In this episode of Commercial Grade, Wilson Matthew Betances — electrician, inspector, educator, and founder of Energize Us EDU — makes the case that the trades don't have a labor shortage. They have a retention problem. And he's on a mission to fix it by building builders and leaders from the ground up.

What Got Us Here Won't Get Us to the Next Level

Wilson sees an industry stuck in its own habits. 

"Just because you've been doing something for 30 years, doesn’t mean you haven’t been doing it wrong for 30 years and no one just confronted you," he says. 

From inspectors who fail jobs based on preference instead of code, to contractors who underbid because they're afraid to push back, the patterns are deeply rooted. His fix: get every credential he could, license, inspection, education, contracting, so he could challenge the status quo head-on, with receipts.

Full Classes, Half the Graduates

The pipeline isn't empty. It's leaking. 

"Every class is starting off with 30 students. Every class is full," Wilson says. "Yet the pipeline is telling us we only have 40 to 50% graduation rate." 

When apprentices do their exit interviews, the answer isn't about money. 

"People are saying, I don't want to put up with this construction culture." He argues the real work isn't recruiting, it's making the industry worth staying in.

The Shop Class Kid Who Never Left

Wilson's path started with a ripped-up high school application and a mom who filled out a new one on the spot. 

He got into Thomas Edison, a vocational trade school in Queens, and fell in love with shop class — showing up on Saturdays just to get more hands-on time. What fascinated him about electrical wasn't just the work. 

"Everything stems from electrical," he says. "Water only flows one direction. Electricity — it's crazy what it can do." 

That early spark drove him to stack credentials faster than most people think is possible.

Build Builders, Then Build Leaders

That's the motto behind Energize Us EDU, where Wilson and a team of seven are reaching millions a month through content that shows the trades as they really are: not glamorous, not gritty for the sake of it, just real. 

"If I can make a video that means you don't need to experience the pain I went through, I'm gonna make that video," he says. 

The goal: close the loop between awareness and action. Show what's possible, then give people somewhere to go next. 

"We want to build builders to do their job effectively. We want leaders to now lead the industry."

Want to catch the full episode?

Listen to Commercial Grade on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts.