501(c)(3) Nonprofit · Iroquois, Illinois
Training the Plug-and-Play Apprentices America Needs
In six months, motivated residents become job-ready residential electricians and plumbers — trained hands-on by retired field experts in mobile workshops, with no college debt and a target tuition of just $2,500.
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.
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. Our students learn and practice the same tasks a first-year apprentice performs on real residential jobs — wiring panels, running circuits, installing fixtures, roughing in plumbing, and more.
Each mobile training unit carries one electrical instructor and one plumbing instructor. Three students per trade. Six students per unit. That's the kind of personal attention trade schools can't offer in a lecture hall of thirty.
Our classrooms are 12×16-foot prairie-style sheds — simple, honest structures equipped with real residential wiring and plumbing setups — mounted on trailers so we can bring training directly to the communities that need it most.
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
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.
Training Sheds & Trucks
Fund the mobile units that bring training directly to rural communities. Each shed is a fully equipped residential lab on wheels.
Tools & Materials
Wire, pipe, panels, fittings, hand tools, safety gear — everything a student needs to learn by doing. In-kind donations welcome.
Instructor Stipends
Retired experts volunteer their knowledge. Stipends honor their time and ensure consistent, high-quality instruction for every cohort.
Contact
Let's Talk
Tax-Deductible Giving
Build Strong Apprenticeship America NFP is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
EIN: 39-5081478
Formed: October 2025
SAM registered and ready for federal grants.