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When the local economy is roaring like a wood-burning stove in the middle of a January ice storm, every business entrepreneur’s idea is a winner in their mind.

And right now, the local economy is a barn burner. Our region is hotter than a two-dollar pistol, to use the old George Jones verse. Every week it seems a new restaurant opens. We have more coffee shops than gas stations. In fact, even the gas stations are coffee shops and you can also get breakfast and lunch while getting gas. Maybe there’s a juxtaposition problem there, but you get the point.

You can almost hear the conversations at the next table by those folks with money burning a hole in their pockets, or at least a good line of credit or one of those black metal credit cards with no limit.

“What we need is one of those ax-throwing places. I saw one in Greenville, and everybody was having so much fun. People were lined up. The parking lot was full. Let’s open one,” the young man says as he leans back in his chair and orders another cup of that coffee made in the Maldives.

Everywhere you look these days it seems another small business has opened. But almost all of them are food and drink establishments. Occasionally, a retail shop opens, one in which you might pick up a tchotchke for the fireplace mantel or an overly expensive pair of riding boots.

While that’s all well and good, we aren’t seeing what we need more of these days: trade professionals. You know, the folks who snake out your septic line, repair a leaking faucet at the kitchen sink, remodel your bathroom, run electrical wires to hook up your golf simulator, build a new deck, repair stone walls, paint your house. That kind of stuff.

We need more plumbers, electricians, carpenters and appliance repair technicians. If you don’t believe that, try finding one to come to your house and fix something. We need more young people going to trade schools. I don’t know if they still call them Vo-Tech schools, but you know what I mean.

Good money can be made in those fields now. The national average pay for a plumber is $75,000 a year, but I know a local plumber who makes enough to have two homes, including one with an ocean view, jet skis, a boat, and various other toys.

He doesn’t work cheap like your unlicensed brother does, but you won’t hear me complaining. He’s worth every dollar he’s paid. I know a house painter who has skills that would amaze you, but she’s booked out for months. There just aren’t enough of these skilled trades people around these parts.

Meanwhile, my search to find someone who can remodel our bathroom sometime this decade continues.

Larry McDermott is a local retired farmer/journalist. Reach him at hardscrabblehollow@gmail.com