BuildWithin Inc., a D.C.-based startup that trains workers across industries with an eye toward full-time placement, has added four more employers to its lineup of partnering organizations willing to take on apprentices.
BuildWithin now counts nonprofit consulting firm Compass Pro Bono, tourism and hospitality bureau Destination DC, medical tech startup Predict Health and lifestyle services company United Fray among its partnering firms. In total, 18 companies and organizations in D.C. have signed on to place apprentices who complete BuildWithin's free training courses.
Pete Kirschner, executive director for the D.C. Apprenticeship Innovation Hub at BuildWithin, told me the new companies enhance BuildWithin's overall strategy of placing workers into jobs across industries such as hospitality, consulting and health care. Traditionally apprenticeships have focused on the skilled trades or computer coding.
The company, founded in 2022, has worked with the D.C. Department of Employment Services and other local partners to provide free training to about 200 residents; about 30 have taken on full-time jobs with one of the partners following apprenticeships.
"We bring together the job seekers with educators in the field to gain credentials that set the residents up for success," Philip Minardi, vice president of strategic engagement at BuildWithin, told me.
BuildWithin was founded by CEO Ximena Hartsock and Chief Strategy Officer Michelle Rhee, who once headed up D.C. schools. The company, which also offers a separate software-as-a-service workforce monitoring platform, maintains apprentice hubs in Greater Washington; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Northern California; and Los Angeles. DC Inno named BuildWithin one of its Startups to Watch in 2023.
BuildWithin received a $7.9 million grant from the Department of Labor in late 2022 under President Joe Biden’s Apprenticeship Building America program.
"There are ways to solve your talent gap issues, and I think what is important for folks in the community to hear is that this option is on the table," Minardi said. "There are companies and organizations like BuildWithin that make it very easy for you to say yes and to get up and running very quickly."
BuildWithin's employer expansion comes as sustained interest for free job training and upskilling resources for workers picks up amid the tight labor market.
On Monday, the Washington Literacy Center announced the graduation of its first cohort to complete a workforce training program developed by Diageo, a London-based alcohol beverage company. These graduates are now prepared to take on roles in the hospitality industry following an education in food safety, spirits and bartending fundamentals, among other job readiness training.
