Hey now, you’re an all star, get your trade on, go learn!

By Emma Peterson.

Tremco Rising Stars are proving that shooting stars are not the only thing to break the mold.

In a new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Karen Edwards met with Tremco’s David Hutchinson to discuss their Rising Stars Program, which he leads. The program emerged out of the summer of 2020 and the general unrest and uncertainty of that time. David explained, “We're all in our homes, it's Covid, there’s social unrest. It's just a really bleak time and I went to our leadership, felling there was an opportunity to create something positive.” That was the genesis of the program, David and Tremco working to find a way to help individuals access new opportunities, both for their careers and their personal journeys.  

Today, the Rising Stars Program is a national workforce development opportunity. Its primary focus is on its youth (ages 16-24) program, but there are also contractor education options available. Overall, it aims to engage young people with the industry while supporting MWBEs (Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises). David shared a bit about how their operations work, saying, “We're in five cities, seven overall programs and continue to grow. We have some programs that are based in community centers where we have young people that come from schools and around. We have some that are based directly in vocational schools and some based in regular schools.”  

When it comes to the structure of the learning within each program, David and Tremco place an emphasis on “learning without realizing they’re learning.” David elaborated, “It's been while, but I was that age at one point, and I know just having the same person stand up there and talk to you for two hours is not going to do what we're trying to accomplish. We try and make sure that we're mixing it up while providing that information almost through osmosis.” In practice, this looks like professionals from the industry talking about opportunities but also involving the students in activities that offer real-world transferrable experience. As David puts it, “The goal is to have participants understand what it takes to be in this industry, but also generate enthusiasm for, like, ‘I could do this. I've seen people do it, I've learned about it, I've seen it. This is something I can do.’”

Read the transcript or Listen to the full episode to learn more about the Tremco Rising Stars Program and how it’s engaging the next generation of professionals.