Contractors are hired by consumers and businesses alike to build, repair and renovate structures. An important part of the contracting trade is painting. Painting contractors can make an interior space warm and inviting or make a building exterior attractive and able to stand up to the elements. Painters in the contracting industry have a variety of different roles and are paid accordingly. There wereconstruction and maintenance painters employed in the specialty trade contracting industry as of Mayaccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many contracting businesses also hire various helpers to work with the painters, performing less-skilled jobs such as supplying tools and cleaning work areas. Tapers work hand-in-hand with painters, preparing walls for painting or wallpapering by sealing joints and smoothing surfaces. Eric Strauss spent 12 years as a newspaper copy editor, eventually serving as a deputy business editor at «The Star-Ledger» in New Jersey before transitioni...