"Recruiting in the trade fields is a big problem for American companies today. We have millions of positions open and an untrained labor force to fill them," he said. //

The culture has caught up with his message, so much so that Rowe says they have 10 times more people applying for the scholarship his foundation offers. //

He's right about the shift in culture. People want to be part of this movement. You see it in TikTok accounts of plumbers, farmers and mechanics with insane numbers of followers and shares. It's the same on Instagram, X and Facebook. //

Rowe stressed that young people like Bambino are needed desperately to maintain and build our maritime industrial base.

"There are 15,000 individual companies building our nuclear-powered subs, which now, by the way, are the pointy part of the stick. If things go sideways with Taiwan and our aircraft carriers are very vulnerable, we need these submarines," he said.

Rowe said companies such as BlueForge deliver those submarines and are desperate to hire skilled tradespeople in areas such as additive manufacturing, computer numerical control machining, welding and more. //

And if Rowe gets his way, with a little help, he becomes not unlike George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life": a man who has had an effect far beyond what he'll ever fully realize.