: Yeah. Debbie. She really did. When you have a family unit or some mentoring that comes from the family first, setting boundaries and empowering, instructing, and guiding is very critical. And we have a community like that. My shoutout to parents is, as you're looking at your children and they're still determining what direction they want to go, allow them to look in various directions. And one of them, of course, would be The Trade School. They may be gifted that they have the intellectual and physical ability to do those things, and we should encourage that. Then, we really want a mentoring system for the respective trade and, in our case, these skilled trades. So we want young people to experience that and to see that.

Joe: My shoutout to young people in the trades, as you start to become successful at what you do, bring other people into the trades and show them what you've done. Show them what you have learned because nothing speaks more loudly to success than someone who's done it.

Joey: Absolutely.

Joe: Then someone who can show the path and say, I was in high school, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, and I knew that college wasn't right for me, and here's where I am today. It's not just building buildings. It's building careers. It's building a sense of value. It's building attitude. It's building perception. There's a lot of building that goes on.

Joey: Overwhelmingly, we need people in the trades. Overwhelmingly, we need people that want to stay here, want to earn a good living, raise a family here, and help with our infrastructure. Why would we import it when we have such a large pool of people already living here? This is a clear need. This is a need, like you said. The banker needs it, the doctor needs it, the business owner needs it, it's not just construction. We all live in houses. We all work in buildings. We all drive on roads. We need people in this. And you're doing a great value. So, this is a callout to the community. Get involved.

Joe: Please.

Joey: And we checked, off camera 221-5556 is the phone number.

Joe: It's correct. Yes.

Joey: Yeah. And thetradeschool.org is the website. Thank you so much.

Joe: No, thank you.

Joey: For coming on. I appreciate your time and will root for you and The Trade School.

Joe: Please.

Joey: If I can't vote for you, I'm at least going to tell my friends they should be voting for you. Okay.

Joe: Please, please do. And remember that the Electricians Ball's coming up on March 9th.

Joey: March 9th at the Sheraton.

Joe: Thank you.