Growing up in Western New York, a career in construction wasn’t on Chelsea Carrier’s mind. “Honestly, the trades were pretty frowned upon,” Chelsea says. “In New York, the emphasis was always on college.”

Following that well-trod path, Chelsea took a stab at majoring in civil engineering at SUNY Buffalo, but things didn’t work out. After enlisting in the Air Force and helping a family member with a renovation project, she came to the realization that an enjoyment of STEM and working with tools could be satisfied another way.

“I want to do things like renovating homes and building furniture,” Chelsea says. Now 25 years old, Chelsea is back in school but this time in the Building Construction Technology program at Midlands Technical College. “It’s got me heading in the direction I want to go,” she says.

Through several years of economic ups and downs, a shortage of construction workers remains nationally and locally. Society is also reassessing the value of skilled trades, both intrinsically and in the numbers on a paycheck. The MTC program is gathering awards while making the case that taking out a loan for a four-year university degree isn’t the only route to a happy life.

“The word is definitely getting out there — the trades are where the money is,” says Robbie Sharpe, director of the Building Construction Technology program at Midlands Technical College. “It’s the best return on investment.”

Earlier this year, the average hourly pay for a construction worker in South Carolina was $21.39 an hour, according to ZipRecruiter. Using data from EMSI, a labor market analytics firm, Midlands Technical College reports that locally, annual pay for construction managers and field superintendents is $76,224. Construction engineer salaries approach $100,000 per year in the Midlands.

The MTC program offers both certificate and associate degree tracks, which can be the first steps toward working as a skilled tradesperson or project manager. Robbie says the program starts with the basics and goes from there. Students learn about hand tools, power tools, and construction safety. They also are introduced to foundation and trim work, excavating, estimating, mechanical systems, and project management. And the students are doing as they’re learning.

“Our whole program is built around the students putting their hands on a full-scale build while they’re getting the theory portion,” Robbie says. Midlands Technical College is believed to be the first college in South Carolina to incorporate a full house build into a two-year college curriculum. “Theory is based on a perfect scenario, and hardly anything in construction is that,” he says.

Robbie earned the 2023 Faculty Award from the S.C. Association of Technical College Commissioners for his work increasing enrollment, improving learning outcomes, and better aligning the curriculum with real world construction practices. His efforts come at a time when the construction industry continues to lose experienced workers.

The construction workforce peaked in South Carolina at more than 127,000 workers in 2006-07, prior to the Great Recession of 2008, reports Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors of America. It sank to fewer than 80,000 workers but has slowly increased, except for a step back during the 2020 pandemic. The workforce currently stands at around 119,000.

The industry faces demographic headwinds, however. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that between 2003 and 2020, the percentage of construction workers who were age 55 and older nearly doubled, from 11.5 percent to 22.7 percent. Demand for workers is exacerbated in South Carolina by the state’s rapid growth. A U.S. Census Bureau measure of Americans moving from state to state found South Carolina saw a 1.7 percent increase in population between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023.

The Columbia metro area’s population has grown by 1.2 percent for two consecutive years. The Myrtle Beach metro area’s one-year growth rate was third fastest in the country at 3.7 percent. Horry County had the nation’s 10^th biggest increase in net migration, with 15,061 more residents coming than going. That follows a net gain of 17,294 residents the prior year.

Spartanburg was the eighth fastest growing metro area, at 2.9 percent. Among smaller United States counties, Jasper County had the ninth fastest growth rate, with its population increasing by 4.9 percent. The influx is the impetus for construction, from commercial to residential. Colliers reported more than 1.2 million square feet of retail space under construction across the Palmetto State at the end of 2023.

Associated General Contractors of America ranks states by percentage increase in construction employment each month. Ken says South Carolina has consistently ranked in the top 10 over the past couple of years.

“South Carolina’s construction employment increased by 5.4 percent from August 2023 to August 2024, nearly double the 2.8 percent national increase,” Ken says. “The state has done very well in attracting giant, new manufacturing plants. The growth of the Port of Charleston has spurred investment in port, transportation, and warehouse construction.”

Locally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics lumps in construction jobs with mining and logging. In the Midlands, that trio saw rapid growth in the fourth quarter of 2023 that kept pace into this year. An AGC survey found 85 percent of firms were having trouble filling hourly craft positions.

“It’s tight,” says Mark Hood, president and chief executive of Hood Construction Company. “There are a lot of open positions, and we’re all concerned the average age of our craft workers is going up. Everybody’s got a labor shortage. It’s not just Hood Construction. It’s my electricians; it’s my plumbers; it’s my HVAC people.”

Mark says Hood pays as well or better than most of the local manufacturers, but construction seems to have had a stigma. While many tasks at a worksite could be learned through on-the-job training in the old days, tools have changed. It’s not uncommon to see a Hood employee traversing a site with an iPad in hand.

“We’ve got people in our office that build buildings with 3D models,” he says. “To run a motor grader, you’ve got a GPS telling you the elevation. Some people still have to get mud on their boots, but it’s a lot more high-tech, and that means training.”

Industry and government have taken a multi-pronged approach to increase the number of people working, as well as improve skills in construction and other fields. In 2020, Carolinas AGC, the branch of the trade association that covers North and South Carolina, joined Be Pro Be Proud. The mobile, skilled trades workshop has made more than 400 stops across the Palmetto State and welcomed more than 40,000 visitors.

“What we saw was a need for exposure to the industry,” says Leslie Clark, chief operating officer with Carolinas AGC. There is a waiting list for the workshop to visit schools and job fairs. “We have just been thrilled with the demand for the truck. We’ve had kids that said, ‘I had no idea this kind of work was available to me.’”

One program, backed by the state’s Department of Employment and Workforce and Department of Education, provides up to $1,000 to students who pass a GED exam and then complete a training program at a state technical college. Another program, S.C. Workforce Scholarships for the Future, covers tuition, fees, and course-related expenses — up to $5,000 per year — at the state’s technical colleges for South Carolina residents enrolled in training for a high-demand field, including construction. More than 32,000 people have participated in the scholarship program, which began in 2021.

“I think we have one of the best technical college systems in the country, and we’ve worked with the technical colleges to make training programs available all across the state,” Leslie says. “We just continue to find every way we can to encourage and expand what we’re doing with Midlands Tech.”

When a construction worker talks about hardware, one thinks of hammers and nails. While that may be true, construction workers trained at Midlands Technical College have an additional set of hardware — medals and trophies. Those shinier objects may not get much use on the jobsite, but they, too, play a role in filling the gap in the labor market.

Students from the building construction technology program made the awards podium the past three years at the SkillsUSA national competition. SkillsUSA is a workforce development organization that promotes personal, workplace, and technical skills from middle school to postsecondary institutions. It holds competitions for skilled trades students that range from architectural drafting to welding fabrication.

A team from the Building Construction Technology program won a gold medal at the SkillsUSA National Competition in 2022, as well as an individual bronze medal in carpentry. The team also placed second in the nation during the 2023 competition and third in the 2024 competition.

“It’s a recruiting tool for the institution; it’s a confidence boost for the students; and it’s a measuring stick for the instructor,” Robbie says. He points out that SkillsUSA promotes soft skills and good attitudes as well as technical proficiency.

Leading the program at MTC is a bit of a full circle moment for Robbie. He was one of its earliest graduates two decades ago, and he also comes from a family of educators. “I said, ‘My whole family has been in education, and I’m not going to go that route,’” he recalls. He had a summer job in construction and says it got in his blood. “I loved to see something start from nothing and take shape.”

Robbie was drawn to teaching in the nascent program at age 22 before he got out of school. Meanwhile, he’s also enjoyed a career as a custom homebuilder. “That’s kind of the best of both worlds,” Robbie says. “I got to work with students and also got to build. We’re blessed. We’ve got some really good students.”

Chelsea, who is currently stationed at Shaw Air Force base in Sumter, is confident about plans to transition to construction as a post-military career. “The program has been very consistent with job placement. I’ve been hearing very good things and people saying, ‘When you get out of school, call me,’” she says.

Mark says Hood Construction has had several MTC students go from part-time to full-time once they’ve graduated. The company also sponsors the school’s annual golf fundraiser, which raises scholarship funds for veterans, and Hood has worked on building projects for the school. He says MTC gives his future employees a good background.

“Our specialty contractors also are hiring workers from Midlands Tech,” he says. He’s more optimistic about the labor market for construction than he was a couple of years ago. “This is a good industry. Not a lot of businesses are talked about in the Bible, but Jesus was a carpenter.”