You can post this in the "pro to pro" forum instead of "design dilemma".

What an insulting generalization Joe! My daughter (an attorney) married a tradesman who is also a business owner. I'm THRILLED. I wouldn't care if he was a garbage man as long as he is a great partner for her. And he is.

Find someone with passion. It's not easy because that's what everyone is is looking for too. Good ones are hard to keep. I have difficulty keeping good employees partly because there's a limited career path in my business. I try and foster a sense of capability and quality and progress them into sales and quoting when they are capable with construction and they really love the extra challenges. They move on, but hopefully they have better skills when they do go.

Iwfromny:

I stand corrected. I should have said "...most parents don't want their daughter to marry a tradesman."

My employer can always keep me happy with.....money, money, money. Giving me a nice fat bonus to show appreciate works for me.

We enjoy the services of a paint contractor who is in constant demand because of the quality of work performed by his tradesmen associates. The reason they stay on is because they share the reputation, have extreme confidence in the process they are required to do (lots of prep!) and they get a % bonus of net profit every year. It's all about quality work and customer service.