The Trade Gap
"The Trade Gap: Why Every American Should Learn a Skill" coming 2025
What Early Readers are saying
Zachary Craig Hanson
Zach Hanson is an avid hunter, trapper, and trade advocate. He holds degrees from the College of Charleston and Johns Hopkins University. He lives with his wife and three children at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains in Atlanta, Idaho.
The trade gap
The Trade Gap was born out of a personal turning point: after facing a layoff in my knowledge-based career, I turned to the trades to make ends meet, discovering a path of resilience and self-reliance that transformed my perspective. This experience inspired me to investigate the history of vocational education and examine how our "college-or-bust" mindset has left generations unprepared for real-world challenges. The book makes the case for reclaiming the value of trade skills and reforming how we educate our youth to create a more balanced, adaptable, and sustainable future.