Becoming a carpenter typically starts with an apprenticeship, which combines hands-on experience with classroom learning, allowing individuals to earn while they learn. Apprenticeships last about four to five years, requiring many hours of training under licensed professionals. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 352,779 carpenters nationwide, with a 1.1% average growth rate from 2019 to 2024. In Auburn, Maine, apprentices earn an average of $600 per week, with an annual overtime average of $18,920. Trade schools, unions, and platforms like Gild help aspiring carpenters find apprenticeship opportunities, leading to a career with strong earning potential—often exceeding $83,496 annually for experienced professionals.
We at Ricker Hill Orchards are building houses, and building daylight basements for modular houses, to be sold on our 12 unit subdivision in Buckfield. We will move from there to our Vista of Maine property in Greene where over the next dozen years we hope to do another 50 houses. We also have carpentry work repairing our many buildings. We are a 200 year old company that has been primarily apples, with some cranberries, blueberries, and aronia berries. Among our many diversifications we have 15 rental housing units, shopping center, wedding venue, 3 cider & wine tasting rooms, and many structures for agriculture. At Ricker Hill we employ from 12 to 100 people at different times of year, and twice that many when we add in our 5 other companies. We have health, vacations and retirement benefits. We have many experienced employees to mentor young graduates. There are many different ways you can move up in our company as you learn and gain experience with responsibilities. Our employees often stay with us for many years, and often until their retirement. It is a nice place to work. We rarely let anyone get bored. We look forward to having you come in for an interview, and show you around.
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