Building a Foundation: In Skilled Trades and in Your New Business

The current skilled trades gap is being felt everywhere. The larger population of skilled tradesmen are 50+ years old and there are not enough of them. There has been increased hardship getting the younger generations to join the skilled trades, leading to a growing shortage of people within the trades.

On today’s episode of Tuesday’s with Morrisey, Host, Adam Morrisey speaks with Cooper Newby, Co-Founder of Classet, to talk about some of the biggest challenges he’s faced as a small business owner building a foundation and how he has impacted students and raised awareness for the trades industry.

“If you.are thinking of starting a business, one of the easiest ways to do that is to start a skilled trades business. if you have the skills, you can go get a bunch of money so what is appealing to people is the opportunity for anyone going into the trade,” said Cooper Newby.

As the world becomes more and more electronic and digital, there will always be a need for skilled trade workers who need to physically come into your home, business,etc to fix your plumbing, your AC, or any of your appliances. The problem currently at hand is that many skilled trade businesses are struggling to find workers that are already skilled within their trade. Companies need less apprentices who are risky and need supervision, and more employees who hold trade experience. The goal that Newby mentions is working on getting students to enter the skilled trades fields earlier to increase the number of skilled workers with experience.

Morrisey and Newby also discussed…

  • The benefits of helping students gain early exposure in the skilled trades
  • What are some things to consider when beginning your own start-up business?
  • Balancing business and product development
  • How early adopters play a key role and can help with building a foundation for your new business

“If you can find the early adopters who are willing to put up with things when the break and willing to give you amazing feedback and ideas, that will be amazing,” said Newby.

Cooper Newby is the Co-founder of Classet and a Stanford graduate from CCRMA (Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics). He holds a background in Mechanical Engineering and works not just in product design, but also in helping others find their own career path in the skilled trades.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

9 Proven User-Generated Content Strategies That Actually Work
July 24, 2025

User-generated content has become the backbone of modern marketing—but most advice focuses on theory rather than execution. We asked nine marketing leaders who’ve built successful UGC programs to share exactly how they do it, what works, and what doesn’t. Here’s what we learned from their real-world experience. Start With Direct Customer Outreach Kyle Bernard, who…

Read More
Blending Intuition and Metrics to Elevate Sterile Processing
Smarter Sterile Processing Starts with Data—Boosting Efficiency, Cutting Costs, and Improving Patient Care
July 24, 2025

In a healthcare ecosystem increasingly driven by data, sterile processing departments (SPDs) find themselves at a crossroads—balancing precision and pace, safety and speed. As hospitals look to reduce inefficiencies and protect patient safety, analytics tools are transforming sterile processing from an often overlooked backroom function into a vital, data-enhanced frontline of care. Research shows…

Read More
college success
Freshman Year Survival Guide: How Overlooked High School Lessons Lead to College Success
July 24, 2025

Nobody warns you that college success isn’t just about brains — it’s about balance, too. In this refreshingly honest episode of Professional Quotient: Conversations that Build Equity, hosted by Jason Winningham, high school teacher Jacob Mutchler reunites with two of his former students, Lilly Salcedo and Oscar Davila, to reflect on what really mattered…

Read More
The Nursing Workplace: Staffing, Shortage, and Safety
The Nursing Workplace: Staffing, Shortage, and Safety
July 24, 2025

In this episode of Care Anywhere: The Global Health Workforce Podcast, host Lea Sims welcomes Syl Trepanier, DNP, RN, Chief Nursing Officer for Providence Health and member of the TruMerit Board of Trustees. With responsibility for representing more than 36,000 nurses across a multi-state health system, Syl shares his personal journey from caregiving as…

Read More