WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) welcomed television personalities, construction workers and apprentices from This Old House to Washington, DC for a conversation on addressing the skills gap in America through apprenticeships. (Click here to view or download photos from the event.)

Norcross is the only electrician in Congress and worked for years installing and restoring power for New Jersey homes, businesses and industrial sites before being elected to Congress. He recently visited This Old House’s job site in Jamestown, Rhode Island, where he assisted with electrical work and met with students who are considering careers in the building trades.

“My electrical apprenticeship training allowed me to learn-and-earn, so I could support a young family while learning a trade. It set me on a path toward a fulfilling, family-sustaining career, and it ultimately led me to serve in Congress,” said Congressman Norcross. “America needs a well-trained workforce to help build our future, and apprenticeships are critical to our success. This Old House is bringing much-needed attention to apprenticeships with Generation NEXT and I hope our collaborations help us lift up high-quality career training programs.”

Norcross worked with Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), Co-Chairs of the Senate Competitiveness Caucus, along with his co-founder of the Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus, Congressman David McKinley (R-WV-01), to plan and participate in the event.

Norcross added: “My family jokes that I’m ‘an electrician with a tie’ and I look at issues in Congress through that lens. For example, when I learned about how students and families cannot use 529 tax-free savings plans for apprenticeships, I introduced the 529 OPTIONS Act to level the playing field. Some students want to go to college, while others want to build the college, and we need to be supporting them all.”

Related Content

• Norcross introduced the 529 OPTIONS Act in Congress to help make apprenticeship training more accessible to America’s students.
• Norcross led a bipartisan tour of apprenticeship training centers for members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
• In an op-ed in The Star-Ledger, Norcross wrote, “an apprenticeship program shaped my life – taking me from construction work to Congress.”
• Norcross was selected to serve on the House and Senate Joint Super Committee on Pensions.
• Norcross was named Co-Chair of House Democrats’ “Rebuilding America” task force.
• Norcross hosted colleagues in South Jersey for a daylong forum on ‘The Future of Work, Wages and Labor.’
• Norcross founded the Congressional Building Trades Caucus, which launched a bipartisan infrastructure series.
• Norcross was appointed to serve on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and he vowed to represent New Jersey working families.

###

Contact: Ally Kehoe, Communications Director
ally.kehoe@mail.house.gov