Mark Pursell has had one of those careers that makes you wonder how it all fits together. Hockey player in Michigan. Door-to-door 401k salesman. Construction finance guy who traveled to 85 countries. CEO of the Premium Cigar Association, where he built a cigar lounge in Washington, D.C. and used it as a lobbying platform. And for 14 years, he ran the International Builders Show, the largest annual construction trade show in North America.
These days, Mark serves as President and CEO of the National Housing Endowment, the philanthropic arm of NAHB. And that’s where this conversation gets into territory that matters for anyone trying to build homes right now.
The numbers are stark.
“There’s roughly three to four hundred thousand empty jobs, open jobs in the home building industry in the United States. And we’re not unique. Home building’s not unique. Transportation is short of people, healthcare, the service industries, on and on and on. And so we’re competing with other industries that are also in a shortfall of people.”
You can’t build a home without carpenters, bricklayers, concrete crews, electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, surveyors, and inspectors. At any given time, there are probably 15 different trades on a job site. And we’re competing for workers with healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, and every other industry facing the same shortage.
How did we get here?
“As a country, we kind of got away from the skilled trades and everyone had to go to a four year school and get a degree. We’re all paying the price for that right now.”
Shop class disappeared from high schools. The giant vocational facility Mark attended in the Detroit area is now a sportsplex. And the people steering kids toward their futures? They had different incentives.
“Principals and guidance counselors, administrators, however you want to lump them together, they were evaluated based upon the number of kids that went to a four year institution. So that’s where they drove kids to.”
Mark references Mike Holmes, who he calls the godfather of the skilled trades: “He says we’re spending money we don’t have to educate kids for jobs that don’t exist.” Teaching kids to hit the nail on the head might be a better path for them.
“I always tell the story of my neighbor who, when I first moved in my neighborhood, he was going to work in coveralls in a pickup truck fixing air conditioners and furnaces, and now he owns an HVAC company and has probably 40, 50 trucks running around. He’s a business person now. He’s done quite well by pursuing that path.”
“This shouldn’t be plan A and plan B. This should be the other plan A.“
The National Housing Endowment is working to fix this through what Mark calls “planting the seed” and “growing the seed.”
On the planting side, they run Career Connections events that put real tools in kids’ hands and connect them with working tradespeople. One recent event in Iowa brought 1,500 students through 70 workstations with 250 industry volunteers. Kids get to hang a door, place concrete, work with survey equipment. More importantly, they meet people making a good living doing this work.
“They get to say, man, this guy or gal is doing this, and they look like they’re making a good life for themselves, maybe this is something I want to look at.”
In 2025, the Endowment ran 136 events. Their goal for 2026 is 150 events reaching 150,000 students.
On the growing side, they fund construction management programs at over 60 universities and colleges. The problem with most CM programs is they teach commercial and heavy construction, not residential. So kids who want to build homes end up learning to build airports and hotels instead.
The Endowment helps schools develop residential curriculum, hire faculty from the industry, and create degree pathways. Two-thirds of graduates from these programs end up in home building. Even better, 40% of them own their own company or become executives within ten years.
They’re also bringing shop class back to high schools through the Home Builders Institute’s Schools to Skills program. They’re in about 500 high schools now, with 14,000 more to go. The limiting factor isn’t money. It’s getting schools willing to offer it. But that’s changing. There’s been a cultural shift. People are waking up to the fact that becoming an electrician or plumber might be more satisfying, more financially rewarding, and more entrepreneurial than a quarter-million-dollar degree that leads nowhere.
In this episode we also cover practical ground for anyone heading to the International Builders Show in Orlando. Mark ran that show for 14 years, so he knows what he’s talking about. The trade show floor combined with the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show stretches across roughly 100 football fields. Over 2,000 exhibitors. You can get lost if you don’t plan ahead. Mark recommends using the tools at buildershow.com, bringing a team if you can, and still leaving time to wander.
“I do hear from a lot of builders and contractors that, man, I was just walking around the floor and I saw this thing, it was really cool. I’m going to start using this. There’s something to be said for serendipity.”
If you’re at IBS, don’t miss the Student Chapter Awards Ceremony. A thousand students in one ballroom, school colors, fight songs, competing on real community development projects.
“The energy is unlike anything else in the industry.”
The Endowment runs lean. Three people on staff. Almost all the money they bring in goes right back out to programs. Mark’s guiding principle is simple:
“If you get up every morning and you help somebody, you’ve had a good day.”
If what they’re doing resonates with you, visit nationalhousingendowment.org.
About Mark Pursell
Mark Pursell is President and CEO of the National Housing Endowment, the philanthropic arm of the National Association of Home Builders. The Endowment supports residential construction education, training, and research, including university construction management programs, skilled trades initiatives at the high school and middle school levels, and research projects to help builders improve operations.
Previously, Mark served as CEO of the Premium Cigar Association and spent 14 years managing the International Builders Show for NAHB, where he orchestrated the successful co-location with the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. He has a background in construction finance and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. Mark resides in Fairfax, Virginia with his family.
National Housing Endowment: nationalhousingendowment.org
International Builders Show: buildershow.com
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