Editor’s Note: This is the third story in a series on attracting people to careers in equipment operation and construction. To read our first story in the series, click here.
Ed Mumm owns and operates Dig This, a heavy equipment company out of Las Vegas with two main business functions: as an attraction for everyday people to try running heavy machinery and as an operator training school.
The biggest growth, he says, has been in the training school, primarily from Millennial and Gen X workers looking for a career change.
Mumm, originally from New Zealand, founded Dig This in 2006 in Colorado as a “super-sized sandbox” concept, where customers can enjoy learning to operate heavy machinery in a supervised environment. The school moved to a 5-acre lot in Las Vegas in 2011, and today is the only non-union equipment operator school in the state. Mumm says students come from surrounding states as well.
The idea for starting a second revenue stream through the Dig This Academy, as its formally known, came during the Covid-19 pandemic. After two years of acquiring the proper certifications, they were off and running.
Short, Small Courses for Anyone
Mumm describes the academy as entry-level, where even people with zero experience can learn the basics and kickstart a career as a heavy equipment operator.
“We teach them safety and maintenance and then, of course, the correct operating procedures for the equipment, which will then segue into further training with a private employer, or they can segue into a union position as well,” says Mumm.
The academy offers training in such equipment as excavators, backhoe loaders, bulldozers, wheel loaders, and motor graders as the latest addition.
The entire Dig This operation has 15 instructors, with two devoted solely to the academy. Classes are small, with no more than five people per week, and every week is about learning a different machine. This also allows students to pay only for the experience they want.
“Week one of the month will be excavators,” says Mumm. “Week two, backhoe loaders. Anywhere from one to four students a week are coming to Dig This. Those numbers each week are increasing, because demand for training now is increasing.
Most people coming through the Dig This Academy have never been in the cab of a machine.Dig This
“It is expensive for a lot of people, so the way we structure it is dependent on their budget. They can choose to do one machine and get certified on that machine. They can do two or three weeks if they want to. When they can afford to come back, then can come back and do another machine.”
Students will pay $3,800 per week and walk away with a state-approved certificate of completion and credits from the National Center for Construction Education and Research.
{Related Content: Check out Equipment World’s Heavy Equipment Operator Pay & Benefits Report}
A New Demographic
Most people coming through the Dig This Academy have never been in the cab of a machine, and a minority are looking to expand their capacity as contractors.
“Probably 90% of the people coming through have never jumped in a machine before,” Mumm says. “The other 10% are usually contractors in a different capacity, like electricians or builders. They just want to do the excavating work themselves, because they’re sick of waiting for contractors to arrive. We get a lot of professionals who are journeymen and other trades.”
One of the most interesting, growing demographics Mumm is seeing are older students looking for a radical career change.
“We get people in their 50s who have come here and just want to do a career change,” says Mumm. “They’ve been at a desk all their lives, and they just want to check it out. And that’s not all of them, but you know, we have enough to where it’s like, ‘Well, this is interesting.’
“We can get younger kids who are coming in just to get a feel for what it’s like to be an operator. We offer an orientation program just to get them in the saddle.”
Dig This reaches out to local students, like this booth at the Clark County School District Construction Career Day.Dig This
Most students at Dig This are in their 30s and 40s, and Mumm says equipment operation is not something younger kids are leaning toward. When he travels to different schools to promote the industry, he tends to focus on the fact that the work is a lot “sexier” than it used to be. And he believes the new generation is starting to listen.
“Things have changed from when your grandfather was doing this kind of work,” he says. “I’d sell it as a lot sexier than what it used to be. It’s a great industry to be involved with, and you can take that profession and go anywhere around the world with it as well. You can go back to projects and be very proud that you participated in that, whether it’s a bridge or a road or the foundations for a big high-rise building.”
Employer Education
Mumm says students who come to the school with zero operator experience sometimes have difficulty finding a job afterward. And the plan to change that involves educating employers on the value of these “no experience” operators.
“My job going forward too is to educate the employers as well that they’ve got to start taking these people,” Mumm says. “Because they’re the ones that are screaming out for workers, and they can’t find them. They’ve got to start taking on novice operators in order to fill that gap and invest in training, as well, within their organizations.”
For students who already have heavy equipment experience, common job placement, according to Mumm, includes commercial transportation of construction equipment and at heavy equipment dealerships.
Rising Interest
Mumm says the enrollment comes in waves, but overall, it has been rising since the academy started.
“We’ve been at it just over two years, so now that we’ve developed good relationships with local contractors and associations that are related to the industry, we’re starting to see a lot more interest as well,” he says. “Interesting enough, given the political rhetoric that’s going on at the moment, they’re really pushing trades now.”
In late 2024, the National Underground Contractors Association awarded two scholarships for future Dig This Academy students.Dig This
Some associations paying for their members to attend the Dig This Academy include the Nevada Contractors Association and National Underground Contractors Association. Mumm says these associations also survey their membership for job openings when graduates of the Dig This Academy enter the job market.
The school is prepping for an increase in students over the next few years, particularly with what Mumm sees as renewed political interest in the trades. Expansion of the academy, which Mumm sees surpassing the entertainment side of the company, will include a second location and more, larger machine training programs, such as motor graders and scrapers.