Construction has no shortage of technology promising to “fix” hiring. What it does have is a shortage of contractors actually changing how they recruit, engage, and retain skilled workers at scale. Propel People is betting that the future of the trades won’t be shaped by buzzwords—but by companies willing to rethink long-standing hiring habits.
This week, Propel People, an AI-powered recruiting platform built specifically for construction and skilled trades, announced the winners of its inaugural Trailblazer Awards, recognizing contractors that are setting new benchmarks for hiring efficiency, workforce trust, and operational execution.
The 2025 honorees represent a cross-section of the construction ecosystem—firms that, according to Propel People, aren’t waiting for labor conditions to improve, but actively engineering better outcomes in one of the most talent-constrained industries in the U.S.
The 2025 Propel People Trailblazer Award Winners
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Design Electric
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Lee Mechanical
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Rexcon
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Action Labor
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Independence Excavating
Each company was selected for its leadership in modernizing recruiting practices, embracing transparency with skilled workers, and investing in scalable workforce strategies to address persistent labor shortages.
Why These Awards Matter Now
The construction and skilled trades sector has been grappling with labor shortages for more than a decade. An aging workforce, declining trade school enrollment, project backlogs, and rising infrastructure spending have collided to create a hiring environment where demand consistently outpaces supply.
What’s changed recently is how visible the problem has become. Contractors are no longer just competing with each other—they’re competing with adjacent industries, gig work, and workers’ growing expectations for flexibility, clarity, and respect.
Propel People’s Trailblazer Awards arrive at a moment when traditional recruiting methods—yard signs, word of mouth, generic job boards—are proving insufficient on their own.
“These companies represent the future of construction hiring,” said Dexter Bachelder, CEO of Propel People. “Each Trailblazer is proving that with the right mindset and tools, contractors can compete more effectively for talent, reduce time-to-hire, and create better experiences for the skilled workers who power this industry.”
What Sets Trailblazers Apart
Unlike generic “best places to work” awards, Propel People’s Trailblazer recognition focuses squarely on execution. Award recipients were evaluated across several criteria that reflect real-world hiring pressure in the trades:
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Willingness to adopt innovative recruiting approaches
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Commitment to meeting skilled-trade workers where they are—digitally and culturally
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Operational excellence in hiring and workforce planning
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Measurable improvements in hiring speed, candidate quality, and worker trust
In practice, that means companies that simplify application processes, communicate clearly with candidates, respond quickly, and treat recruiting as a strategic function—not an administrative chore.
These are not small changes in an industry where complexity and fragmentation have long been accepted as unavoidable.
AI Recruiting Comes to the Trades—Finally
While AI-driven recruiting tools have become commonplace in corporate HR, construction has lagged behind—often by necessity rather than choice. Jobsite realities, decentralized operations, and a workforce that doesn’t sit behind desks have made one-size-fits-all HR tech ineffective.
Propel People positions itself differently: purpose-built for the trades, designed to meet workers on mobile devices, reduce friction, and give contractors real-time visibility into their hiring pipelines.
The Trailblazer Awards double as a signal that AI is no longer a future concept for construction recruiting—it’s already shaping competitive advantage.
Contractors recognized this year are demonstrating that AI isn’t about replacing human judgment, but about eliminating bottlenecks: slow screening, missed follow-ups, unclear job details, and inconsistent communication.
From Labor Shortage to Talent Strategy
One of the more telling aspects of Propel People’s announcement is how it reframes the labor crisis. Rather than treating shortages as an external force, the Trailblazer Awards emphasize agency—what contractors can control even in tight markets.
By highlighting firms that invest in recruiting infrastructure and worker experience, Propel People is nudging the industry toward a more strategic mindset. Labor challenges aren’t just economic conditions to endure; they’re operational problems to solve.
That framing aligns with broader HR tech trends across industries, where talent acquisition is increasingly viewed as a lever for growth, margin protection, and project reliability.
A Signal to the Rest of the Industry
The Trailblazer Awards are also designed to be instructive. Propel People has made it clear that the goal isn’t just recognition, but knowledge-sharing—spotlighting best practices that other contractors can adapt.
“Trailblazers don’t wait for the market to change, they lead the change,” Bachelder added. “We’re proud to recognize these companies and learn alongside them as we continue building the next generation of recruiting technology for the trades.”
For contractors still relying on outdated hiring workflows, the message is subtle but firm: modern recruiting is becoming table stakes. Firms that fail to evolve may find themselves losing bids not because of price or quality—but because they can’t staff projects fast enough.
The Broader HR Tech Implication
From an HR tech perspective, Propel People’s move reflects a larger shift toward vertical-specific platforms. Generalist recruiting tools often struggle to address the nuances of skilled labor markets. Purpose-built solutions—paired with recognition programs like the Trailblazer Awards—create tighter feedback loops between technology providers and end users.
That approach may prove especially effective in industries like construction, where trust, speed, and practical outcomes matter more than polished dashboards.
What Comes Next
Propel People plans to make the Trailblazer Awards an annual program, signaling long-term commitment to shaping hiring norms in the trades. Over time, the awards could become a benchmark—much like employer-of-choice rankings in white-collar sectors—helping contractors differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive labor market.
For now, the 2025 recipients serve as early proof that change is possible, even in industries often labeled as slow to modernize.
The takeaway is straightforward: the future of construction hiring won’t be defined by who complains loudest about labor shortages, but by who builds better systems to attract, engage, and retain the workers who keep projects moving.
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