Skilled Trades

Careers in the skilled trades offer so many opportunities!

If you’d like to work with your hands, build and fix things, and make a lasting impact – all while earning a good living and without accumulating student loans – a career in the construction trades might be right for you!

Want to know more? Click here for a brief overview of local opportunities related to plumbing, steamfitting, roofing, and electrical work, and here for information on the carpenters, painters, ironworkers, and operating engineers. Have a special area of interest? Check out these short, more focused videos!

·       Focus on Plumbers: https://youtu.be/3U8icrJx05g

·       Focus on Steamfitters: https://youtu.be/AOMJPNEBXRk

·       Focus on Roofers: https://youtu.be/hWguTmbsmqU

·       Focus on Electrical Workers: https://youtu.be/hKZD1aemnFg

·       Focus on Painters & Allied Trades: https://youtu.be/wGF0Z1rEE0U?si=FwYnge0H6XxGdPxj

·       Focus on Ironworkers: https://youtu.be/9EAwQ7AzrMY

·       Focus on Operating Engineers: https://youtu.be/R6jsWV9gQNs?si=oIGd_TGB40Ms0rXo

·       Focus on Carpenters: https://youtu.be/hBRJnRunuHA?si=1uBHwhy1PLypjSkS

Think you might want to pursue a skilled construction trades career? Click here to access the Erie County Skilled Trades Directory for more information and to get started!

There are also great jobs available in the manufacturing skilled trades in our region, and we are highlighting just a few of those in-demand positions through similar videos. Our first, focused on tool makers, can be found here: Focus on Manufacturing - Tool Maker. Four additional videos will be available by the end of 2024.

Erie Together’s work in the skilled trades arena has been done through two comprehensive projects providing career exploration opportunities and informational resources for high school and middle school students.

The first project, completed in December 2023, was supported 100% by the Employment and Training Administration of the US Department of Labor as part of an award totaling $37,000 with 0% financed from non-governmental sources. The second project, currently underway, is supported 100% by the Employment and Training Administration of the US Department of Labor as part of an award totaling $118,802.50 with 0% financed from non-governmental sources.

Erie Together secured this funding in partnership with NWPA Job Connect.