After graduating from La Porte High School, Scott Hamilton went to Indiana University to receive his bachelor’s degree in business. Hamilton knew he wanted to stay in La Porte because it was, and always had been, his home, so after college, he secured a job at The New York Blower Company. New York Blower is one of the top selling and manufacturing companies for air-moving equipment.
“After graduating, I did a mass-mailing of resumes and cover letters to the area,” Hamilton said. “I landed with New York Blower, so it's really been my first job and my only job for the last 20 years or so”
After working his way through the ranks, Hamilton is now the Vice President of Operations for the company, overseeing different branches. When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, Hamilton was able to see the true toll of how it affected the trades, as it was in his area of expertise. He saw the demand in the laborer field skyrocket, but there weren’t people to fill those positions. With the deficit in the trades, this led him to think back to when he was in school, and how plumbing, welding, mechanics etc. were offered, but due to the pandemic, these classes became limited, if any at all were offered.
“Welding is the backbone of our business, and it's one of those things where there aren’t many opportunities to learn that skill,” Hamilton said. “If it's not something that your dad is doing, or your grandfather did, it's not a skill that gets readily taught.”
The local career center was only able to accommodate a handful of students from La Porte and its surrounding area, so there was a large percentage of students missing out. Hamilton has always loved his hometown, so when he saw there was a deficit in the education system for the trades, he knew something had to be done. Hamilton then went to work brainstorming ways to help his community, and after talking to the La Porte Economic Development Corporation (LEAP), the La Porte Community School Corporation, the Center of Workforce Innovations, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, and New York Blower, the blueprint to bring the trades back to students was made.
“We are the employer that jumped up and said we're willing to do it. We allocated some space in one of our plants and funded the start-up with equipment and the tools to get this thing off the ground,” said Hamilton. “It really is a party of many entities, all very important in piecing this thing together, and we have a good blueprint for the years to come now”
When it comes to education, it takes time to get programs approved, so the first run of the program was offered through Ivy Tech. As of 2023, 13 full-time La Porte High School students have enrolled into the program, and there are plans to double this by next year.
“We’re setting students and kids up with a skill that they can take and make a career out of, whether it's with us or not, and hopefully it stays within the community,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully, we've set the tone for other companies, and they are willing to partner up with the school system to ramp up the trades.”
Outside of work, Hamilton and his family love to travel across the United States. If he isn’t traveling, he can be seen frequenting his daughter’s dance practices and competitions, which keeps him and his wife pretty busy. He also enjoys getting back to nature with hunting and fishing or an evening out on the golf course.