501(c)(3) Nonprofit · Iroquois, Illinois
Help Open the Doors to Rural Trades Training
Build Strong Apprenticeship America is working to launch hands-on trades training for rural Illinois young adults. We believe the students will come once the opportunity exists. Right now, we need founding donors, sponsors, and a trades instructor to help us open the doors.
The urgent need
The first bottleneck is funding. The second is the instructor.
Student demand is not the problem we need to solve first. The problem is getting the program open: paying the founding instructor, equipping the workshop, buying tools and safety gear, covering insurance, and building the first class.
BSA exists because rural young adults need a real path into the trades without leaving their community. Local contractors need future workers. Families need practical career options that do not start with heavy debt.
Help launch the first class
- Fund instructor time
- Equip electrical and plumbing training setups
- Provide tools, PPE, materials, and fixtures
- Support startup insurance and operations
Our Mission
Rebuilding the Workforce That Built Our Nation
Rural Illinois faces a growing shortage of licensed electricians and plumbers just as aging homes, farms, and infrastructure need more maintenance and upgrades than ever. Young adults and career-changers in small towns often have no local path into these careers.
Build Strong Apprenticeship America (BSA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit created to close that gap. We connect retired and experienced tradespeople with motivated local residents through hands-on, affordable apprenticeship-style training delivered in simple, mobile training units — right where the need is.
We don't introduce people to the trades. We build plug-and-play residential apprentices — graduates a licensed contractor can hire and put straight to work.
And in an era of automation and AI, that matters more than ever. You can't automate a wire run through an old farmhouse or a drain line under a century-old foundation. BSA teaches the skills that keep the lights on and the water running — the kind no algorithm can replace.
The Program
Six Months to a Real Career in the Trades
BSA compresses the essential first-year residential apprenticeship curriculum into a focused six-month program. Students attend 3.5-hour sessions three days a week, learning by doing — not by reading about it.
Each mobile training unit carries one electrical instructor and one plumbing instructor. Three students per trade work side-by-side with their teacher in setups that replicate real residential jobs.
Our classrooms are 12×16-foot prairie-style sheds — simple, honest structures equipped with real residential wiring and plumbing setups — mounted on trailers so they can go where the students are.
Instruction is led by retired field experts who spent decades doing this work. They don't teach from textbooks. They teach from experience.
What You'll Learn
Real Skills for Real Job Sites
Our curriculum mirrors what a first-year residential apprentice must know. Every skill is taught hands-on, in setups that replicate actual homes.
Residential Electrical
- NEC code fundamentals for residential wiring
- Service entrance, main panels, and subpanels
- Branch circuit layout and load calculations
- Romex runs, junction boxes, and device wiring
- Outlet, switch, and GFCI/AFCI installation
- Light fixture and ceiling fan hookup
- 240V circuits for dryers, ranges, and HVAC
- Grounding and bonding
- Electrical safety and lockout/tagout
- Basic troubleshooting and meter use
Residential Plumbing
- Residential plumbing code basics
- Water supply systems — copper, PEX, and CPVC
- DWV (drain-waste-vent) principles and layout
- Toilet, sink, and faucet installation
- Shower and bathtub rough-in and trim
- Kitchen sink and garbage disposal
- Water heater connections
- Appliance supply lines (washer, dishwasher, fridge)
- Pipe cutting, soldering, and joining techniques
- Basic service calls and leak diagnosis
Why BSA Is Different
Nothing Else Like This in America
Most programs introduce you to the trades. BSA actually trains you from beginning to end — in a mobile classroom, with personal instruction, at a fraction of the cost.
Typical Trade School
- 2-year programs, $15,000+ tuition
- 30+ students per class
- Fixed campus in a city
- Lecture-heavy, less hands-on time
- Students often graduate with debt
- Limited availability in rural areas
BSA Apprenticeship
- 6 months, target tuition $2,500
- 3 students per trade, per instructor
- Mobile — training comes to you
- 100% hands-on, real residential setups
- Debt-conscious: no student loans needed
- Built specifically for rural communities
- AI-proof skills — wire houses, fix leaks, build careers
Support the Mission
Where Your Dollars Go
BSA's president, George Poe, takes no compensation in the first year. Our goal is to keep less than 18% of all funds on administration — everything else goes directly into students, sheds, and instruction.
Employers who hire BSA graduates may also qualify for the Illinois Apprenticeship Education Expense Credit — a direct tax benefit for bringing trained apprentices onto their crew. BSA acts as your 501(c)(3) workforce training partner, so you get a trained apprentice, a potential state tax credit, and a community-good story you can stand behind.
Training Sheds & Trucks
Fund the mobile units that bring training directly to rural communities — from the sheds themselves to the trucks that haul them.
Tools & Materials
Wire, pipe, panels, fittings, hand tools, safety gear — everything students need to learn and everything graduates take with them.
Instructor Stipends
Retired experts volunteer their knowledge. A modest stipend respects their time and keeps them coming back.
Contact
Let's Talk
Tax-Deductible Giving
Build Strong Apprenticeship America NFP is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
EIN: 39-5081478
Formed: October 2025
SAM registered and ready for federal grants.