Jerome Bettis talks up skilled trades on ‘signing day’
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis talked about the importance of skilled trades at 84 Lumber in South Fayette Township Tuesday.
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Gerson Castro-Rivera, a student at Pocono Mountain West High School in Pocono Summit, signs the dotted line to pursue a career in the skilled trades at 84 Lumber in South Fayette Township Tuesday.
Jerome Bettis’ father was the chief electrical inspector for the city of Detroit for more than 30 years, and Bettis says he probably would have pursued a similar line of work if his gridiron prowess hadn’t pulled him in other directions.
The former running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers fondly recalled his dad’s work at the 84 Lumber store in South Fayette Township Tuesday morning on “National Signing Day 2021” for high school seniors looking to pursue careers in the skilled trades. As in high school athletics, 10 students pledged to work in the skilled trades, which can include such areas as plumbing, home construction, carpentry or nursing.
“It really hits home,” Bettis said. “This is important work.”
Sponsored by Skills USA, a nonprofit organization that promotes career and technical education, about 10,000 students across the country were due to participate in similar “signing” ceremonies. The need for employees in skilled trades has become more pressing in recent years. Some trades jobs have been sitting unclaimed as more students are nudged toward attending colleges and universities. But advocates for the skilled trades have pointed out that working as, say, a sheet-metal worker or pipe fitter, can be just as remunerative as professions that require a bachelor’s degree, and don’t come with the crushing debt load that frequently follows a journey through the hallowed halls of academia.
Ken Kucera, vice president of installed sales and manufacturing for 84 Lumber, noted that the building industry needs 400,000 employees to meet the current demand for new houses. The construction of new homes has dropped during the coronavirus pandemic, which has, in turn, driven up home prices and sparked bidding wars for homes in some markets.
Aside from giving each student an iPad, it was announced at the Tuesday morning event that 84 Lumber would be giving scholarships totaling $50,000 to the 10 students who were on hand to help cover the costs of attending a trade or technical school. The students included Blade Witt and Kayla Gomez, who attend Uniontown Area High School and Fayette County Career and Technical Institute. Witt said he is interested in pursuing a career in electrical construction because of the job opportunities in the field, and the fact that he got a firsthand look at what the work entails because his parents built the house in which they live.
Gomez plans on pursuing a career in masonry. Like Witt, she was inspired by seeing her father’s work around their home. She helped her father build a block wall to stop flooding near their house.
The Home Depot Foundation also issued six scholarships on Tuesday to make National Signing Day. Aside from Pennsylvania, students receiving scholarships hailed from Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Maryland and Massachusetts.
Bettis told the students to do their best in whatever jobs they ultimately land in, and “be committed to it, love it.”
He warned, however, that there would be “tough times.”
“We played the (New England) Patriots a couple of times,” Bettis joked.