Dive Brief:

• It's not unusual for labor organizations to recruit members within their trades, but the labor shortage is so tight in the energy belt of North Dakota and South Dakota that they have put on a joint campaign to recruit people into their trades.
• The jobs that outnumber workers include bricklayers, cement masons, plasterers, iron workers, heavy equipment operators, painters and laborers.
• Their campaign, called Dakota Construction Careers, is looking for people who have the required skills and have experience and people who have the skills but no experience and people who just plain want to get into the trade.
• The campaign started advertising this week in several Dakota markets and will begin a series of open houses in various towns at the end of this month.

Dive Insight:

Six labor groups are behind the campaign. They are pitching the worker shortage for road, bridge and infrastructure work as an opportunity for people to get paid, get trained, get health and retirement benefits and a chance to "build a better tomorrow."