The unparalleled commitment SkillsUSA has taken on to solve the skills gap is creating a major ripple effect across the entire trades industry with what we affectionately call the "Trades Olympics." Bringing in new young talent that are passionate about the skilled trades is not only helping the industry, but it's helping to steer young people into professions that are highly lucrative and fulfilling. Professions they may not have considered before, but after feeling the support and excitement from organizations such as SkillsUSA, they are able to understand the impact of what their future could look like.
Especially with role models such as Chelle Travis, Executive Director of SkillsUSA, and Courtney Farrell, National Conference Manager and former student of SkillsUSA, who have paved the way and made the conference possible.
In today’s episode co-host Matt Consigli interviews Chelle and Courtney on the site of SkillsUSA conference in Atlanta, Georgia, for an inside look at how they run the largest trades conference in the world and their advice to students, teachers, and mentors on entering the trades industry.
Topics discussed in this episode:
You can learn more about SkillsUSA at www.skillsusa.org and don't forget to follow them on social media for more!
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The unparalleled commitment SkillsUSA has taken on to solve the skills gap is creating a major ripple effect across the entire trades industry with what we affectionately call the "Trades Olympics." Bringing in new young talent that are passionate about the skilled trades is not only helping the industry, but it's helping to steer young people into professions that are highly lucrative and fulfilling. Professions they may not have considered before, but after feeling the support and excitement from organizations such as SkillsUSA, they are able to understand the impact of what their future could look like.
Especially with role models such as Chelle Travis, Executive Director of SkillsUSA, and Courtney Farrell, National Conference Manager and former student of SkillsUSA, who have paved the way and made the conference possible.
In today’s episode co-host Matt Consigli interviews Chelle and Courtney on the site of SkillsUSA conference in Atlanta, Georgia, for an inside look at how they run the largest trades conference in the world and their advice to students, teachers, and mentors on entering the trades industry.
Topics discussed in this episode:
You can learn more about SkillsUSA at www.skillsusa.org and don't forget to follow them on social media for more!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
TikTok
Connect with Foundryy:
Instagram
Facebook
LinkedIn
TikTok
YouTube
Head to Apple Podcast for more episodes.
Connect with us:
Head to Apple Podcast for more episodes.
We have a worker shortage, right? Yeah. A skilled worker shortage. And right here, you have the future workers. Our next generation of workers and leaders are right here on this competition floor. There's no better showcase. So for those industry partners that you were mentioning that wanna get involved, this. Is where the magic happens. This is your future workforce. Getting our students interested in giving them the opportunities at an early age and having the opportunities to see themselves and their future careers is so important. And what that means having skilled workers and your local communities brings industry into your local communities. So the big question is this, how do you elevate the status of the skill trades today? So that the next generation of workers will be able to close the skills gap tomorrow? That's the question. And this podcast is on a mission to find the answers welcome to inside the trades and where your mission guides, Matt Sigley and Derek Cameron. On today's episode, we're on site in Atlanta, Georgia with Shelley Travis executive director of skills, USA, and Courtney Farrell, the national conference manager for skills USA's annual leadership and skills conference. This year 2022 was their 58th annual conference. And it is the largest showcase of skilled trades in the entire world. So be sure to listen in, to understand more about how skills USA is closing the skills gap today and what you can expect to see at this conference. Hey everyone. This is Matt and Sigley from foundries inside the trades. We're on the road all week. We're here in Atlanta, Georgia at the skills, USA, national leadership and skills conference. I have the pleasure today of having two individuals from the organization who are absolutely instrumental in putting on this event this week. Shelley Travis executive director from skills, USA, and Courtney. This year's national conference manager. Welcome both. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Uh, so Shelly, I'll start with you as executive director of skills USA. Can you tell us about your organization's mission? Absolutely. At skills USA, we train our students to become world class workers. Leaders and responsible American citizens. And we do that through, uh, what is called our skills USA framework. And we train them in their personal skills, workplace skills and technical skills that are grounded academics. That's really what the skills USA difference is. And that's what you'll see on display in this competition floor. That's fantastic. And how long have you been putting on this type of event to showcase that this is our 58 national conference and we're so excited to be live and in person this year in Atlanta, after three years. So after three years now, the moment's finally here tell us how you're feeling. I'm so excited to see. Students in action in this amazing showcase of skilled trades, the largest in the world. Um, there is absolutely nothing like a skills GSA national conference. Now, Courtney, if I can go to you, so you are the point person for putting on all of this and people can't tell, but the scope of this, the enormity of this is overwhelming. This is my first time here, the event. Night at the state farm arena was out of this world. Tell us, give a little bit of a rundown. What does it take to put together this event in church? The word that comes to mind is teamwork. It's truly a team of staff, of partners, of advisors, students. Staff all making this event possible. It's been an incredible week and we're so grateful for our partnership with our folks in Atlanta and all of our students tech chairs that make this happen. Now give us a quick snapshot. How many people are here? How many businesses, how many participants? What, what are the high level stats for this event? Perfect. We have 12,000 folks who are joining us here at GWCC. Um, for our NLS D conference, we have over 150 exhibitors and they are our key partners that really help make this event. Great. Now, Courtney, you are also a former member of skills USA. So how are you feeling right now in this full circle moment that you're able to put this together for the next generation of students? It's an incredible opportunity to be able to serve in this role. This organization helped me become career ready, and now I get to give back and help other students become career ready and be successful in their futures. That's amazing. We all gotta pay it forward. Thank you, Shelly. If I can come back to. Sure. I heard you give an interview once. And you, you mentioned a mentor that you had when you were in high school, a miss web. Wow. Yeah. Talk to me about how important it is to have a mentor for these students to help them figure out their own career path. Absolutely. The magic truly does happen at the local level and our advisors, our instructors and skills. They are the lifeblood of this organization. They come alongside their students and not only give them the technical skills, but the personal skills and workplace skills and really the confidence that they need, that they can be successful. They give them the opportunity to see that they can succeed in the workplace. And it's. So important. Um, Ms. Webb, you mentioned Ms. Webb. She gave me opportunities that I would have never had otherwise. And for many of these students, this will be the first time, uh, that they've had the opportunity to showcase their skills and to do that on the national level and to be able to come and see others, just like you, um, that are interested in careers, just like you from across our nation. It is an amazing and empowering experience for our student. Yeah, I think the involvement of the adult, I know this is showcasing students, but the involvement of adults staying in the trades and encouraging people to get into the trades is so critical. What advice would you have to any, would be mentors, parents, or teachers, or whoever that maybe haven't fully grasped the impact that they can have on a child's life? What would you say to them to push them over that edge and take on that responsibility? I've just seen this through skills. She WASA. No other place than in skills, you USA with CTE, that you can change the trajectory of not only an individual students life, but their communities, your state, our nation, and really, and truly our world. This is where it happens. And I would encourage you. It is so much more rewarding. You'll get so much more out of it than you ever have to put in it. When you see those students achieve their career dreams. Um, so. Is so amazing. You hit on something. So I want to go deeper there. Obviously this starts at the local level, but there's a domino effect. That's much broader. Absolutely. At the macro level. Let's talk a little bit more about that. The impact that this can have on lowering student debt levels on getting people in the workforce, more, more rapidly, having them skilled for decades of impact in the. What are the larger domino effects that you expect to see from this conference? I think you actually just mentioned them. Right? Right. Let's so we wanna hear, we have, okay. So just like you said, we have a worker shortage, right? Yeah. A skilled worker shortage, and right here, you have the future workers. Our next generation of workers and leaders are right here on this competition floor. There's no better showcase. So for those industry partners that you were mentioning that wanna get involved. Is where the magic happens. This is your future workforce. Getting our students interested in giving them the opportunities at an early age and having the opportunities to see themselves and their future careers is so important. And what that means having skilled workers and your local communities brings industry into your local communities. Right? Um, I've seen that happen in my own, um, community when we had a major manufacturer that. But then they needed the skilled workforce and we brought career and technical education and skills USA into that community. And now it is one of the fastest growing in our, in our states now. So that is just one small example. Um, personal example of how skills USA and career and technical education together in a community can really make a. Not just for that individual student, but for their families and for their communities. As a whole speaking of industry, Courtney, I know there's been an enormous financial and resource commitment that big businesses in the trades have made to this event. Tell us a little bit about what are they committing to support this this week? Yeah, you can notice this jet engine right behind you, right. Is from American. I think it's a value of 2 million. That is just one example of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that industry has committed to may make this event successful and to train their future workers. Great. Great. Now, one final question for both of you, I'll ask the same start boarding. I'll start with you, cuz you're a former student. What one piece of advice do you have for the competitors this week? Soak it all in right. Learn everything. You can, no matter if you get a gold medal or not, this experience can change your world. Yeah. That's great. That's great. You let the student go first. I never speak after a former student, right? so but I would agree with Courtney, this is an amazing experience for our students and we want to encourage them to take advantage of every opportunity available. Business and industry networking with students. Um, and really just soaking, like she said, soaking it all in soaking up your moment because you are a champion just by being here today for making that commitment to career and technical education and a career in the skilled trades. And then for being the gold medalist for being the top in. State to be here just to be here is a tremendous accomplishment for all of these competitors. So they should be very proud and honored just to be here. Yeah. I called it the Olympics of the trades. Once it dawned on me what this really is, but I think that's exactly it. It's the Olympics for the trades. Absolutely. Well, Shelly, Travis, Courtney Farrell. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us on inside the trades. Congratulations, three years on the making on being back here and thank you so much for what you're doing to support the skill trades in the country. Thank you. Derek. So Derek the it's the Olympics. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's the scale trades Olympics. I mean, that's really the only way that you can describe it when you are standing there walking through these gigantic conference halls and there's just. A flurry of activity from welding and vendors and recruiters and people building tiny houses and doing pipe fitting and putting together these elaborate culinary setups. And you've get kids walking around with the red jackets in the cowboy hats and their coveralls. It's this incredibly vibrant gala. So in the intro of every episode, we say, we're trying to figure out how do you elevate the status, right. And we picked that word for a reason. It's about they're status. They're doing it. This is how you do it. Oh, they totally, they're totally doing it. Just the coalition and the partnership that they have built again over decades between big companies, small business students, parents, teachers, Their own organizational officials, the clout and the power that they can bring to this skilled trades gap. It's almost second to none, right? Like they said, this is the largest showcase in the world. This is how you elevate the status. They have millions of dollars committed to closing this gap. They're bringing the biggest players in the world to this. I haven't seen any other kind of. That's so focused and committed to solving this skills gap. Yeah, it was, it really was incredible and videos that we'll have of this that will be coming out to, they only show a fraction of it and it really is something that you have to be there to really behold it. And when we were listening to Courtney and Shelly, they're so humble about it. And like, yeah, we're just doing our part. It's like, you guys are drivers. Like you guys are just making serious ripples in this and to see this and ground zero and this convergence of everyone from across the country. Putting on this conference and showcasing the talents. I mean, it really does give you encouragement that, okay, there are, there are folks out there that are doing this work and, and having a conversation with Shelly and coordinate. It really was very heartening to, to hear how passionate they are about this and how much they're putting into it to make sure that we are taking this. Yeah, kudos to them and everyone at skills USA for what they've built, right. Oh, totally. They, they really are a small and mighty team. I think it, I think is the term that Courtney used and a lot of'em I believe are volunteers, so kudos to what they're doing and we're gonna see the impact of this from years. Yeah. Talk about just being mission. Talk about being mission driven and showing up to do that. I mean that, that's just nothing short of. It is. It's incredible. It's incredible. So make sure you stick around because we're gonna have future interviews, future conversations with folks at skills USA. There's so much more here beneath the surface that we have to get into. So make sure you stick around to hear that on inside the trades. Again, I'm Matt Sigley with Derek Cameron, and we hope to see you all soon. All right. Take care, everybody.