I Went Where Construction's Next Generation Is Training For Today | Watch FCP

Everyone in construction complains about the labor shortage. Ocean County Vocational Technical School is doing something about it, and it has one ask for the industry.

PAVEX team member sitting on concrete steps, wearing black jacket and glasses Headshot
Brandon Noel
Sep 11, 2026
Eosso Brothers Paving

Labor shortages are the most over-talked topic in construction, and almost nobody offers an answer. Brandon Noel went looking for one at Ocean County Vocational Technical School, a New Jersey district that has spent decades rebuilding its programs around what industry actually asks for. He found classrooms of teenagers heading into careers without debt, an administrator who failed out of college three times before vocational education changed his life, and a request the industry could satisfy tomorrow.

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