For a while there, I thought the best way to help close America’s skills gap would be to persuade the government to launch a national media effort to reinvigorate the skilled trades. I believed it was critical to make a more persuasive case for the millions of open positions in this country that don’t require a four-year degree, by pushing back against the “college for all” mentality, and introducing the country to ordinary Americans who were prospering by mastering a skill that was in demand. Proof, in other words, that those working in America’s essential economy, can still lead a prosperous life. So I went to Congress, several times, to testify about the increasing difficulty of…
For a while there, I thought the best way to help close America’s skills gap would be to persuade the government to launch a national media effort to reinvigorate the skilled trades. I believed it was critical to make a more persuasive case for the millions of open positions in this country that don’t require a four-year degree, by pushing back against the “college for all” mentality, and introducing the country to ordinary Americans who were prospering by mastering a skill that was in demand. Proof, in other words, that those working in America’s essential economy, can still lead a prosperous life. So I went to Congress, several times, to testify about the increasing difficulty of filling these jobs, and the urgent need to challenge the many myths and misconceptions that discourage so many people from exploring opportunities in the trades.
“The evidence demands a verdict,” I said. “Parents, teachers, guidance counsellors, and especially students, have to see the evidence with their own eyes. They need to hear directly from America’s tradespeople in a completely authentic way.”
No one in Congress disagreed with me. In fact, I heard from lots of elected officials on both sides of the aisle who were eager to get such a campaign off the ground. But of course, nothing happened. The politicians wanted the campaign to be all about them, or all about their party. And the ad agencies all wanted to make big, expensive commercials that relied too much on production value, and felt fake to me. I still believe there’s a roll for the government in this endeavor, but I’ve since come to believe the campaign I’d envisioned will not in fact, be led by the feds; it will be led by private industry. Specifically, by those companies who share my belief that creating new jobs, is very different than creating enthusiasm for the jobs we already have. Toward that end, I want to thank Wells Fargo for helping me get this initiative up and running, with a 360-degree media campaign in North Texas. Wells Fargo has not only donated a million dollars to our scholarship fund, they have also committed significant resources to help me tell the true stories of prosperous tradespeople in a 
variety of key vocations.
Last month, I flew to Dallas and spent a few days filming with dozens of tradespeople. I worked with a terrific agency called TRG, who I’ve been working with for the last few years in Oklahoma around a very successful campaign that highlights opportunities in the energy sector. We focused on AI-proof, six figure jobs that don’t require a college degree, and asked these skilled workers to talk candidly about what it means to possess a truly useful skill in 2025. Like Dirty Jobs, nothing was scripted, and there were no second takes. The result was a lot of very authentic conversation, from which we cut a few dozen messages now airing every day. Each message is a request to learn more about the many opportunities available in North Texas, followed by an invitation to apply for a work ethic scholarship from mikeroweWORKS. These materials have only been on the air for a couple weeks, but the impact is already very, very encouraging. People are reaching out, eager to learn more and 
explore the possibilities. In other words, it’s working!
As I’m sure you know, the stakes are high. From housing to data centers to automobiles to nuclear powered submarines, companies in the business of building the things we need are desperate – literally desperate – to attract skilled workers. Not a week goes by that I don’t hear from an industry leader, or the CEO of a big company who’s searching for the skilled labor they need. I’ll keep you posted as the campaign evolves, but the writing is on the wall. This is going to work in Texas, and with the assistance of other like-minded corporations, I think it’ll work all over the country. More details are at mikeroweWORKS.org/texas. The page will continue to grow as the campaign evolves, and hopefully, other pages will soon appear, with the help of other companies like Wells Fargo.
Thanks,
Mike
P.S. As you may know, mikeroweWORKS received 10X the number of applications in 2025 as we did the year before. We awarded over $5 million in work ethic scholarships and hope to double that next year. Helping us spread the word is much appreciated, so please, share away!
PPS. Big thanks to everyone in the attached photos. These are not actors. These are regular, hard-working Americans who invited my crew and me into their places of work to show me what goes on out of sight, and all too often, out of mind. They are the essential economy, and their stories are the reason this campaign is working.