We’ve long known, in the US, that our global economic advantage rests on an educated workforce. To that end, a couple of generations ago, America was virtually alone in providing free, readily available high school education.

As knowledge-based industries have grown, so has the demand for a higher-educated workforce. Today, over 60% of US high school graduates go on to college. That’s almost twice the number of other OECD countries including Japan, Germany, and France.

This has created a segment of the finance industry that loans money to students. Students who then graduate with debt significant enough to prevent them from doing other things, like buying a house. At the same time, we have a housing crisis in the US. According to NPR’s reporting, right now we have a shortfall of up to 7 million houses.

Education, debt-distribution, and the housing shortage might seem like huge, intractable macro-economic issues. But, locally, right here in New Orleans, Aaron Frumin is doing something to correct them.

Aaron is founder and CEO of unCommon Construction. It’s a construction company that builds houses. And it gets a significant portion of its workforce from high schools. High school students spend 100 hours each semester as apprentices, learning all aspects of construction, from swinging a hammer to team leadership.

We first met Aaron back in 2018, when unCommon Construction was just getting rolling. Today, unCommon Construction has filled 500 apprenticeship positions, distributed over half a million dollars in scholarships, and over 80% of kids who graduate from their work-skills program go into the construction industry.

Also back in 2018, we first learned about an atypical property development company, Alembic Community Development. Alembic partners with non-profit organizations, or like-minded for-profits, to develop real estate in typically disadvantaged communities. In other words, they build houses, community and commercial properties, in neighborhoods that are unattractive to most investors.

Starting out in New York, Alembic opened its doors in New Orleans in 2007. In 2008 Mike Grote joined the company as Director of its New Orleans office. It’s a position Mike still holds today.

There are a lot of things in New Orleans that are different from most other cities in the country: Gumbo, Bourbon Street, second-lines, muffulettas, Mardi Gras, the list goes on. But our much-vaunted fun-first lifestyle doesn’t immunize us from the problems that afflict the rest of the country - especially around the issues of affordable housing, and alternatives to debt-laden college education.

While the public image of New Orleans focuses on frivolity, and while Aaron and Mike enjoy Mardi Gras and live music as much as any other New Orleanian, they’re both making significant contributions to solving serious, nationwide problems. We're always happy when Out ot Lunch can shine a light on New Orleanians like Aaron and Mike and businesses like unCommon Construction and Almebic Community Development whose contributions to our city and country are overshadowed by the brighter lights of food and fun.

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com.

 

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