Courtesy Photo This photo provided by Alpena Community College shows student Justin Robin working on a computer numerical control machine in the college’s Machine Tool Technology department.

ALPENA — The community is invited to Alpena Community College on Thursday for a forum about skilled trades.

The college will host a showing of the short film “The Skilled Trades: Crisis & Opportunity,” by Jeff Vande Zande, an English professor at Delta College.

The free event will be at Granum Theatre on ACC’s campus from 7 to 9 p.m.

Tim Kuehnlein, political science and history instructor at ACC, said there is a shortage of skilled trade workers and everyone is paying the price for that, even consumers.

“With fewer plumbers, construction workers, and carpenters and all that, we end up paying higher prices,” Kuehnlein said. “There are great job opportunities that actually pay more than most people realize.”

There are an estimated 3 million vacant skilled trade jobs in the country, according to Cerasis, a transportation management company.

The event is meant to counseling people earlier to inform them that there are skilled trade jobs out there. Kuehnlein said people should be aware that there are different options for higher education.

“We’re hoping for high school students, even college students, parents, and then general people in the community, like consumers,” Kuehnlein said. “We’re trying to get the word out that parents and high school students should really be thinking about these alternative educational opportunities and professional opportunities as we move forward.”

Kuehnlein said the 20-minute film will set the tone for a roundtable discussion that will follow.

Those in attendance will be able to ask questions to different speakers, including ACC President Don MacMaster, Vice President of Instruction Deb Bayer, Alpena Public Schools Superintendent John VanWagoner, Joyce McCoy, career and technical education director at Alpena High School, and others.

“We’re going to get our heads wrapped around the nature of the problem and hopefully encourage young people and parents and the community to understand that we got to get past the stereotypes of skilled trades and realize that there’s more than meets the eye,” Kuehnlein said.

Kuehnlein said the event will plant a seed for more intense discussion in the community about the options people have.

“They’re here, it’s just a question of whether they’re maximized,” Kuehnlein said.

For more information about the event, contact Kuehnlein at 989-358-7310 or kuehnlet@alpenacc.edu.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.