Building Sacramento’s Next Generation of HVAC Professionals
Building Sacramento’s Next Generation of HVAC ProfessionalsHeavy Metal Summer Experience connects local youth with hands-on training, industry mentors and pathways to employment
Sacramento’s future HVAC workforce continued to take shape this summer at the Northern California Valley Sheet Metal Workers Training Center in Mather, CA.
From July 14 through July 17, 2026, young people from throughout the Sacramento region participated in the Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE), a four-day program designed to introduce students to sheet metal, HVAC and other skilled-trade careers through hands-on learning. Participants worked with tools and equipment, completed fabrication and welding projects, explored emerging industry technologies and learned directly from apprentices, instructors, union representatives and contractors.
The experience provided more than a general overview of the industry. It gave participants an opportunity to see what the work involves, understand how apprenticeship can lead to a successful career and begin building relationships with the organizations and employers that make up Sacramento’s HVAC industry.
Learning the Trade by Doing the Work
The program began with an introduction to the sheet metal apprenticeship program, distribution of safety gear and tools, and a tour of the training center. Participants then rotated through scissor-lift training, forklift training and a sheet metal pencil-holder project.
The first day also included a welding demonstration and hands-on fire-extinguisher activity presented by MJB Welding and Fire Code, followed by a presentation from Local 104 union representatives.
During the remaining three days, participants were divided into groups and rotated through three primary learning areas:
Participants learned about careers in the sheet metal industry while gaining hands-on fabrication experience, transforming flat sheet metal into finished, functional projects.
Welding in the sheet metal industry and a welding project
In the Service and Testing, Adjusting and Balancing (TAB) Lab, participants completed a copper lamp project and gained hands-on experience using TAB instruments and HVAC service equipment.
Students were also introduced to detailing and Building Information Modeling, commonly known as BIM. That session demonstrated how digital design, coordination and planning are integrated with fabrication and field installation in the modern sheet metal industry.
Together, the activities gave students a broad view of the trade. They saw how a project moves from design and detailing to fabrication, installation, service and performance verification. They also learned that today’s HVAC careers combine technical knowledge, craftsmanship, technology, problem-solving and teamwork.
That hands-on approach reflects the national Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE) model. HMSE was created to provide students with real-world training and introduce them to career opportunities in the skilled trades. Its camps connect young people with craft professionals, contractors, unions and training centers while offering an alternative pathway to the traditional four-year college route.
An Industry-Wide Commitment
The Sacramento event was made possible by participation from across the local industry.
Contractor and technician volunteers supported the program on multiple days. Union representatives provided presentations and spent time engaging directly with students. Apprentices volunteered, discussed their personal experiences in the apprenticeship program and helped participants understand what it is like to begin building a career in the trade.
Those conversations are an important part of the experience. Students do not only hear from instructors or organizational leaders. They meet apprentices who may have recently faced many of the same career decisions. Hearing how those apprentices entered the program, developed their skills and advanced in the industry makes the pathway more immediate and attainable.
Industry vendors also helped bring the program to life. MJB Welding and Fire Code provided practical demonstrations that allowed students to experience welding and fire-safety activities in a controlled setting. Mike Pierson of SMACNA Sacramento participated in the graduation ceremony, helping recognize the students’ work and reinforcing the connection between the training program, labor and the contractor community.
The event demonstrated what is possible when apprenticeship programs, labor organizations, contractors, vendors and industry associations work together toward a shared workforce-development goal.
Turning Exposure Into Employment
The program’s success can already be measured in more than completed projects and graduation certificates.
Participants have begun finding employment with contractors, showing that the experience can serve as an entry point into the industry. One participant secured employment with SMACNA contractor following the program.
That outcome illustrates the value of introducing students to the trades in a practical environment. A young person may enter the program with limited knowledge of HVAC or sheet metal work and leave with hands-on experience, professional contacts and a clearer understanding of how to pursue employment or apprenticeship.
For contractors, the program provides an opportunity to meet motivated young people before they formally enter the workforce. For students, it removes some of the uncertainty surrounding the trades. They can see the training environment, ask questions, try the work and determine whether the industry is a good fit.
Preparing the Workforce for Sacramento’s Energy Transition
Developing the next generation of HVAC professionals is particularly important as the Sacramento region advances building electrification and decarbonization.
Heat pumps are becoming an increasingly important part of the region’s heating and cooling infrastructure. In February 2026, SMUD described its heat-pump programs as a cornerstone of its 2030 Zero Carbon Plan and reported that more than 23,000 gas-fired space- and water-heating systems had already been replaced with high-efficiency electric heat pumps through its Advanced Home Solutions program (1).
Installing more heat pumps, however, is only one part of a successful energy transition.
The equipment must be properly selected, installed, started, tested and maintained. System sizing, duct design and leakage, airflow, refrigerant charge, controls and commissioning can all affect comfort, efficiency, reliability and equipment life. Federal energy guidance emphasizes that installation problems such as oversizing, improper refrigerant charging and leaky ductwork can prevent heat-pump systems from delivering their intended energy and performance benefits.
In other words, decarbonization cannot be achieved through equipment alone. It requires skilled technicians who understand how complete HVAC systems operate and who can verify that those systems perform in accordance with their design intent.
The disciplines introduced during the Sacramento Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE) are directly connected to that need. Sheet metal workers fabricate and install the air-distribution systems that carry conditioned air through buildings. Service technicians diagnose, maintain and optimize equipment. Testing, Adjusting and Balancing professionals measure system performance and confirm that required airflow is being delivered. Detailers and BIM professionals coordinate system layouts before materials reach the shop or jobsite.
Each role contributes to the performance of the completed system.
By exposing young people to these career paths, HMSE is helping Sacramento build the workforce capacity that will be needed as heat-pump installations and other high-performance HVAC technologies become more common.
Building Opportunity Close to Home
The Heavy Metal Summer Experience gives Sacramento-area youth an opportunity to discover a career path that may otherwise remain unfamiliar to them.
Students leave the program with practical experience, completed projects and a better understanding of apprenticeship and employment opportunities. They also leave knowing that the HVAC and sheet metal industries offer careers built on skill, continued education, teamwork and advancement.
For the Sacramento region, the benefits extend beyond a single four-day event. Programs such as HMSE strengthen connections among students, educators, apprenticeship programs, labor and employers. They create accessible pathways into the skilled trades while helping the industry prepare for changing technology and growing workforce demands.
The success of participants who are already moving into contractor employment demonstrates that the model works.
As Sacramento continues toward a lower-carbon future, the region will need qualified professionals capable of turning ambitious energy goals into properly functioning buildings. The Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE) is helping develop those professionals by giving local youth the opportunity to learn the work, meet the industry and see a future for themselves in the HVAC trades.
(1) Sacramento Municipal Utility District. (2026, February 18). SMUD boosts rebates for heat pumps. SMUD. https://www.smud.org/Corporate/About-us/News-and-Media/2026/2026/SMUD-boosts-rebates-for-heat-pumps
