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Home / General Contractors / Montana / Apprenticeships

General Contractor apprenticeships in Montana

Montana has 19 registered general contractor apprenticeship programs: 0 union and 19 open shop.1 Apprentices are hired and paid while they learn.

Find a program near you

Enter your ZIP to sort by distance.

19 programs

  1. Abraham II Construction Services

    Montana City · Jefferson County

    Open shop

  2. Action Plumbing & Construction

    Great Falls · Cascade County

    Open shop

  3. Core Construction Company LLC

    Helena · Lewis and Clark County

    Open shop

  4. Denman Construction Incorporated

    Whitefish · Flathead County

    Open shop

  5. Dick Anderson Construction

    Helena · Lewis and Clark County

    Open shop

  6. Do All Construction

    Lewistown · Fergus County

    Open shop

  7. Electrical Design & Construction LLC

    Bozeman · Gallatin County

    Open shop

  8. Eyer Electrical Construction Inc.

    Stevensville · Ravalli County

    Open shop

  9. Martel Construction Inc.

    Bozeman · Gallatin County

    Open shop

  10. Master Electric Construction, LLC

    White Sulphur Springs · Meagher County

    Open shop

  11. Montana Materials and Construction

    Helena · Lewis and Clark County

    Open shop

  12. R&R Taylor Construction Inc.

    Bozeman · Gallatin County

    Open shop

  13. Rapid Electric and Construction

    Dillon · Beaverhead County

    Open shop

  14. Raybell Plumbing & Construction

    Darby · Ravalli County

    Open shop

  15. Saxton Construction

    Bigfork · Lake County

    Open shop

  16. Shennum Construction

    Circle · McCone County

    Open shop

  17. Southwest Mountain States Carpenters Training Fund

    Helena · Lewis and Clark County

    Open shop

  18. Two Whistle Construction, LLC

    Billings · Yellowstone County

    Open shop

  19. Wyoming State United Brotherhood of Carpenters JA

    Helena · Lewis and Clark County

    Open shop

Union or open shop?

Union

Run by the regional Carpenters training committee. You apply to the committee, take an aptitude test and an interview, and wait on a ranked list. The committee sends you to its contractors.

Pay is a set share of the union journey-level rate and steps up on a schedule. Classes are nights or week-long blocks, usually paid for by the program.

Open shop

Run by ABC, AGC or a single builder. You usually get hired by a member contractor first, and the contractor enrolls you.

Your employer sets the pay and the raises. Classes are nights or weekends, and some programs charge tuition.

What do programs ask for?

Applying this month

  1. Get your papers together1 week

    High school transcript or GED, a photo ID, and your birth certificate or proof of age. Programs that ask for algebra want the transcript that shows it.

    Time
    1 week
  2. Practice for the aptitude test2 to 4 weeks

    Union programs test algebra and reading. A few evenings with a practice test helps your ranking.

    Time
    2 to 4 weeks
  3. Pick three programs and check their dates1 evening

    Union programs take applications in set windows, some once a year. Open-shop programs and employer programs often take them year-round.

    Time
    1 evening
    Back to the program list
  4. Apply, then keep working

    Apply to all three. While you wait, a helper or trainee job with a licensed contractor gives you hours and a reference.

    The license steps

Can't get in yet?

Pre-apprenticeship

Short programs, often free, that teach the basics and help with the application. Ask the programs above which ones they take graduates from.

Start on a crew

Licensed contractors hire helpers with no experience. Keep a log of your hours and employers; many programs and license boards count them. If you'd rather learn the basics first, 3 schools in Montana have general contractor programs.

The license steps in Montana

How do you get into a general contractor apprenticeship in Montana?

Pick programs near you, check each one's website for its application dates, and apply to more than one. Union programs test and interview, then rank applicants; open-shop programs usually start once a member contractor hires you.

How much do general contractor apprentices make in Montana?

Programs set their own scales, usually a share of journey-level pay that rises every year. For a floor, the lowest-paid tenth of all general contractors in Montana earned $27.39 an hour or less in May 2025.

General Contractor pay in Montana

Other routes in Montana

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Labor, apprenticeship.gov registered apprenticeship partners (apprenticeship.gov)
  2. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Montana, May 2025 (bls.gov, May 2025)