Written by Nicole Cook
How One HVAC Student Became a Regional Construction Manager
This month, James Betancourt celebrates his one-year anniversary in what many would consider a dream role: overseeing operations across the East Coast, doing work he loves, in a place he chose, for a company he deeply respects and that values him in return. However, James, like many high school graduates, did not start out knowing what he wanted to do or what he was able to accomplish. So how did he get here?
“I’ve always been very fortunate to, you know, just have doors open for me. But those doors only open because of a truth.” James said. “And that’s what I tell people all the time- a skill set.”
When James Bentacourt graduated high school, he wasn’t sure what came next.
Like many young adults, he felt stuck between expectations and uncertainty. College didn’t feel like the right fit, but he didn’t have a clear career path in mind either. Then one afternoon, a friend invited him to visit a trade school.
That simple decision changed the course of his life.
“It was an aha moment,” Bentacourt recalls. During a simple tour of the school’s HVAC program, an instructor singled him out in front of the class and asked him a question that struck him. “What if you decided to come here for two years, and you can learn how that (a thermostat) works, and you could move anywhere in the world?”
Bentacourt remembers reveling in the simplicity of that fact. “It was like a light switch went off. I was like, ‘yeah, you’re right’. I went home that day, told my father, ‘hey, I saw this HVAC class, and I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m going to try it. I’m going to give it a try.'”
Today, Bentacourt serves as Regional Construction Manager for Abacus Capital Group, overseeing construction projects across the East Coast and helping evaluate multimillion-dollar real estate investments. Yet his journey began with a two-year HVAC program and a willingness to try something new.
That idea opened his eyes to something he had never considered: a trade wasn’t just a job. It was a skill he could take anywhere.
More Than a Job
For Bentacourt, learning a trade became the foundation for an entire career.
After graduating from trade school, he began working in HVAC and refrigeration. Eventually, he moved into multifamily housing as a maintenance technician, fixing air conditioners. From there, opportunity after opportunity followed. He advanced into facilities management, construction management, and leadership roles before landing at Abacus Capital Group.
Looking back, he sees one common thread. “A trade will open up doors that you have no idea will open up.”
Bentacourt’s promotions throughout the years were always said to be well deserved by his superiors and coworkers and often recommended by them, yet he recalls being surprised with each new opportunity.
He tells of how he would be confronted by his superiors who were waiting for him to apply. “Why are you not applying for these jobs? What’s going on? Why are you so humble?”
Bentacourt explained that he didn’t feel qualified despite proving to be a dependable HVAC and maintenance worker. “’I don’t have skill’. And they’re like, ‘you do. You just don’t see it.’ Because I think as a young person, you don’t realize what you can do.”
These experiences readied Bentacourt for working on the other side of multifamily. He spoke about his time as a Service Manager in the industry. He explained prioritizing hiring individuals with trade skills and a strong work ethic. He noted that while many job functions can be taught, trade expertise cannot, making trade knowledge and a willingness to work key factors in his hiring decisions, and making the ladder for aspiring trades workers seemingly endless, especially in multifamily.
“Especially like, if you went to trade school for an electrician or a plumber or HVAC – in multifamily, if they see that on your resume, they’re like, ‘Yes, we’re gonna hire you!’.” He said.
A Different Path to Success
As we explored in our opening Behind the Build Series, for decades, students have been told that success follows a familiar formula: graduate high school, attend a four-year university, and find a corporate job.
Like the skilled trades experts we’ve interviewed in the past, Bentacourt expressed how there are other paths to building a successful life.
The skilled trades offer opportunities to earn a strong income, develop valuable expertise, avoid massive student debt, and build a career that can’t easily be outsourced or automated – and the demand has never been greater.
“If you’re a welder, you’re getting money. If you can operate a crane, you’re making money. If you’re an electrician, you’re making money right now.” He said.
Electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, and other skilled professionals remain in high demand across the country. With employers actively searching for talent, there are ample opportunities for those willing to learn. The result can be the kind of fulfilling career that, as Bentacourt often experiences, leads others to ask how he got where he is today.
Bentacourt recalled speaking with his daughter’s boyfriend before his high school graduation. While considering nursing school, the young man expressed concerns about nursing’s demanding schedule and asked Bentacourt how he had reached his current position, telling him, “I see what you do, and you’re living life.” Bentacourt’s advice was straightforward: “Get a trade.”
Bentacourt knows of the stigma surrounding the trades and of working with your hands. “People don’t realize. They think, ‘Oh, you’re electricity. You make 10 bucks an hour.’ It’s like, ‘no, I make $50 an hour, and I have my own house, and I have a car, and I have a boat, and I go on vacations’ but people don’t see that.” He pointed out that people are only just starting to realize the demand and payout for these jobs in the last few years.
Why Trades Matter More Than Ever
As new technologies reshape the workforce, many people are questioning which careers will remain stable in the future.
Bentacourt sees skilled trades as one of the safest bets available. “Right now there’re no robots walking around the street fixing air conditioners.”
While technology continues to evolve, homes, apartment communities, office buildings, and commercial facilities will always need skilled professionals to build, maintain, and repair them.
A trade provides something many careers don’t: A skill you can always fall back on.
“If you can do that skill set, you’ll always have a job. You’ll always have something to fall back on.” Not only that, but you can move anywhere in the world as the professor at the trades school initially pointed out to Bentacourt. This revelation ‘hit him over the head’ and deeply resonated with Bentacourt’s hatred of the cold. His next stop – Florida – where he began working his way up to where he is today in multifamily, without the worry of anything going belly up because he could always fall back on his trade.
Changing the Conversation
One of the biggest challenges facing the industry isn’t a lack of opportunity. It’s a lack of awareness.
Bentacourt believes many students simply don’t realize what’s possible. “When I was in high school, no one was telling you, ‘Go get a trade.'” He hopes that changes.
Whether it’s through trade schools, vocational programs, employers, or industry partnerships, he believes young people deserve to know there are rewarding alternatives to the traditional four-year path.
Because for every HVAC technician, electrician, or plumber, there may be opportunities far beyond the tools.
There are paths into management, operations, construction leadership, entrepreneurship, and business ownership. Bentacourt’s own career is proof.
“The way multifamily works is, you want to keep moving up. You know, it’s there.” He says of his experiences with trades in the multifamily industry especially. “They’ll let you move up as far as you can. You don’t need a degree or anything in business management to be a construction manager. You just need experience, that’s all.”
The Opportunity Is Waiting
After more than two decades in the industry, Bentacourt remains passionate about helping others discover the same opportunities he found.
In fact, when asked what has been the most rewarding part of his career, his answer wasn’t about job titles or construction projects. It was about people.
“Helping the next person grow. That’s been rewarding for me. Helping people find jobs, placing them, giving them opportunities.”
Bentacourt believes employers play a critical role in closing the skilled trades gap by investing in workforce development. Drawing from his experience teaching maintenance classes at Equity, he advocates for ongoing training, mentorship, and professional development opportunities that help skilled trades employees build skills, gain confidence, and advance their careers. These experiences shaped his belief that talent must be developed, not simply recruited.
“From multifamily owners and from management companies, I think they need to fine-tune the education process a little bit better to keep good people around and to make them feel comfortable in their jobs. And I think that’s starting to slip a little bit. And hopefully that ticks back up.”
Throughout his career, Bentacourt has put that philosophy into action. In addition to teaching maintenance professionals, he supported vendor-led training sessions that brought teams together for lunch-and-learns, introduced new tools and techniques, and provided hands-on instruction. For Bentacourt, these efforts are more than professional development opportunities. They are essential investments in the next generation of skilled workers and an important step toward strengthening the industry’s workforce.
Meanwhile, for those still deciding their future and unsure, his advice is simple: “A trade is valuable, and it opens doors for you in ways you won’t imagine.”
For a generation searching for meaningful careers, financial stability, and long-term opportunity, the skilled trades may be one of the best-kept secrets still hiding in plain sight.
