Managers for years have bemoaned the dwindling pool of qualified workers entering facilities maintenance and engineering. And as the existing work force ages, their challenge is slowly looking more and more like a crisis.

Worker training offers managers one solution. Hire workers, then train them on the specific needs of the facility and organization. I wrote recently in this blog about the need for training - specifically, non-English training - that manufacturers and managers will need to address to expand the labor pool.

Now comes a newspaper item from Burlington, Wis., where a Construction Career Academy has opened. It is one of a number of academies, funded in part by the Associated General Contractors, and the U.S. Department of Labor, that seek to integrate academics into hands-on trades education for high school students. (As an aside, the students read articles from trade magazines. I'm all for more of that.)

It was only a matter of time until somebody with the ability to develop and deliver training in carpentry, plumbing and computer-aided design identified the challenge facing managers and offered a solution.

While training for construction trades doesn't completely address the requirements of in-house engineering and maintenance departments, it's a viable solution.

But is the next step to develop and expand technician education and training that does focus on the needs of institutional and commercial facilities?