By the time you’re reading this in print America will have celebrated 250 years of independence. While it’s a milestone worth celebrating—preferably around a grill and surrounded by family—it’s also a time for reflection.

One of my earlier memories is of the Bicentennial parade in my hometown back in 1976. I was more into comic books than the news back then, but if I had been paying attention I would have seen an America that had a lot in common with 2026: an unpopular foreign war, a polarizing president, and uncertainty about the future of the US economy, and where the next good jobs would be coming from.

This is our big Made in America issue, where we celebrate domestic manufacturers of the tools, materials and equipment that contractors use. In 1976, American manufacturing was seeing a rebound following the steep recession of 1973-1975. Factory employment and output surged that year, led by a boom in automobile production.

But manufacturing had already fallen from its peak in the 1950s as a share of total non-farm employment. In 1976, manufacturing created 17.5 million jobs for a population of 218 million. Today, manufacturing supplies 12.6 million jobs for a population north of 342 million. The US is a service economy these days, making most of our money in finance, legal services, administration, education, healthcare, and hospitality.  

But that doesn’t stop people from being nostalgic for the days when manufacturing was king. Politicians still win votes by promising “good-paying factory jobs”—by which they imply that a person with a high-school diploma can walk in off the street and get a job that will let them buy a house, support a family, and retire after working for a single company some 30 to 40 years.

That nostalgia has an edge to it in 2026. Just like in 1976, people are anxious at the changes they’re seeing. The price of entry to the service economy—typically a college degree—has become, for many Americans, prohibitively expensive. Meanwhile, Artificial Intelligence is seen as a huge threat to the entire service sector. Why get a law degree when Claude can answer every legal question for free?

But here are a few interesting facts I learned putting this issue together. American manufacturing has seen a surge of investment in recent years. (Some reasons include rising foreign labor prices, concern over the critical supply chain, and tariffs.) But manufacturers are having trouble building new facilities and hiring new workers. And why? A lack of domestic skilled labor. Sound familiar?

The 800-lb. gorilla of the American economy, Big Tech, is in a similar bind. The leading technology companies are trying to win the AI race by building out infrastructure—data centers. But for all the billions they’re pouring into these projects the construction just isn’t happening fast enough. Why? A lack of domestic skilled labor: plumbers, pipefitters, and welders being leading categories. 

Meta, parent company of Facebook, has announced a $115 million investment in the skilled trades. And that’s just the initial investment. Google has recently made a similar pledge of $50 million.

Just like in 1976 these are strange times we’re living through—but it’s always a good time to be a plumber.

I can’t close without saying goodbye to our technology columnist Patti Feldman, who is retiring. I am deeply grateful to her and her late husband William for their more than 30 years writing for CONTRACTOR. I wish her happiness and success in her next chapter.