There are no “lazy days of summer” for Levi Booth. The 2024 Madison County High School graduate took off his red cap and gown and almost immediately hit the road with his dad and brother to get to work in North Carolina, constructing private student housing near Wake Forest University. 

“It’s been good,” said Booth a few weeks after graduation. “We’ve been working 90-100 weeks. I love it. It’s a family business and I’ve been in it since the day I was born.”  

The son of Greg and Jessica Booth works for his dad’s company, Red Clay Construction. Greg said he started construction in 1990 as a ditch digger but “figured out I can do things on my own.”  

Now, Greg travels the southeast with his five-man crew of 18-to 25-year-olds, including his two sons, Levi and Jacob, and builds student housing units and other structures. 

“I worry about the world and the next generation, but I’ve got five men 18-25 who work hard, and I’m fortunate,” said Greg, adding that Levi has “a great work ethic to be his age.” 

“His last summer of high school he spent in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in the 120-degree heat welding stairs in the dirt,” he said. “Not many 17-year-olds will do that.” 

HireSmart Cares supports young adults like Levi who jump from high school to a trade career by providing grants, travel and training opportunities, and job readiness teaching. The nonprofit also donated quality workboots for Levi and his 18 Madison County High School classmates, who moved directly from grade school to a career. 

Levi said he appreciated the boots and is happy to have a direction for his career, adding that “pretty much anything manual, I can do.”  

“This is what I’ll do the rest of my life,” he said. “I feel blessed.”  

To support HireSmart Cares and its workforce development initiatives, click here. To suggest additional ways HireSmart Cares can support U.S. career development, email info@hiresmartcares.org.