On Monday night, June 17, the City of Missoula passed a resolution sponsored by Gwen Jones and myself that addresses the workforce shortage in the trades. Specifically, any public investment infrastructure projects done by the City that will cost $500,000 or more will have an incentive for contractors with registered apprentices. Contractors who demonstrate that 10% of the workforce they will put on the job are registered apprentices will receive a 5% bid preference. This means when they bid the job, their bid is considered to be lowered by 5% in order to be more competitive, yet they will get paid the full bid amount.