Originally published in SmartBrief, April 1, 2026
Community collaboration and partnerships prepare students in disadvantaged neighborhoods for career opportunities in the trades.
Over the past few decades, the skilled trades have been stigmatized as “blue collar” and “grimy.” The national conversation has shifted to college for all, even for students who are uncertain of their future careers. The result has been a labor market saturated with college graduates.
Meanwhile, trade jobs evolved. Thanks to the technological advances of Industry 4.0, skilled labor roles are now cleaner and safer. In addition, high demand for skilled trade workers has led to wage increases.
However, due to the focus on college degrees, the talent pipeline for trade labor has grown desperately thin. At the same time, many young people, especially those in underserved communities, are searching for meaningful, well-paying work. The Tennessee Builders Education Foundation aims to connect young people with careers in the homebuilding industry.
Bringing opportunities to underserved students
The nonprofit TBEF works with institutions, including high schools, to provide students with hands-on training, mentorship and a pathway to the more than 1,700 Mid-South job openings. Traditionally, TBEF has worked with career and technical education schools, but since 2023, we’ve been piloting a new approach at Trezevant High School, a small urban campus in Memphis, Tenn.
Trezevant isn’t a CTE campus. It’s a neighborhood school in the Frayser community, an underserved part of the city. But that’s what makes this partnership so powerful. We’re learning how to adapt the TBEF model to support students who don’t have traditional access to formal training for the trades. Trezevant students can now graduate with industry-recognized certifications in carpentry, HVAC, plumbing and electrical work.
Collaborating on instructional delivery
TBEF’s work at Trezevant and other institutions is fueled by collaboration. Trezevant is now in its fourth year working through a state-legislated turnaround program with the support of Cognia, a nonprofit that provides evaluation and improvement services to schools. While that organization worked to help Trezevant build processes for continuous improvement and exit Tennessee’s Priority status list, it also sparked this pilot program by connecting TBEF with school leaders.
TBEF works closely with the West Tennessee Home Builders Association and the Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders. Trezevant juniors and seniors participating in the TBEF program work on HBI’s Pre-Apprentice Certificate Training curriculum.
The PACT curriculum, which covers safety, tool identification, math and employability skills, is embedded in Trezevant’s math program. A dedicated math instructor selected by the school supervises students’ work on the curriculum during regular class time. Cognia still serves as a liaison, fielding our requests and coaching the math teacher on the delivery of the PACT curriculum.