Gov. Josh Stein recently said that North Carolina is on track to be short nearly 750,000 homes by 2029, which would put more pressure on an already strained housing market. Kelly Lester, a policy analyst at John Locke Foundation’s Center for Food, Power, and Life, said that to keep up with this demand, the state will need more than just new homes — it will need the people to build them.
“Bringing more young people into the trades, especially women, who remain underrepresented in the industry, is one of the most practical ways to increase North Carolina’s homebuilding capacity, reduce development costs, and, subsequently, make housing more affordable over time,” Lester said.
One Charlotte-based nonprofit has built a program designed to inspire and train young women for careers in the trades…