Phillies to give students inside look at stadium operations

Dive Brief:

The Philadelphia Phillies and integrated facilities management company NEST are hosting a Skilled Trades All-Star Program June 9 to give Philadelphia high school students a look at managing a professional sports facility.
The program will help the students see what’s involved from a facilities standpoint when major events like the 2026 MLB All-Star Week are held at the 43,000-capacity Citizens Bank Park.
“Programs like this are about creating access and awareness,” said Rob Almond, CEO of NEST, which is based near Philadelphia in Mantua, New Jersey. The company is one of the backers of the Skilled Trades Advisory Council, which was founded in 2023 to address the shortage in the skilled trades.

Dive Insight:

More than 72% of survey respondents say it’s a major problem that schools have reduced or eliminated skilled trades classes, according to a poll conducted earlier this month by Harbor Freight Tools for the Smidt Foundation and a research program at the University of Chicago. Among the more than 6,000 U.S. voters, parents and public high school students who participated, 95% say more opportunities to study skilled trades in high school would better prepare students for careers.

Skilled labor demand is more acute than in years past due in part to a surge in retirements, according to Paul Morgan, global chief operating officer of real estate management services at JLL.

Talent pipelines are not sufficient to meet demand, JLL says in its skilled trades talent research report. Some 2.1 million skilled trades jobs are expected to go unfilled by 2030, potentially resulting in $1 trillion in annual economic losses, it says.

“The pendulum, however, may be swinging back,” the JLL report states, in part because of the high costs of higher education and the uncertain job outlook for those with four-year degrees.

The Skilled Trades All-Star Program is intended to give students insight into the planning, coordination and skilled labor required to prepare Citizens Bank Park for Phillies games and other big events, according to the announcement by Major League Baseball.

“Citizens Bank Park is a world-class venue because of the people who maintain, operate, and improve it every day,” Kevin Beale, senior director of business development and suite sales for the Phillies, said in the announcement. “This program gives students a firsthand look at those careers while showing how skilled trades professionals play a critical role in preparing the ballpark for major moments like the 2026 Midsummer Classic.”

Students will tour operational areas like the HVAC control room, mechanical spaces, the carpentry shop and grounds crew facilities.

Each stop will feature discussions with members of the Phillies’ facilities team and trade professionals. The goal is to highlight the systems, skills, safety and collaboration required to maintain and improve the ballpark, MLB said.

“By bringing students into environments like Citizens Bank Park, especially at a time when it’s preparing for a global event, we can help them see the opportunity that exists in the skilled trades and the role they can play in it,” said NEST’s Almond.

The program will host students from Liquori Academy, a private, non-profit high school in Philadelphia that is working to expand its construction trades cohort. Through the cohort, students get hands-on experience through coursework that’s aligned with the National Center for Construction Education and Research and earn an OSHA-10 safety training certification. They can also build skills in carpentry, HVAC systems, plumbing and electrical work, the MLB announcement says.