Richmond Bets $8 Million on Turning High Schoolers Into HVAC and Electrical Apprentices

A Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded initiative will move 500 Richmond students into paid trades apprenticeships in electrical, HVAC, welding, and construction.

Richmond Ed Fund announced on July 1 that it has selected apprenticeship software company BuildWithin to run RVA Builds, an $8 million Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded program aimed at moving 500 Richmond Public Schools students into paid, work-based apprenticeships in electrical, HVAC, welding, and construction. The program targets placing those students by the end of the 2028-29 school year, with a goal of 150 graduates entering formal Registered Apprenticeship programs over three years.

Students in the program are guaranteed a minimum of $23 an hour in total compensation once they graduate into paid apprenticeship roles, and 17 partner organizations are involved in building out the pipeline. BuildWithin's role is both as registered apprenticeship intermediary and as the technology platform tracking students through the program.

Richmond Ed Fund CEO Taikein Cooper framed the effort around a gap in the traditional high school-to-career pathway, saying too many students leave school "without a real path to a career that can support a family." BuildWithin co-founder William Lopez said the company's role is pairing a proven apprenticeship model with the technology needed to run it at scale.

Why it matters to operators

RVA Builds is a local example of a national problem field-service operators know well: the trades pipeline hasn't kept pace with retiring technicians, and posting an open job listing has stopped being a reliable way to fill open roles. Programs that pair employer partners directly with a graduating cohort, rather than hoping candidates apply cold, give area HVAC, electrical, and construction businesses a more predictable channel for junior hires. Shops in or near Richmond may want to get on the partner list early, since first movers typically get first pick of apprentices.

Source: PR Newswire (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/turning-richmonds-investment-in-the-skilled-trades-into-apprenticeships-buildwithin-to-power-initiative-for-500-students-302815817.html)