Some input from the BP preservationeers in answer to Jenks Parker's inquiry
would be appreciated.
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In a message dated 98-01-01 21:10:32 EST, Jenks Parker wrote:

>  My name is Jenks Parker and I am a general contractor in Chattanooga,
>  Tennessee.  For the past six months I have taken on the task of redirecting
>  my company from residential remodeling towards specializing in historic
>  preservation and architectual rehabilitation.
>
>  CRM remarks on craft training and resourcing...
>  In East Tennessee, as with the South in General,
>  the construction industry for the last twenty years has filled the vaccums
>  created from the demise of the trade unions with incompetent labor.  For
>  example, in Chattanooga, because the unions have lost much of their
>  influence, labor union membership has dwindled to a small percentage of
>  what it used to be.  Because of that, the remaining apprenticeship programs
>  are a bad joke at best.  I, for one, tend to hire carpenters who are at
>  least forty years old but even then they aren't quite the craftsman I need.
>
>  Our number one goal is to work exclusively on historic preservation and
>  architectual rehabilitation projects. In order to realize this goal we have
>  to locate and work local or regional journeyed craftsman in these projects.
>
>  The problem is that if no craftsman can be found, we
>  will have to organize a regional trade and craft guild which would hire
>  master craftsman willing to instruct and certify apprentices and journeymen
>  to meet our needs.  Not to beat around the bush, the present level of
>  available skilled labor in my area stinks and there are no shortages of
>  self proclaimed master carpenters, cabinet makers, and the like. Yet
>  compared to the thought of organizing and funding an academic program of
>  study and application, these guys suffice in a pinch, but not without me
>  going without sleep.
>
>  Pie in the sky?  So it seems.  I spent the recent Thanksgiving holiday with
>  James Fitch trying to find a starting point in this endeavor.    The one
>  thing Fitch and I agree on is that there is plenty of work out there. The
>  dichotomy is there is only a handful of people competent enough to do this
>  work (echoing you, Fitch, and  Bryan Blundell).  Dr. Fitch believes a
>  college level program in the trade crafts is realistic and I can see where
>  he is coming from. My question to him was:  What should I do in the mean
>  time?  We are still corresponding on the topic.
>
>  I would like to hear your thoughts further on this item.
>
>  Jenks C. Parker, Jr.
>  Parker-Waterhouse, LLC