Employers & Partnerships

HBI Job Corps serves more than 3,000 at-risk men and women each year, providing a qualified workforce for the home building industry. Through the work of staff and graduates, HBI Job Corps has built relationships with corporations, home builder associations, small businesses and more. 

Relationships within the home building industry are important to ensure HBI serves workforce needs and provides career opportunities for our graduates. In fact, many organizations offer internship opportunities and hire HBI graduates on a regular basis. 

Here’s a look at some of those relationships:   

A member of NAHB, Next Step Living (NSL) is a residential energy efficiency company that employs several graduates from the New England area each year. “Ideal candidates have a basic understanding of residential construction, good work ethic and the ability to adapt and problem solve,” says Adam Orszulak, senior field manager for NSL. HBI graduates make up 20 percent of NSL’s field staff, the majority starting as interns. This relationship provides HBI graduates promising careers in a growing sector, with strong pay and benefits, while providing NSL with quality pre-apprentices.

Equity Residential is a national property management company that serves more 200,000 residents. This relationship began on the East Coast and has progressed to the West, presenting job opportunities nationwide. Most HBI graduates are offered full-time positions after successfully completing internships maintaining multi-family housing units. Equity provides a framework for career advancement through additional training opportunities, full benefit packages and great pay, while HBI graduates provide quality electrical, plumbing, maintenance and painting work.  

International electrical design-build and systems firm, M.C. Dean, has a longstanding relationship with HBI. M.C. Dean has hired several HBI graduates from Job Corps centers on the East Coast, some of which are now graduates of the firm’s Electrical Apprentice Program. M.C.Dean’s large-scale, commercial projects are testaments to the various types of careers HBI students can pursue. The picture here illustrates the success and value of our relationship with M.C. Dean: Two graduates of the HBI pre-apprentice electrical program at Potomac Job Corps are shown on each side of their HBI Job Corps instructor at their M.C. Dean apprenticeship graduation. Both are now successful journeyman electricians!   

Many HBI graduates now employed by these businesses wouldn't have had the opportunity without the help of Lowe's Home Improvement. Lowe's donates $50,000 to the HBI/Lowe's Building Careers Scholarship every year. The scholarships help HBI graduates who need financial assistance as they transition into the real world and begin a career.

If you’re an employer interested in building a relationship with HBI and working with our graduates, please contact Tasya Arrington at 800-795-7955 x8933.