Connecting Housing, Workforce & Community

By Angela Wethered, Wethered Timberworks LLC | November 5, 2025

Housing conversations often focus on zoning maps, density targets, and infrastructure plans. But from a builder’s perspective, housing is more than a policy framework—it’s the end result of hundreds of small, local decisions about land, labor, materials, and people. In rural Washington—especially across Stevens, Ferry, and Pend Oreille counties—we face a simple truth: we can’t build homes without people, and we can’t keep people without attainable homes.

The Local Barriers We Face

Our region’s challenges are deeply interconnected. Infrastructure expansions are slow to fund or deliver, leaving zoned land without service capacity. Builders in Colville, Chewelah, and Kettle Falls wait years for water and sewer improvements that make projects viable. In the county, new engineered on-site systems are replacing traditional gravity-fed designs—often doubling costs and consuming valuable buildable space. Meanwhile, water-rights uncertainty under WRIA 59 and 55/57 has left many rural parcels in limbo. Landowners who once could drill exempt wells now face expensive mitigation requirements or hydro studies before a single footing can be poured. Add to that rising material costs and new energy-code mandates that add $15,000–$25,000 per home, and you can see why small builders struggle to make projects pencil.

A Workforce in Transition

Equally pressing is the shortage of skilled tradespeople. Many builders now rely on workers from Spokane or Idaho, which raises costs and limits local hiring. At the same time, wages in retail and food service have risen to the point that they compete directly with entry-level construction jobs—jobs that are more physically demanding, seasonal, and often outdoors. Layered on top of that is a quieter, newer challenge: digital dependency. Internet Gaming Disorder and excessive screen use are becoming workforce issues. Too many capable young people are losing motivation, focus, or physical stamina before they ever discover their potential in the trades. It’s not a moral problem—it’s a readiness problem. And it’s costing our communities the next generation of builders, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters.

Where We Can Go from Here

The good news is, there are people and the spirit already here locally to change this. We need to invest not only in infrastructure and permitting, but in people—through trade education, mentorship, and small-business development. Imagine partnerships between TEDD, SHBA, WSU Extension, and our local high schools: not only in Colville, Northport, and Chewelah but any school—programs that teach young adults how to swing a hammer and how to run a business. Courses that turn experienced farmhands and loggers into licensed contractors. Mentorship programs that connect dedicated builders—retiring or not—with the next generation eager to learn. Just as importantly, we should begin addressing digital wellness and workforce balance as part of these efforts—helping young workers reconnect with the real world, meaningful work, and the sense of pride that comes from building something tangible and showing up on time.

A Real Path Forward

When we align housing policy with workforce development, we stop planning homes that never get built and start creating communities that grow from within. If we want a strong local economy, we need builders, not just blueprints. Housing isn’t only about walls and roofs—it’s about people, opportunity, and purpose. That’s what connects housing, workforce, and community. I look forward to today's Housing coalition meeting (Wed, Nov 5, at 2pm) and what I can learn from it.