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Season 5, Episode 233

Helmets to Hardhats assists veterans find a career in the trades

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Martin Helms

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Helmets to Hardhats 

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Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to Hardhats program shared the impact of the program, which has successfully connected more than 50,000 military personnel with a rewarding career in the building trades since its inception in 2003.

Helms, who took the reins of Helmets to Hardhats three years ago, has been on a mission to enhance the program's reach and effectiveness. Being a veteran and a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 306 in Akron, Ohio, Helms understands the challenges veterans face when transitioning to civilian life. He has spearheaded initiatives to update the program’s website, implement a customer relationship management system and expand its job board. Helms discussed how the job board connects veterans with apprenticeship opportunities nationwide. This strategic overhaul aims to streamline access to information and opportunities, making it easier for veterans to find a pathway into the trades.

A significant focus for Helmets to Hardhats has been fostering relationships with military organizations and the National Guard, which comprises about 40 percent of the U.S. military’s fighting force. By strengthening ties with entities like Soldier for Life and Hiring Our Heroes, Helmets to Hardhats ensures that service members know the opportunities available to them in the trades. Helms emphasized the importance of Local Unions understanding the military mindset and the transition process, enabling them to better support veterans entering the workforce.

Helms advocated for the registered apprenticeship model as a viable and debt-free pathway to the middle class. He highlighted the benefits of earning while learning, with apprentices receiving wages, benefits and retirement plans from day one. By choosing a career in the trades, individuals can achieve financial stability and personal satisfaction without the burden of student loans, Helms said. Helmets to Hardhats continues to pave the way for veterans to build fulfilling civilian careers and contribute to their communities.

Listen to the full episode to learn more about Helms and the impact of Helmets to Hardhats.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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