The One and Only Mike Rowe is in Montana, Here’s Why

You know him from Dirty Jobs, from his mikeroweWORKS Foundation, and from his yeoman's work at inspiring more young people to enter into the trades. The one and only Mike Rowe is in Montana, and we got to talk to him Thursday morning.

Mike Rowe is taking part in a big announcement with Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte Thursday afternoon. They plan on visiting with high school students participating in the High School House Program before holding a discussion at Great Falls High School to highlight workforce development initiatives.

One of the things Mike Rowe talked about that stood out to me was this: he got a phone call from the Blue Forge Alliance.

Mike Rowe: "They oversee the maritime industrial base. That's 16,000 individual companies who are collectively charged with building and delivering three nuclear powered subs to the government every year, to the Navy. They called and said, Mike, we're having a heck of a time finding skilled workers, and can you help? I said, How many do you need? I swear, Governor, I'm not making it up. They said, 250,000. So the numbers are vast. Oh, and then they said, Do you know where they are? And I said, Yeah, I know where they are. They're in the eighth grade. And that's that's why we're here. We're looking for programs that are going into high schools early to teach these basic skills.

Governor Gianforte highlighted all of the new programs the state has been rolling out to expand apprenticeships, trades education, and other workforce initiatives. He also talked about how excited he is to have Mike Rowe in Montana.

Gov. Gianforte: "What an honor to have Mike Rowe with us. He's been the champion for trades education. He's been working on this for 17 years, way before trades education was cool. And we're going to be at Neighbor Works. This is a group that uses Great Falls students to build homes. They're learning skills, and this is what Mike's been pushing for 17 years. We're going to be celebrating Neighbor Works 50th home that they constructed in Cascade County, and I'm just thrilled to be able to do it. We've been big supporters of trades education."

"The New Millionaires: Plumbers & Electricians"

(And see the video below referenced by Rowe)

Mike Rowe: "Not a week goes by that I don't hear from the leader of some critical industry asking where the trades people are. It could be the maritime industrial base, it could be automotive, it could be AI, it could be energy. We're talking about hundreds of 1000s, millions, in fact- millions of open positions that don't require a four year degree, but rather the mastery of a skill.

Full audio: