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The basics:

• The Training Center partners with Willingboro and Trenton schools for hands-on trade training
• TradeReady program targets NJ skilled labor shortages in HVAC, plumbing and electrical
• New 25,000-sq-ft Branchburg facility will expand Somerset County access
• Students gain certifications and pathways to high-demand careers

Engineering plans can’t be turned into buildings, bridges and tunnels without skilled hands. With more than 1 million jobs unfilled across the U.S., according to Forbes, labor shortages across HVAC, electrical and plumbing affect employers and delay projects.

In New Jersey, an aging workforce, a narrow talent pipeline and an image problem contribute to the growing gap. From its base in Wrightstown, The Training Center is hoping to turn the tide by bringing the trades back to school and connecting students to the workforce that makes projects real.

Founded in 1982, the family-run trade school has partnered with Willingboro High School and Capital City High School in Trenton on a hands-on learning program that aims to get students “TradeReady.” The pilot is designed to expose juniors and seniors to high-demand trades before graduation.

Dan Moscatiello spent nearly two decades in the industry before joining The Training Center, founded by his late father. John Moscatiello, “focused on taking complex subjects and making it simple for the adult learner,” Dan Moscatiello said. Last year, The Training Center took that ethos and applied it to a new audience.

As of February, TradeReady students are about midway through the career development pilot. The 32-week, 96-hour course is offered in line with the high schools’ schedules. Students travel to The Training Center’s facility twice a week for 90-minute sessions.

Perception gap

A recent The Harris Poll found most Americans find trade jobs just as important to society as white-collar work. Still, just 38% of Generation Z said the skilled trades offered the best job opportunities, according to the survey. And just 36% strongly felt skilled trades offered a faster and more affordable career path.

Moscatiello argues that perception gap is part of the workforce problem.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by the school, the average trade worker in New Jersey earns about $127,000 annually, with top earners exceeding $150,000 each year. Moscatiello described plumbing as a sleeper career, for instance. “If you don’t mind getting a little dirty, you can easily pull in quite a large amount of earnings.” Compensation is rising. “Demand is there.”

Getting ready

Moscatiello said TradeReady emerged from The Training Center’s own learning experience.

It previously offered in-school education but found that format wasn’t great for engaging students. Additionally, that curriculum didn’t really speak to where the kids were on their early career path. The endeavor lasted four years.

“We took a step back and said, ‘Wait, if we’re not getting results, let’s not continue to come to the school,” Moscatiello said.

Instead, The Training Center advocated for a simplified program with a broader scope. Many basic skills the course covers apply across different trade paths.

TradeReady is built around eight core gears: workplace soft skills & career exploration; thermodynamics; introduction to electrical & controls; intro to plumbing; intro to HVAC; intro to boilers & plant operations; troubleshooting & diagnostics (using”fault-injected” simulated training boards — advanced technology that allows students to master troubleshooting in a controlled environment that mimics a real-world job site); and final projects & skills testing.

Working with the pros

The current pilot enrolls 17 students. The Training Center sponsored one, and the schools paid for the remaining cohort’s attendance. According to Moscatiello, the cost per student is $3,000. He said the program maintains a 10-to-1 student-teacher ratio.

“The challenge for us is to keep this experience where they have a lot of visibility to the right professionals. To have that experience so that they can have confidence, and they can learn that they can do it.”

He described how the course exposes students to widely applicable skillsets.

“I’m going to teach you how to do a series of parallel wiring. I’m going to teach you how to glue PVC together; and solder a pipe and clean copper piping. I’m going to help you understand how the infrastructure works for electrical systems, plumbing systems — at a very basic level.”

Instructors are industry leaders, including two master plumbers, three licensed master HVAC contractors, and one master electrical contractor among others. Altogether it adds “hundreds of years’ experience that are brought into the lesson.”

‘Aha moments’

He explained many participants are learners who benefit from applied instruction. “[Y]ou’re really trying to accelerate their ‘aha moments,’” he said.

Engaging with students also highlighted the importance of teaching soft skills. The TradeReady curriculum emphasizes attitude, promptness, safety discipline and professional communication. It also provides education for next steps: what it takes to become a master electrician, for example, or run your own business.

“The Training Center has been a great opportunity for my students, giving them real-world skills and access to strong career pathways,” commented Jessica Massenat, a local Trenton STEM Teacher Leader. “This program is an avenue to help them build a positive path out of the city and into stable, successful careers.”

The program directly introduces students to high-demand – and paying – careers with immediate opportunities in the field.

TradeReady and The Training Center can also offer insights into regulatory requirements along with demand or tests for specific jobs because its coursework ties directly to field work. “And the guidance counselors don’t have all that,” Moscatiello said.

For Moscatiello, “The most important aspects [of TradeReady] … help guide you in what you want to do.” To figure out, “What’s the right way to invest my skillset?”

The pilot positions participants to bypass entry-level hurdles and move into higher-value apprenticeships and careers. Students also come away with a program graduation certificate based on final skills testing. All student activities are also tracked in the school’s customer relationship management system, giving participants documented records of their progress.

An immersive experience

The Training Center specializes in HVAC, electrical, welding, plumbing, boilers and more. It provides training to support state licensing, nationwide certifications and career development. While other trade schools have turned into “big profit centers,” Moscatiello says The Training Center measures success by whether students enter the workforce field-ready.

Fresh off the mid-year milestone for TradeReady, the trade school is positioning itself for regional expansion with a new 25,000-square-foot Somerset County facility. The Training Center plans to break ground this month off Route 22 in Branchburg to better serve Central and North Jersey. Moscatiello anticipates an aggressive timeline for delivery of the new facility, targeting summer – or fall – 2026.

Of the total footprint, 18,000 square feet will comprise lab space. The layout intentionally emphasizes the immersive, real-world-inspired learning area. The remaining square footage will go toward classrooms, offices, bathrooms, break rooms, etc., Moscatiello said. “I want to redefine what a trade school should look like. That’s my vision.”

Seeing the whole picture

The facility will encourage a collaborative and exploratory work environment that leans into the common ground across trades. This way, students in the plumbing program working on a module about the low voltage wiring of a septic system, for example, “can go over to the electrical segment and use their boards to demonstrate that wire.”

“Have a lab that truly could constantly work with a student — and have an instructor team that they’re united in one common goal, which is to make field ready technicians. Then the space becomes transformative in how we can use it,” Moscatiello said.

The Training Center expects its publicly offered career development courses will engage 800 to 1,500 students in 2027, with hopes to expand beyond that. The Somerset County expansion also presents opportunity for TradeReady. Building on the success of the Wrightstown pilot, The Training Center says it is in active talks with several school districts about expanding for the upcoming 2026-27 school year.

“The momentum is not a problem,” Moscatiello said, citing funding, logistics and coordination. He’d like to grow the high school program’s numbers into the hundreds.

Building a brand

Moscatiello sees the Branchburg facility as a way to formalize a scalable model for trade education. In the near term, however, the focus is establishing a strong brand presence in Somerset County.

“We’re going to stay in our lane. It’s going to be plant operations, welding, plumbing, electrical, HVAC. And then we’ll branch off subjects related to that … to develop programs that produce field-ready graduates.”

“Not necessarily great for business, but great to do it the right way,” he said, noting that students who can’t perform on the job site reflect on The Training Center brand.

“We see the kind of word of mouth and the value. And also we’re building on B2B,” he said. ” … ‘Send us two names from your graduate class.’ And so that’s good.

“So success in the short term is launching in Branchburg in that three-to-five year window, with the scale up of these programs where we’re impacting the space.”

Over the next 10 years, Moscatiello hopes to scale beyond New Jersey, targeting metro areas, like Chicago or Washington, to help build better field-ready workers nationwide.