PERSPECTIVE: A Milestone Moment for Workforce Systems Change

Date Posted: June 16, 2026

Posted In: Discussion, Ideas, What we are thinking about, Workforce,

by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum

Every once in a while, if you’re fortunate enough—and persistent enough—you get to see an idea you’ve spent years advocating become something much larger than yourself.

For Construction Forum and many of our partners across the St. Louis region, June 2026 feels like one of those moments.

On June 8, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that St. Louis had been selected as one of just nine cities nationwide to participate in its $90 million Skilled Trades Initiative. The same day, Meta announced a $115 million investment in construction workforce development. Within days, Google followed with a $50 million commitment focused on training the skilled trades workforce needed to build America’s future.

Three separate announcements. Three separate organizations. One common theme.

The future workforce will not be built through isolated programs. It will be built through collaborative systems that connect employers, educators, workforce organizations, community partners, and students around shared goals and outcomes.

Half-Decade in Making

That idea has guided Construction Forum’s workforce efforts for years.
In 2021, Construction Forum helped launch a systems-change-focused initiative aimed at creating a more inclusive and effective workforce ecosystem for the St. Louis construction industry. The discussion was never about creating another workforce program. It was about bringing together employers, educators, labor partners, workforce organizations, and public agencies to build stronger pathways into high-demand careers.

Those conversations helped lay the foundation for much of the work taking place today.

Construction Forum was proud to help convene industry stakeholders and support The Opportunity Trust’s successful effort to bring the Bloomberg initiative to St. Louis. Our region’s selection as one of only nine cities nationwide reflects years of relationship-building and collaboration among organizations committed to strengthening career pathways into the skilled trades.

We are also honored that Construction Forum is among the organizations receiving support through the Bloomberg initiative to expand those pathways.

Second Cohort Launched

These earn-while-you-learn programs place participants in full-time jobs with industry employers while providing the education, mentoring, and credentials needed for long-term career success.

The early results have been encouraging. Apprentices are building careers. Employers are developing talent. Most importantly, we are demonstrating that alternative pathways into professional construction careers can work.

Exploring New Pathways

We are now exploring additional career pathways that could provide direct entry into high-wage construction and technical careers for students graduating from high school. The goal is not simply to fill today’s openings. It is to create scalable pathways that meet future workforce needs while creating meaningful opportunities for young people.

At the same time, our workforce efforts continue to expand through a new partnership with the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. Through MSD’s Community Impact initiative, Construction Forum is helping develop apprentices for the professional services firms supporting critical infrastructure investments throughout our region.

None of this work belongs to any one organization.

The Bloomberg initiative, our apprenticeship programs, the MSD partnership, and the many collaborative efforts underway throughout the region all demonstrate what can happen when organizations choose collaboration over competition and long-term systems change over short-term fixes.

What makes this moment so encouraging is that the ideas many of us have been advancing locally are now being validated nationally. Whether it is Bloomberg Philanthropies, Meta, Google, employers, educators, or workforce organizations, the message is increasingly the same: solving workforce challenges requires coordinated action and sustained partnership.

Work Not Finished

The work is far from finished. But June 2026 feels like an important milestone.

The conversations that began years ago are producing real opportunities. Students are entering career pathways. Employers are finding new sources of talent.

Organizations are working together in new ways. That is what workforce systems change looks like.

And if we continue building on this momentum, the best chapters of this story are still ahead.