An Interview with Cleveland Builds Executive Director, Keith Laschinger
Danielle Crawford, VP, Grantmaking interviewed Keith Laschinger, Executive Director of Cleveland Builds, a worker-centered and industry-led non-profit that advances union construction’s ability to promote careers in the trades and maintain a more diverse, qualified workforce. Interested in getting more information or involved in Cleveland Builds? Reach out to Keith at keith@ceacisp.org.
So, tell me about Cleveland Builds. What is your mission and vision?
Basically, what we’re here to do is to get young people, Cleveland residents, women, and POC into union apprenticeships. And whatever it says on our website is true! When potential students click on our website, we want to get them to click on that career seeker button so we can connect with them as quickly as possible. Our team is on the phone with potential students in one business day, educating them on what an apprenticeship is and what Cleveland Builds can do for them.
We know there is a big effort to increase the number of people you are recruiting into apprenticeships. How are you solving this?
This year we are going to train 300 people through the Cleveland Builds apprenticeship readiness program and our goal is to place everyone that is work-eligible and apprentice-ready. We anticipate out of the 300, that 180 will be placed. We are directly contributing to the number of people going into union apprenticeships.
What do you want job seekers to know about working in the trades?
We want everyone to know, especially people who are working a job or jobs right now and who aren’t getting paid a living wage or not fulfilled by what they are doing, that our careers, what we do we’re providing careers not just jobs. Our careers in union construction pay well, and good hourly rates. Just about all our trades start over $20/hr. and go up to well over minimum living wage of $25/hr. All of these apprenticeships have excellent benefits and increase the benefits package and salary.
From our staff and teachers, we know there is great fulfillment – talk to any union trades person and they talk about what they contribute to our community and our culture as Greater Clevelanders.
Tell me a story about how Cleveland Builds has been successful? And an story about an individual that has been successful?
I like to think we’re successful every day. What I like about our team is we are talented, and we are passionate about what we’re doing, The skillsets that are contributed are all different. We’ve brought together a team of trades people, with different expertise who are all passionate. The trades people on staff feel like they got into the trades and it allowed them to provide for their families and in some cases, it changed the trajectory of their lives and their families lives. This is what we want for our participants.
One in particular stand out is Hannah Brown. She came to us as a school-based nurse and was not feeling fulfilled by this. She started to learn as much as she could about the trades, and she began interacting with some individuals who are on the trades women’s council.
Once she was ready, she enrolled in Cleveland Builds second ever cohort starting in 2022. It was a good group of individuals. Hannah stood out as a shining star even in this group. We are always thoughtful about the way we do placement. Hannah knew she wanted to be a carpenter and we have a partnership with Regency Construction, a female owned construction company and the CEO is on the Board of Cleveland Builds. Hannah was a natural fit and thrived in this environment. She is thriving in her second year of her apprenticeship. Hannah deserves most of the credit for her success.
Regency nominated Hannah for apprentice of the year. She successfully received the honor in August 2023. This year’s event will be held at Browns Stadium.
What are your goals for 2024?
We want to achieve these top five goals for this year:
1) Train 300 diverse individuals and place at least 180 of them in union apprenticeships.
2) Improve our relationships with contractors and unions.
3) Expand our base and increase the number of diverse individuals we train at Cleveland Builds.
4) Continue building our gender and racial diversity with individuals trained and bring on bilingual staff (specifically Spanish speakers).
5) Get participants in trades we have not yet. We have graduates apprenticing with 14 different trades but not yet all trades.
If someone is interested in Cleveland Builds, how do they reach out?
If someone is interested in Cleveland Builds, go to www.clevelandbuilds.com and click on the “career seeker” button. Click on career seeker and we’ll be in touch w/in 24 hours to get you signed up for an information session.
If you are already a trades person and are interested in working with Cleveland Builds, reach out to Keith Laschinger directly at keith@ceacisp.org