masonry. As Build Trades looks to bring the program to Central Ohio schools in 2026, they are seeking area high schools interested in a turnkey program where the teacher training, fees, and tool sets for students are all picked up by the industry group. “We are trying to prime the pump so schools don’t feel a lot of friction to bring the program in,” says Myers. “We are right there to help them in the first few years of getting this started.”
While workforce experts expect artificial intelligence to fundamentally transform the global workforce in the coming decades, Myers believes those who do skilled work with their hands should be relatively unaffected. “AI is going to displace a lot of jobs, but it’s not fixing your plumbing,” he says. “AI can’t build a chimney, it can’t wire your house.”
Brenda Callaghan, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Greater Cleveland, said the workforce program has begun churning out graduates equipped to move directly into the
greater Cleveland construction workforce. “We are extremely proud to have 100 percent job placement; they are all beginning to work in the construction trades,” Callaghan says.
Callaghan says the long-term goal of the program is to create a pipeline in Ohio communities for the building trades that keeps skilled workers from bolting for other states. “We’re hoping that we can stop the brain drain that many states have experienced,” she says. “We hope that students stay in their communities and possibly start their own businesses someday.”
While high schools were once wary of providing vocational options for their students, more recent attitudes have been more accepting of building trades work, according to Callaghan. “It’s heartwarming the reception we are getting from schools—the pendulum has definitely swung back,” she says. “We are now in more of a makers market culture, so everything is coming full circle. It’s
AI is going to displace a lot of jobs, but it’s not fixing your plumbing. AI can’t build a chimney, it can’t wire your house.”
— Rob Myers “
very rewarding for us knowing where it was and where we are today.”
To raise money for the expansion of the workforce development program in central Ohio in 2026, Build Trades is selling $100 tickets for a raffle for a new $850,000 home in the Evans Farm development in Delaware County. The upscale development of homes, townhouses and apartments is designed as a
walkable community with a community focus and a small-town feel.
The proceeds from the raffle will be divided between Make-A-Wish Foundation of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio for severely ill children in the region and the workforce development program expansion in Central Ohio. “It’s helping the lack of skilled trades, but you’re also helping critically ill children in our own communities,” Callaghan says. “It really makes a difference, and this raffle brings it home.”
With the raffle expected to take place in December—the winner will be announced on Dec. 24—Myers said he’s pitching the tickets as a great holiday
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Win a Home for the Holidays or Cash Prize
A Home for the Holidays is once again partnering with Make-A-Wish OKI for the sixth year in a row to raffle off a custom home. This marks the first year bringing the home raffle to the Columbus region.
The $850,000, 2,100-square-foot, two-story home will feature three bedrooms, two and half baths and a two-car-attached garage. The home is located in the Evans Farm development in Delaware County.
Tickets are $100 each with raffle proceeds benefiting Make-A-Wish OKI.
Since the Home for the Holidays raffle started in 2020 in the Cleveland area, nearly $1 million has been raised for Make-A-Wish OKI to grant wishes to children with critical illnesses.
HOW TO
PARTICIPATE
$100, with no purchase limit
