Situation
Detroit Training Center prepared Detroiters, including many facing employment barriers, for skilled jobs.
Built in the Field / Workforce training
Turning workforce barriers into practical training and placement systems.
A workforce development story about training, placement, skilled jobs, grants, and measurable community impact.
Alex's role
Alex co-founded the organization and served in President, Chairman, and Board roles.
Source-backed outcomes
Concrete results from the operating history.
- Trained and placed 1,000+ Detroiters.
- Average wages of $20 per hour.
- Received $100,000 Motor City Match grant in 2015.
- Received $100,000 NEIdeas Grand Prize grant in 2016.
- Detroit Demo Day 1st Runner Up in 2017.
- Michigan 50 Companies to Watch recognition in 2019.
What was hard
The work connected training, employment barriers, employer demand, placement operations, and student support.
Systems that mattered
- Curriculum
- Placement operations
- Partner management
- Student support
- Outcome tracking
OwnerOS lesson
Useful systems meet people where the work really happens. Training only matters if it connects to real jobs and repeatable placement operations.
Client relevance
Why this matters for founder-led businesses.
AI and automation only matter when they improve actual workflows, decisions, and outcomes.
Back to Built in the FieldNext step
Ready to make the business less dependent on you?
Start with a focused operating consultation. We will look at the work, the bottlenecks, the systems, and where practical AI can create leverage.