There’s a so-called “Silver Tsunami” coming to the skilled trades. Aging tradesmen are starting to retire, and there’s a significant lack of young tradesmen to take their place. To bolster this essential workforce, Lowe’s, The Lowe’s Foundation, and Hiring Our Heroes (a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation) are launching the Skilled Trades Academy for transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses.
This means working toward an OSHA 30-hour construction certification, as well as resume writing, interview preparation, networking, and job placement for trades such as plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, HVAC, and more – without ever touching your GI Bill benefits.
Veterans have seen significant improvements in employment rates in recent years. In July 2025, the veteran unemployment rate sat at 3%. While parsing that number to account for other demographics reveals spikes, such as among women veterans (4.4%) or disabled veterans (5.9%), it also serves to highlight the progress made in finding jobs for American service members. In 2011, veteran unemploy was a staggering 15.2%.
Low unemployment numbers for veterans can be attributed to many factors, and initiatives like the Skilled Trades Academy are among them. Training military-connected Americans for skilled trades also serves a dual purpose: filling the gaps in critical fields being vacated by the aging Baby Boomer population. By 2030, every member of that generation will have turned 65, and a full quarter of the U.S. labor force will be over 55.
While some may extend their careers, many others will not. Meanwhile, the United States still has 2.5 million more job vacancies than it has workers, costing American companies as much as $5 billion, not to mention the drain of institutional and industry knowledge that Boomers built over the past few decades. Most importantly, AI will not save the skilled trades… at least, not yet.
But where there’s a problem, there is often an opportunity. The real median income in the United States is just over $42,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In the skilled trades, median income varies by trade, but the median income for electricians is around $52,000, while the highest 10% of earners earn more than $90,000 annually, according to trade industry advocates. Moreover, 18% of skilled construction workers are self-employed, the second highest among any major industry.
The Skilled Trades Academy will be established in the fall of 2025 in Jacksonville, North Carolina. It will offer hands-on training for careers in HVAC, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, masonry, and property maintenance. It’s a six-week, in-person program that provides the foundations of those trades. It’s also open to veterans and military spouses, but for service members, it’s also a DoD Skillbridge opportunity. Interested personnel can participate during their final 180 days of service, with command approval.
The application deadline for the first cohort is Sept. 12, 2025, and the program will run between Oct. 6 and Nov. 14, 2025. Two additional cohorts are planned for 2026, but there are no details currently available. No college degree or experience in skilled trades or construction is required to get started. Spouses and veterans must have a high school diploma or equivalent, one year of work experience, and transportation. They must also be unemployed or facing unemployment.
For more details or to apply for the Skilled Trades Academy, visit the program at the Hiring Our Heroes website.
