Riverview Health Arena at Innovation Mile in Noblesville turned into a hands-on career fair by day and a ticketed concert inside the arena by night this past Saturday, as the inaugural TradeUp Fest set out to convince Hoosiers that a wrench might be a better bet than a diploma. The event combined an interactive Trades Village, eight live bands across two stages and a headlining performance from country singer Larry Fleet, all built around a single pitch: Indiana needs skilled workers, and it needs them now.
A Festival Built Around a Labor Shortage
The Sept. 19 event was created by Josh Cecil, a former Noblesville High School teacher who founded HamCo Live, according to Current in Noblesville. It was presented by Gaylor Electric and Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana/Kentucky, the outlet reported, and Meta co-sponsored the festival as well, per WIBC 93.1 FM. Cecil described TradeUp Fest as a Farm Aid for the skilled trades, WIBC reported, framing the daylong event as both a fundraiser of attention and a recruiting pitch for an industry he says is bleeding workers faster than it can replace them.
That framing wasn't just marketing flourish. Per WIBC's report, skilled trades currently have more people leaving the field than entering it, and Cecil said more than 40 percent of skilled tradesmen are planning to retire within the next decade. The station also reported that major infrastructure investments are driving demand for skilled-trades workers across Indiana, with the state facing particular need for electricians, fiber technicians and HVAC specialists.
Trades Village, Two Stages and a Larry Fleet Headline
The free outdoor celebration kicked off at 10 a.m. on the outdoor plaza with live music, an interactive trades village and food trucks, according to a post from AIM Noblesville on LinkedIn. The Trades Village let attendees try-a-trade at interactive booths, the post said, giving festivalgoers a chance to test out skills before committing to a career path. TradeUp Fest promoted career pathways outside the traditional four-year college route throughout the day, WIBC reported.
By evening, the festival shifted into concert mode. Eight bands played across two stages during the free outdoor daytime celebration, per the same LinkedIn post, while Larry Fleet headlined the ticketed evening concert inside Riverview Health Arena starting at 6 p.m. WIBC's report confirmed Fleet headlined the evening concert at TradeUp Fest, capping a day that organizers hope becomes an annual catalyst for workforce growth in the region.
Meta's $115 Million Bet on Trades Training
Meta highlighted its America's Workforce Academy at the festival, according to WIBC, a program the company says was launched as part of a $115 million national investment to train thousands of workers for AI-infrastructure jobs. Meta describes the academy as a cost-free program that supports all participants while they learn and then guarantees a job for all graduates, according to a statement from Meta. The four-week program requires no prior experience, per Meta's announcement, and covers training, travel, lodging and a paycheck at no cost to participants, according to a description on CBRE's careers site.
Graduates earn both an NCCER credential and an America's Workforce Certificate, Meta says. The 2026 pilot launched in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Texas, with Indianapolis serving as one of the four pilot sites, WIBC reported. The Indianapolis program operates out of a repurposed former Republic Airways facility near the airport, according to the station's report. Marshall Moore, who WIBC identified as associated with the Meta-built academy, said the company's mission aligns with bringing skilled trades to more people in Indiana.
Why Meta Is Betting on Fiber Technicians
Meta says the U.S. labor market needs hundreds of thousands of fiber technicians, welders, plumbers, electricians and other skilled trade workers, according to the company's own announcement. The company frames its own AI infrastructure buildout as a driver of that need, stating it aims to recruit, train and deploy thousands of skilled workers to support Meta in building out its data centers and related infrastructure. One graduate example Meta has publicized involves a participant named Laniya, who took her first-ever flight to Indianapolis to start the program and, upon completing it, planned to return home to work as a fiber technician at a Meta data center, according to Meta's account of her experience.
Whether TradeUp Fest becomes a fixture on Noblesville's calendar remains to be seen, but the pairing of a trades showcase with free outdoor music and a ticketed evening concert appears to have been the hook organizers were counting on. For a city built around Innovation Mile, the message was blunt: the next wave of good-paying jobs may not require a college acceptance letter, just a willingness to show up and try a trade.
