New trade school has enrollment from recent grads to those making a career shift, and everyone in between

MOULTONBOROUGH — Entering a career in the trades has growing appeal, both for students just out of high school, and people well into adulthood, rather than attending college, for a multitude of reasons.

The New Hampshire School of Mechanical Trades held the grand opening of its third location on Friday, where aspiring students toured the new facility to find out whether it is the right move for them.

Office Manager Gina Millard — daughter of Dean Millard, who co-founded the school with John Duff — led students through classrooms on the main and second levels of the new campus at 67 Whittier Hwy. Going room to room, she spoke about classes offered in multiple fields, and answered questions that came up through the conversation.

“We are basically here trying to bring the community in, reach out, meet new companies, and show people what we have available so we can get the ball rolling,” Millard said. “We have a huge age range. We work with students that are still in high school who are trying to figure out if they want to go to college, or not go to college. But that’s not our main group.”

The majority of students the school serves are 25-35 years old. Millard said they may be people who tried college, but it wasn’t for them, or maybe wanted to start a new career.

“Some people are kind of undecided and need something new, need something to better their lives. And they usually come to us to find an apprenticeship and a career path that is more for them,” Millard said.

There are also recent high school graduates, like Matthew Ventresca, a 19-year-old who grew up in Sandwich, Massachusetts, and coincidentally moved to Sandwich, NH, in August. Millard led Ventresca and his grandmother on a tour, ending with a discussion about next steps. He's interested in the fields of plumbing and heating, and potentially a career as an air conditioning technician.

“I’ve been thinking of a trade to go into, because college doesn’t really seem like a fit for me,” Ventresca said. “The tour was informative, and now I know more of what to expect.”

Millard said the school's first location opened in Manchester, at a time when there was a stigma that “trades were for dummies.” While that stigma seems to be broken, the new obstacle they hear is “nobody wants to work.” Millard said this simply isn’t true.

“We are actively trying to prove that wrong,” Millard said. “There are so many individuals who want to get out to work. The problem is taking that gamble on a new person. They have to fight to show that they have credentials to get into that working field. A lot of individuals who come through here get hands-on education to build off of. That way, when they get hired, they can be ready.”

The story of the NH School of Mechanical Trades goes back to when Dean and his late father Robert were running an oil and gas heating company. Robert was a steam engineer until his retirement, and also served as chief engineer at Malden Hospital and Salem State College.

Duff originally hails from Oregon, and after graduating high school, entered the U.S. Navy. After his honorable discharge, he earned an oil heat technician license in Massachusetts. He later joined the Millards as a heating technician. Now, Duff and Dean have worked together for more than four decades.

Robert died of cancer in 2012, just as Dean and Duff opened the Manchester location of the trade school. They vowed to continue his vision through the school, and have since opened locations in Seabrook and Moultonborough.

The school specializes in plumbing, heating and air conditioning, electrical and occupational safety. Millard said at the Moultonborough campus, they have seen a lot of interest in plumbing and oil heating, and she thinks air conditioning will be one of the biggest programs at the new location.

“Down in Manchester there is a lot more gas, being in the city with pipelines,” Millard said. “Up here, there is a lot more oil, and less pipelines. So, it kind of shifts, based on what type of housing and buildings are in the area.”

The school currently has one small class underway, a gas heat licensing course, which she said has about six students. Millard said they had interest early, so they quickly got the class up and running. The hope is to get up to four more classes started by the end of the month.

If Friday was any indication of the demand, they should have their hands full with plenty of students ready to learn a trade.

“We are hoping that by the spring, we will have all of our hands-on classes ready to go, day and evening,” Millard said.

The organization moved into the new location about a year ago, and it took time to get everything renovated. The convenient thing about being a trade school is most of the work could be done by their own people.

“We knocked all the walls down, took everything out, put everything back in,” Millard said. “Dean primarily did most of it himself, working with a small crew of teachers and people helping us. There were some things we had to build that we didn’t anticipate, but now that we’re all good to go, we’re eager to get classes going.”

Millard said the classes are all taught by tradespeople who can directly relate to the students seeking education and guidance in a new field. There are both day and evening classes offered, and generally between 90 and 120 hours per class are involved. The school offers payment plans, and the enrollment process is a phone call, with no application process.

Tours of the facilities can be scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday.

For more information, visit nhtradeschool.com, or call 603-622-6544.