Issue: 1/06

Hiring the right people and training and keeping workers are major challenges for the plumbing industry and common concerns for engineers, contractors and wholesalers.

The construction industry will need to add 100,000 jobs each year through 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while also filling an additional 90,000 openings annually as retiring baby boomers and others leave the industry. But while the job market for skilled trades is booming, interest in joining the industry is a bust.

As a result, the editors and publishers of PM Engineer, Plumbing & Mechanical and Supply House Times have teamed up to provide its readers with solutions to attract new workers to the plumbing industry and provide them with the training they need to stay for the long haul.

The magazines will present "Innovative Thinking 2006: Hiring-Training-Retention,"