Skilled Careers Coalition (SCC), the fast-growing, big-tent alliance, is spearheading collaboration and breaking down silos within the highly fragmented skilled trades to encourage cross-industry support of a common goal to close the skilled labor gap.
Said Mark Hedstrom, Executive Director, Skilled Careers Coalition, “We have reached a crossroads as a nation. The skilled trades are the backbone of America’s economic engine, but the widening skilled labor gap at a time when demand is growing at a rapid rate – could cripple entire industries if we don’t come together to rebuild the great American workforce. We have an obligation to roll up our sleeves to elevate and promote the skilled trades as a third path to career success.”
To meet the moment, SCC has steadily assembled a robust community of cross-sector stakeholders that includes businesses, educators, pros, policymakers, parents and youth.
Conversation and Content Yield Consensus and Inspiration
Against the backdrop of the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference held in Atlanta, GA on June 23-27, 2025, SCC engaged with more than 100 leading businesses and organizations and thousands of students and advisors around three critical areas: inspiring youth by meeting them where they are on social media; encouraging more skilled pros to become actively involved as mentors and teachers; and bringing recruitment efforts up-to-date with technologies that streamline the hiring process.
During the week-long series of activities, SCC hosted student-led panels, shared round-the-clock content on social media, presented a ‘state of the skilled trades’ gathering for leading business and education sector leadership, and brought television personality Ty Pennington back for the second year in a row to reprise his role as host and mentor of the third season of SCC’s for-youth, by-youth YouTube series SKILLS JAM.
Further catalyzing efforts was SCC’s facilitation of remarks from federal, state and local policymakers including the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Congressman Rick Allen (Georgia, District 12), who shared their commitment to addressing the skilled labor gap via video; and Senator Raphael Warnock and Congresswoman Lucy McBath (Georgia, District 6) who sent staff members to the high-level gathering to listen and learn.
The coalescence of the industry’s leading voices achieved over the week’s events was a big step forward by SCC in realizing its mission to bring unity to the skilled trades and ultimately, help reverse the rising rate at which demand for skilled talent is outpacing supply.
By forging new pathways to engage and recruit talent using social media and technology, advocating for workforce readiness education opportunities such as apprenticeships; and encouraging the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and experience, the skilled trades can meet the opportunities that lie ahead.