I have met a handful of craftsmen willing to provide training for the right workers (as in, the ones that seem promising and likely to stay a while)

Also community college costs have stayed pretty darn reasonable amidst the inflating costs of four-year degrees.

Yeah, that's true but with caveats: one being "a handful of craftsmen," the other being limited access to those community colleges. This is especially true in states that are slashing public spending on education. My point was that these types of jobs offered on site training 20 years ago, and now they don't, shifting the costs to prospective employees.