LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hanah Moore has known for years that she doesn’t want to go to college and she doesn’t want to work at a desk.
“I just want to work with my hands and have fun,” Moore said.
Iron working has checked both of those boxes for the junior at Madison Central High School, who said the flames drew her to the trade.
“You get to use a blowtorch,” she said.
On Friday, Moore watched a dozen of her peers participate in the SkillsUSA Kentucky welding competition at the Iron Workers Local Union 70 training center in Louisville. They measured, marked, lit their torches and went to work.
In another part of the facility, competitors performed other manners of welding in their attempt to win a ticket to Atlanta, where this year’s national SkillsUSA competition takes place.
Moore donned her own gloves and hood on Thursday.
“I had two big pieces of plate,” she said. “I had to cut shapes and do a lot of different welds.”
On Saturday, two of the welders in the competition will be declared winners. Their finished products will have “better looking welds and less discontinuities” than the rest of the field and their design will better match the blueprints, said Tim Pinson, a welding instructor at Madison County Area Technology Center.
Pinson said compeitions, like SkillsUSA, are key to allowing his students to show off their skills.
"This is their opportunity to shine," he said.
He hopes some of the companies hiring take notice.
“The pandemic has put a strain on industry,” said Pinson, whose students graduate from high school and immediately start jobs making as much as $35 per hour. “They’re lacking for workers so bad."
Last fall, a survey of Kentucky construction firms found that 97% were having trouble filling opening positions.
But there are signs that workers are on the way.
Across the country, enrollment in the construction trades at two-year institutions is up 17.5%, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. That trails only the agricultural field for the biggest one-year jump.
The trend makes sense to Isaiah Moore, a 23-year-old apprentice iron worker, who has been in the trade since he was 18.
“Everybody preaches college, but the package here is $55 an hour,” he said. “You get $31 an hour on the check and the rest goes into your benefits. To not have any debt from college, that’s pretty good.”
On Friday, Moore watched over the competitors, like Bowling Green’s Brody Hewitt, who carefully measured and marked a piece of metal under the warm morning sun.
Moore helped them resolve issues with their equipment and ensured they didn’t go over their allotted time.
He said anyone interested in a well-paying career that won’t saddle you with debt should consider iron working.
While the work can sometimes be challenging, it comes with more rewards than just the monetary ones.
“When you’re in a trade, you’re learning skills that you can take home with you," he said.