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The MN Trades Academy (MTA)

Paid Summer Internships Exploring Construction Careers for High School Students

The MN Trades Academy (MTA) offers an incredible opportunity for high school students with our paid summer construction internships! Designed to prepare youth for successful futures, our program focuses on skill development, personal growth, and guiding them towards well-paying jobs with excellent benefits in the construction industry. MTA aims to provide rich, educational, hands-on experiences, allowing participants to earn while they learn about construction as a potential career path.

Summer 2024 interns. 

Get ready to dive into the exciting world of construction with our six-week paid intern program!

MTA Trainers Summer 2024 Back row, left to right: Mark Robinson, Spencer Reeves, Paul Focht-Perlberg, Frank Williamson, Dan Rossiter, Charie Gill, & Lindsay Tallman. Front row, left to right: Charles Walker, Bob Prifrel, Alyssa DeSantis, & Jim Lee.

Interns will get a hands-on introduction to awesome career opportunities in the building trades, like carpentry, pipefitting, and electrical work. But that’s not all – they’ll also explore cool industry-related careers such as architecture, surveying, estimating, project management, and design build.
MN Trades Academy is the ticket to discovering the perfect construction career path, whether through union apprenticeship training or construction-related college courses.
Over the course of nine weeks, interns visit up to 16 different apprenticeship training centers, where they’ll learn from industry pros. Through working on hands-on projects using hand and power tools, gaining skills and experience, and creating new connections, interns are set up for success.

MTA partners with metro area city & county youth employment agencies to identify and recruit potential interns for the summer program. To be eligible for MTA, all interns must meet the agencies’ requirements. We are proud to partner with Step Up, Right Track, Hired, and Brooklynk.

Thank you to all of our amazing partners for their support! To see the full list of partners, explore the dropdown menu below.

JATC (Joint Apprentice Training Centers)
Boilermakers – Local 647
Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers – Local 1
North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters
Cement Masons, Plasterers & Shophands – Local 633
Painters & Allied Trades – District Council 82
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers/STP – Local 110
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers/MPLS – Local 292
International Union of Operating Engineers – Local 49
Laborers – Local 563
Minneapolis Plumbers – Local 15
Minnesota Statewide Limited Energy
Roofers and Waterproofers – Local 96
St. Paul Plumbers – Local 34
St. Paul Steamfitters Pipefitters – Local 455
Sprinkler Fitters – Local 417
ACAM (Apprenticeship Coordinators Association of MN)Brin Glass Company
Brooklyn Center Community Schools
Cities of Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park – BrookLynk
City of Minneapolis – Step Up
City of St. Paul – Right Track
Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)
Gardner Builders
Hired
Hunt Electric
JE Dunn
Junior Achievement North
Martin Marietta
McGough Construction
Minneapolis Building & Construction Trades Council
Minneapolis Public Schools
Minnesota Department of Labor and IndustryMN Asphalt Pavement Association
Mortenson Company
Opus Foundation
PCL Construction
Ramsey County Workforce Solutions
Ryan Companies
Saint Paul Police Department
Saint Paul Public Schools
Senior Community Services
St. Paul Building & Construction Trades Council
The Discovery Project
The Right Reach
TRI-Construction
Veit
Willis Towers Watson

Interested in being a 2025 summer intern? Fill out the interest form.

For more information, contact Lindsay Tallman at lindsay@constructioncareers.org.

Learn more from people in the trades and read their success stories.