Adairsville High School student Natalie Wade took first place in plumbing at the Northwest Georgia Skills Challenge in Rome.

Wade competed among roughly 300 high school students from across the region in the event organized by the Associated General Contractors of Georgia. Students tested their skills in trades including plumbing, drywall, carpentry, and masonry under timed conditions while industry judges evaluated their work.

Wade installed plumbing for a sink and washing machine. Judges examined measurements, pipe alignment, and the students’ understanding of the related math. She placed second at both the regional and state levels last year and said she wasn’t sure she had done enough to win this time. Judges awarded her first place.

Wade told CBS News Atlanta she wanted stability right out of high school. She already has a job lined up with Atlanta-based mechanical contractor McKenney’s, including paid work and help covering her trade education through Local Union 72. She said the company also pays for her trade school and pays her while she attends classes.

AGC Georgia CEO Zach Fields told CBS News Atlanta that the competitions connect students with employers before graduation. He said the industry cannot build anything without people and needs more of them. Fields noted that an aging workforce makes recruiting and training younger workers especially important as experienced tradespeople retire.

Associated Builders and Contractors estimates the construction industry needs to attract about 349,000 new workers nationally in 2026 to meet demand. A separate workforce survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and NCCER found that 42 percent of respondents reported project delays caused by shortages of their own workers or subcontractors’ workers.

Fields emphasized that four-year degrees remain valuable in engineering, architecture, and construction management. However, skilled trades offer another path that can deliver experience, income, and opportunities to advance into job-site leadership. He said the industry cares mostly about experience and know-how.

The Skills Challenge series runs through eight regional events across Georgia this fall and partners with SkillsUSA Georgia. Winners who hold SkillsUSA membership can advance to the state leadership and skills conference.

Wade said the first-place finish reinforced her confidence that she can succeed in the trade.