About
Founded on a job site.
Not in a boardroom.
Blue Collar Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit started by an electrician who got tired of watching $242 billion pour into AI while the trades got nothing. We build, teach, and defend — in that order, in public, with the people whose livelihoods depend on it.
Mission
Close the AI gap for the trades
Build tools for tradesmen. Teach them with AI. Defend them from AI. Every program is co-designed with working tradespeople and pressure-tested in real shops.
Why now
The workforce is aging out
In NJ alone, three tradespeople retire for every one entering the field. Without better tools and training, shops close, costs rise, and communities lose the people who keep the lights on. AI isn't the enemy — neglect is.
Operating principles
- • Built by the user. No product goes out without a tradesperson writing, using, and breaking it first.
- • Earned + granted. Revenue from one shop subsidizes access for the next.
- • Measured outcomes. Time saved, jobs won, shops protected — reported quarterly.
- • Plain language. If a journeyman can't understand it, we rewrite it.
Year 1 targets
- • 50 contractors using BUILD tools
- • 100 tradespeople certified in applied AI
- • 10 shops hardened via DEFEND audits
- • First earned-revenue milestone + grant reporting cycle complete
Founder
Paul Mantello — electrician, founder
Paul started Blue Collar Labs after years of running jobs with tools that didn't fit the work. The first product, Truck Inventory, was built because he was tired of counting fittings from memory. The nonprofit followed because the problem was bigger than one shop, one truck, one trade.