The New Boots Project (NBP)

One Platform. Every Trade. Unlimited Opportunity

$0 PROFIT FOR US. 100% TO THE FUTURE OF THE TRADES

Coffee is our tool, not our mission. Every bag we roast fuels hardworking men and women across America, and puts real dollars behind something bigger: the New Boots Project, our 501c3 nonprofit fighting to rebuild America's skilled trades workforce.

$1 per pound of every bag sold goes straight to the workforce. Boots. Tools. Trade school scholarships. Apprenticeship grants. For high schoolers, apprentices, veterans, and people coming home looking for a second chance.

For every five tradesmen retiring in America this year, only two are walking in to take their place. That's not a talking point, that's the real math the industry is living with right now. We're doing something about it, one bag at a time.

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For Every Five Tradesmen Who Retire This Year, Only Two Are Walking In To Take Their Place

That is not a talking point. That is the actual math the construction industry is living with right now, confirmed by Associated Builders and Contractors and echoed across every major workforce report in the country. And it is not slowing down.

Somebody has to fix your air conditioner. Wire your house. Frame your kids' school. Pour the foundation under the hospital your family goes to when something goes wrong. For sixty years, America built the greatest infrastructure on earth on the backs of tradesmen. Right now, that workforce is retiring faster than we are replacing it, and almost nobody outside the industry is talking about it.

The construction industry alone needs 349,000 net new workers in 2026, and 456,000 more in 2027, just to keep pace, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. Over the next decade, the country will need roughly 1.9 million additional skilled trade workers. McKinsey puts it even sharper: in critical trades like electrical work, the industry needs 20 to 22 new hires for every single net new job created.

One in five electricians is already over 55. The average construction worker in America is 42.5 years old. Roughly 41% of the current construction workforce is expected to retire by 2031.

If this gap does not close, the National Association of Home Builders estimates it costs the economy $10.8 billion a year and roughly 19,000 homes that don't get built. Other analysis puts the broader GDP hit as high as $124 billion to $325 billion annually if the shortage keeps widening.

Why This Is Bigger Than Construction

This is not just about roofs and roads anymore. It's about the future America is trying to build right now.

Meta alone is spending up to $135 billion in 2026 on data center construction and may ultimately need roughly 500,000 electricians. That's why Meta just committed $115 million to launch a skilled trades training academy, the largest private sector skilled trades commitment with a guaranteed job in U.S. history. BlackRock put $100 million behind training 50,000 plumbers, electricians, and HVAC techs, with CEO Larry Fink saying: "Capital alone is not enough. People are central to building our nation's future."

Ford's CEO has said reshoring manufacturing means "there's nothing to backfill the ambition" without the people to do the work. NVIDIA's CEO told a graduating class: "Electricians, plumbers, iron workers, technicians, builders, this is your time."

Where Morning Oil Comes In

We can't write a $100 million check like BlackRock. We can't build a training academy like Meta. But we can pour coffee, and coffee was never really the point. It's the tool. Every single bag we sell puts real dollars behind real people trying to walk into the trades.

$1 per pound of every bag sold goes directly to New Boots Project. On top of that, your first order, up to four bags, we don't take a penny of profit. $0 profit for us. 100% to the future of the trades. That money funds high school students finding their path, apprentices stepping up, people coming home from incarceration, veterans transitioning, and anyone ready to work with their hands and build something real.

You're not just drinking coffee. You're fueling the next generation. You're building America, one bag at a time.

We fuel the trades. Fund the workforce. Fortify the future.

Sources

  • Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC): 349,000 net new construction workers needed in 2026, 456,000 in 2027, 1.9 million over the decade
  • McKinsey: 20-22 new hires needed per net new job in critical trades
  • NCCER: 41% of construction workforce projected to retire by 2031
  • National Association of Home Builders: $10.8 billion annual economic cost, 19,000 homes not built
  • Deloitte / industry analysis: $124 billion to $325.6 billion potential annual GDP impact
  • Meta: $115 million America's Workforce Academy commitment, June 2026
  • BlackRock: $100 million Future Builders initiative
  • Ford CEO Jim Farley: reshoring workforce gap comment, via Axios
  • NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang: commencement speech quote

All figures current as of mid-2026. Recommend a light fact check pass before publishing, and revisiting every few months so the site stays accurate.