Helmets to Hardhats connect service members and veterans to the trades

Martin Helms, Executive Director of Helmets to Hardhats, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast this Veterans Day to discuss his military service and eventual transition to the trades. Helms also discussed Helmets to Hardhats and how the organization helps connect outgoing, active military members with civilian careers in the building trades.

Helms began his military career in 1999 while he was in high school. He joined the Ohio Army National Guard before graduating and talked about finishing up his National Guard training. He explained what made him pursue a career with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) after connecting with Helmets to Hardhats following a few deployments in early 2005.

After filling out an application and being accepted at IBEW Local 306 in Akron, Ohio, Helms topped out in 2010. He still served with the Ohio National Guard and would be deployed twice more after 2010. When Helms returned from his second deployment in 2016, he was asked to apply to become the training coordinator for the IBEW Local 306 Training Center. He spent the next five years as a training coordinator at Local 306 before being asked to become the Executive Director of Helmets to Hardhats in 2021. 

Over the past 20 years, Helmets to Hardhats has helped connect nearly 50,000 service members with a career in the building trades, Helms said. He discussed his personal experience in the program and how it helps him to communicate with service members looking for a career after their service ends. Helms explained the parallels between life in the military and a career in the building trades. He said that health care, benefits, camaraderie and the earn-while-you-learn training programs are the primary reasons service members pursue a job on the tools.

Listen to the show above for more on Helmets to Hardhats and Helm's career.