Building Talent Foundation (BTF) renewed its annual $300,000 strategic social impact partnership with Resideo Technologies. Together, the two organizations are creating opportunities for students to pursue careers in the HVAC and security and smart home industries, while also helping to address the labor shortage in the residential construction sector.
“Together, we’re making a real impact,” says Branka Minic, CEO of BTF. “Our initiatives are helping students get into rewarding careers, giving educational institutions relevant curriculum resources and cutting-edge technologies to train them, and providing a well-trained workforce for employers.”
Resideo is a global manufacturer and distributor of technology-driven products and solutions. The company has a presence in more than 150 million homes, with 15 million systems installed each year.
Resideo is committed to creating alignment between the skills employers need and the skills entry-level installers and technicians are taught in trade schools. The organization built upon BTF’s relationships with education partners across the country and formed a new HVAC Industry Council. Resideo donated HVAC equipment for training labs and educational resources for new technologies. On BTF’s JobsToBuild resource, Resideo also provides information about smart home and security systems to promote careers in these sectors to young people and career changers.
“Resideo’s leadership on our board and advisory council has been vital in helping us promote rewarding careers in HVAC to more young people,” says Minic. “With their help, we’re impacting the lives of thousands of students.”
BTF and its partners are focused on engaging 1 million youth and career changers to explore careers in construction by 2030 and have set a goal to bring 100,000 new skilled workers into the sector with a strong focus on women and people of color. Through the organization’s JobsToBuild career exploration and job placement tool, BTF helped more than 500 students find trade jobs in 2021. Among those placements, the percentage of female workers placed was more than double the industry average, and nearly 70% of the placed individuals were people of color.
BTF was established by 20 leading home building companies and is committed to building a sustainable residential construction workforce. The organization’s mission is to advance the education, training, and career progression of young people and people from underrepresented groups as skilled technical workers and business owners in residential construction.
BTF has recently entered partnerships with SkillPointe Foundation, the Southern Careers Institute in Texas, M.T. Copeland Technologies, the Painting Contractors Association, StrataTech Education Group, the Floor Covering Education Foundation, Friendly House, and NextWave Safety Solutions to provide career coaching and job placement services to students involved with each organization.
