Josh Hunter

Broadcast News There’s something about Nebraska farmland that makes me want to stand up straight. Not sure what it is, but every time I pass through this part of the country I find myself trying to stretch my body into the sprawling landscape, and wind up looking vaguely ridiculous. In spite of all the attached images, I wasn’t in Omaha last month to be photographed – at least, not primarily. I was there as a guest of @WellsFargo, who continues to spread their money around America like a farmer, broadcasting seed into the tilth of a plowed field. Did you know that “broadcasting” was a farming term, long before it became the name of my chosen industry? It’s true. Broadcasting was first used to describe a method of distributing seeds that don’t need to be buried deeply, like cover crops, alfalfa, and clover. It allows allows a grower to cover a massive amount of acreage much faster than you could with a precision seed drill. The drawback, is that seeds which are “broadcast” simply land on top of the dirt. Because they lack good seed-to-soil contact and are exposed to the open air, they’re vulnerable to being eaten by birds, blown away by the wind, or drying out before they can germinate. To fix this, farmers will usually follow a broadcast seeder with a light harrow or roller to gently press the seeds into the soil. It occurs to me that my roll in Wells Fargo’s current campaign is akin to that of a seed drill. I’ve been invited to tag along in order to make sure the seeds that Wells Fargo has spread throughout Pennsylvania, Texas, Alaska, North Carolina, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska, have a better chance of taking root in the fickle field of public awareness, where every crop is competing for attention, and every farmer tills from dawn to dusk. Toward that end, I want to tell you about Metro Community College here in Omaha, and their partnership with a local charity called HomeWoven. In short, students enrolled in the Construction and Building Science program at MCC are getting hands-on, real-world experience through structured internship programs managed by a local non-profit called HomeWoven. I’ve met these students, and they’re awesome. Currently, they’re applying their classroom training directly to local construction projects, physically building affordable homes in South Omaha. While HomeWoven addresses neighborhood housing stability, MCC fulfills the essential demand by supplying the skilled workforce required to execute each project. My job was to once again shake hands with the local politicians, (Senator Ricketts, in this case) meet the key people involved, talk to the local media about the importance of reinvigorating the skilled trades, and present a large check on behalf of Wells Fargo - in this case, a $1.25 million investment for a local solution that’s actually working. Pretty great gig. Honestly, I don’t know where I’d be today, but for a few great teachers at Essex Community College way back in 1980. They straightened me out, showed me a way forward, and gave me the confidence to try things I never imagined I might be good at. MCC is doing the same thing for a lot of kids entering the skilled trades, and their partnership with HomeWoven is working. Lots of families who could otherwise never afford a new home, are now in one, thanks to a construction program at a local community college, a local non-profit that’s connecting the dots, and a big national bank that’s investing in the towns where they do business. Seems to me, that’s a story worth broadcasting, and a seed worth drilling down on...

If you haven’t heard, and even if you have, Jimmy Kimmel said this about Markwayne Mullin, former Senator from Oklahoma, and our newest Secretary of Homeland Security: “We have a plumber now protecting us from terrorism.” Apparently, there has been some backlash. Plumbers were offended, obviously, as were parents of plumbers, spouses of plumbers, children of plumbers, and millions of people who have had a plumber show up when they needed one. Comedians were also offended, (the funny ones, anyway,) along with a surprising number of terrorists - especially those with access to hot and cold running water. However, in spite of the ensuing kerfuffle, @jimmykimmel doubled down. “I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security was a plumber,” he said, “I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber." He further elucidated by adding, "I wouldn't put a plumber in charge of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn't call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet, OK? We all have our areas of expertise.” Being offended is always a choice, and I don’t choose to be offended by a joke, even one that comes at the expense of the skilled tradespeople my foundation tries to elevate. But I am a tad butt hurt by the suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new, and that competence is somehow limited to one vocation. Obviously, expertise and skill are important. If I need a new kidney, I’d prefer a doctor do the surgery, not a late-night talk show host. But if the doctor in question used to host a talk show, why would I hold that against him? Ten years ago, during one of the presidential debates, @MarcoRubio answered a workforce-related question by arguing that America needed to get shop class back into high schools. He concluded by saying, “What our country needs are more welders and fewer philosophers.” A lot of people on this page commented that Rubio and I were singing from the same hymnal, but in fact, we weren’t. At least not entirely. Because I don’t think the current shortage of welders has anything to do with an overabundance of philosophers. In fact, I think it’s a mistake to promote one vocation at the expense of the other. What we really need in this country, are more welders who can talk intelligently about Aristotle, and more philosophers who can run an even bead. More Generals, in other words, who can fix their own toilets, and more plumbers who can hold a powerful government job. This is what Mullin did. He was a private citizen who mastered an essential skill and then turned that skill into a multi-million-dollar company that employed a lot of people and served a lot of customers. That gave him the freedom to do other things with his life, including a career in public service which got him into Congress, where he’s spent the last eleven years doing whatever Congressmen do. Now, he has a very consequential position in the Cabinet of the current administration. Is that not the embodiment of the American Dream? I get that Jimmy Kimmel might have a problem with Mullin’s politics, but what possible objection could he have about the trajectory of his career, or his desire to do more than one thing with his life? The only sensible thing to do in the wake of a moment this tone deaf, is remind America that the skills gap is wide, and getting wider. The shortage of skilled tradespeople is now headline news and closing it is nothing less than a matter of national security. This year, my foundation has set aside $10 million dollars to help train the next generation of plumbers, and lots of other essential workers. I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of AI-proof, six figure jobs that don't require a four-year degree, waiting to be filled. The money is currently available to anyone who wants to master a useful skill at mikeroweworks.org/. Apply today. As for those of you genuinely offended by Kimmel's comments, consider expressing your disappointment with a modest donation to mikeroweWORKS. Our work ethic scholarship is making a real difference, and your money will be well spent, I promise. The donate button is big and red and hard to miss, at mikeroweworks.org/ I’d love to chat but I’ve gotta pull a rat out of my toilet…