HBI’s Nearly 50-Year Partnership with Job Corps Highlights Program’s Importance

Home Builders Institute (HBI) has partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps program for 49 years to provide individuals aged 16-24 years old with career technical education and training. 

HBI’s training programs with Job Corps — which include building construction technology (BCT), electrical, HVAC, landscaping, solar and plumbing — teach technical job skills as well as employability skills — like responsibility, time management and effective communications — with basic academics. These programs provide job skills as they build character, self-esteem and the interpersonal skills students need to succeed in life.

“When I needed someone to believe in me, I found that person in HBI,” said Starr Delgado, a 2001 graduate of the HBI Job Corps plumbing program and current program instructor. “They put me on a path that changed my life.”

Through HBI’s Jobs Corps training programs, students receive a trade-specific pre-apprenticeship certificate, OSHA-10 certification, and other industry-recognized credentials upon graduation. HBI also provides program graduates with job placement and transitional support to build a successful career in construction.

The program — which includes 69 sites across 40 states — has graduated more than 121,000 students since it began in 1974. Learn more about the importance of this program and its students at hbi.org.