VYCC: Timber Framers Pre-Apprenticeship Program
The very first Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) Timber Frame Pre-Apprenticeship (TFPA) cohort have completed their official training!
The idea for this pre-apprenticeship was born in 2024 when VYCC sought and secured funding for a much-needed tractor and farm building on its Richmond campus. This shovel-ready project was a great opportunity to expand the carpentry training that many VYCC crews receive, so we fielded an “Advanced Build Crew” to construct our beautiful five-bay ‘Tractor Barn’. The crew followed blueprints, cut timbers, chiseled and shaped the joinery, and then assembled the frame. Once this timber frame structure was in place, they focused on siding and other finish elements. This project was such a success that we wanted to expand the training with a particular focus on timber framing. With encouragement from the Vermont Department of Labor, we registered this pre-apprenticeship and set the stage for an expanded program in 2025.
VYCC Advanced Build Crew constructing the five-bay ‘Tractor Barn’.
Oz Grainager, and VYCC Advanced Build Crew Member
A team of Timber Frame Journeymen. Eliot Lothrop, Oz Grainager, and Dan Lee, instructed this first pre-apprenticeship cohort. They began their season by cutting Timbers for a new compost production building, which they then assembled and erected on the VYCC farm. Participants learned virtually all aspects of timber framing, from how to safely lift and move heavy timbers, to reading and interpreting drawings and specifications, to using Square and Mill Rule Layouts for the cutting of standard timber joints. Upon completion of the compost frame, they learned restoration techniques while repairing timbers for VYCC’s historic East campus horse barn, dating back to the early 1900’s.
The tractor barn, new compost building, and restoration of the East Monitor and Horse barns are investments in campus infrastructure that both provide trades training opportunities and support operations. The 60’ tractor barn provides much needed space for storage, including tool and equipment maintenance as well as providing critical shelter and safety areas for crews out in VYCC’s farm field. When the East Monitor barn restoration is completed, it will provide a four-season wash and pack station for VYCC’s organic production farm, allowing for the continued growth of our Health Care Share Program. The East Monitor Barn will also provide additional indoor space for training and equipment storage.
The TFPA program provides tremendous hands-on learning opportunities for young adults seeking experience in timber framing and carpentry. In fact, 100% of this first cohort from the TFPA program indicated they felt the program had done extremely well at preparing them for a career in timber framing and related industries.
In addition to their official TFPA training, three Corps Members from this year’s cohort will have the added bonus of getting hands on experience with dismantling a timber frame barn in Morrisville! Working under the supervision of Eliot Lothrop a crew of six VYCC Corps Members will dismantle and preserve a historic timber frame structure. Dismantling structures helps new timber framers develop a keener sense of how buildings are assembled and is another important and sought-after skill in the timber framing industry. Congrats to this year’s TFPA cohort for this exciting opportunity!
Alumni from the TFPA will be able to pursue further training as Timber Framer Apprentices as well as careers in related fields such as housing/building and construction. Employers like Vermont Timber Frames, and organizations, such as The National Timber Framers Guild and The Heartwood School, see value in the training VYCC provides and have hired or accepted alums for further training.
“Investing in VYCC is a critical and effective strategy to strengthen Vermont’s workforce. In a time when we need to rapidly rebuild our construction workforce to build the housing that Vermonters need, this is exactly the kind of programming and workforce development training that employers need to create the skilled workforce of tomorrow. I’ve been so impressed with the quality and depth of the training that VYCC provides young adults. We have a graduate of VYCC’s timber frame apprenticeship program working on one of our crews and they arrived ready to contribute on day one. The hard skills and the soft skills they acquired over the course of the program, and the pre-vetting of suitability for a challenging career, are invaluable to our company. If you have a chance to hire a VYCC alum, do it – they are motivated, well trained, diligent, reliable, and best of all, great teammates.” - Kevin Moyer, Vermont Frames & Foam Laminates of Vermont
If you are interested in learning more about VYCC’s Timber Framer Pre-Apprenticeship program, check out their website at www.vycc.org or reach out to Senior Community Engagement Manager Bo Malcolm (bo.malcolm@vycc.org) to schedule a call!