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In this week’s Tradewire: The trades are getting their own music festival, Milwaukee’s new shop vac joins the PACKOUT stack, and Lowe’s rallies some heavy hitters to tackle the skilled trades gap.
Plus: 50% off a Milwaukee combo kit, Wolverine boot deals, Trades Thursday events near you, electricians busting a move on the jobsite, and Trades 40 Under 40 honoree Amber DeLong.
P.S. Grab your free air balance report template.
Table of contents
Industry news
Finally, a music festival for the trades >
TradeUp Fest hits Noblesville, IN, September 19 with a free festival built around celebrating the trades. Hit the Trades Village to try welding, electrical, HVAC, and carpentry, watch live demos, connect with apprenticeship programs, and check out the latest tools and tech.
Plus: two stages of live music, food trucks, local vendors, and family activities. Then the party moves inside for a ticketed concert headlined by country artist and former construction worker Larry Fleet.
Trades getting their own festival? About time.
Milwaukee’s new shop vac plays nice with your PACKOUT >
The M18 FUEL 4-Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum is joining the PACKOUT lineup. The big win? A removable sliding tank lets you dump the mess without tearing down your stack. It pulls 70 CFM, comes with a wireless VACLINK remote, and gets up to 47 minutes of runtime in max run-time mode with a REDLITHIUM FORGE HD12.0 battery.
Because the only thing worse than cleanup is taking apart your whole setup to do it.
Lowe’s Foundation goes hard on the skilled trades gap >
The Lowe’s Foundation just launched the Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition, the largest cross-sector skilled trades coalition in U.S. history. They’re teaming up with NVIDIA, AT&T, Bank of America, Carrier, GM, DEWALT, Duke Energy, and others to train 1 million people for trades careers by 2035.
The push builds on Lowe’s existing $250M commitment and Gable Grants network across 30 states. And there’s plenty of work to do: An estimated 2.1 million skilled trades jobs could go unfilled by 2030.
Trades Thursday is less than 3 weeks away >
Champion the Trades
Stories, shop talk, and field-tested tips, backing millions of Pros who keep the world running.
Amber DeLong knows her way around a male-dominated industry >
Amber grew up working at her dad’s dealership. Today she helps run an 11-person family HVAC business as the co-owner and VP of DeLong & Sons HVAC in Shoemakersville, PA. Along the way, she’s made mentoring other trades business owners a priority and recently pushed past her fear of public speaking to take the stage in front of 75 contractors.
Amber was named to Housecall Pro’s Trades 40 Under 40 class—one of just 10 women selected. With women making up just about 3% of techs, Amber believes visibility matters. “Whenever I hit a milestone, I make sure to post about it on social media, because it shows that it doesn’t matter who you are; there’s a place for you in this industry,” Amber said.
Read Amber’s HomePros feature →
Got a story or tip worth the spotlight?
Pro Perks
- Home Depot > Save 50% off Milwaukee’s M18 18V 8-Tool Cordless Combo Kit.
- Wolverine > Get 25% off select styles of Overpass work boots.
- The Tool Nut > Score $90 savings + free shipping on a DEWALT Brushless Circular Saw.
- Take the guesswork out of air balancing > Record airflow, catch issues, and leave every system dialed in with this free HVAC air balance template.
Recs
3 picks worth the click:
- Bring it on challenge > Seen this social trend? Watch the guys from Victory Electrical Services take on spirit fingers before hitting the jobsite.
- Rep the trades > “In Trades We Trust.” Enough said. Grab the tee and wear your trade pride on your sleeve.
- Swap the energy drinks > Running on gas-station caffeine? Tradesman Nutrition has a cleaner option for beating the afternoon slump.
Job size snapshot
How are tickets trending in the trades? Watch this spot for how average job sizes compare to last year—what’s up, what’s down, and where the money’s moving.
- Carpet cleaning: 7%
- Electrical: 4%
- Garage: 1%
- General contractor: 2%
- Home cleaning: 7%
- HVAC: 3%
- Landscaping & lawn: 8%
- Plumbing: 8%
- Other: 7%
This data is based on average revenue per job across key trades using data from Housecall Pro businesses. We compare the past 28 days to the same period last year to spot trends in job size. Data includes all payment types (credit card, ACH, loans, cash, etc.), excluding service agreements.
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