Jay Rowell
Executive Director
HIRE360
Jay Rowell harnesses his public service experience to champion economic growth and inspire workforce transformation. His leadership is pivotal in redefining the construction industry, advocating for inclusivity, and unveiling the sector’s vast potential as a rewarding career avenue.
What is your role at HIRE360?
My name is Jay Rowell, and I'm the Executive Director of HIRE360. Our organization focuses on empowering individuals and businesses in the construction and building trades through training, employment, and business development. We emphasize engaging youth in the trades, mentoring Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) firms, and creating a supply chain committed to higher diversity standards.
Tell me a little bit about your career progression.
I began my career unexpectedly during a trip to Springfield where a friend was lobbying for electoral reforms. A state representative suggested I apply for a job in her district office. Securing the position led me to various roles in government and political campaigning. Notably during that time, I helped digitize records and stream meetings for the Chicago City Clerk’s office.
It's easy to share your own views, but the real challenge lies in truly understanding others and identifying areas of agreement to guide collaborative progress.
Later, as the director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, I reoriented the department to actively match job seekers with employers, significantly improving placement rates at our hiring events.
Right before HIRE360, as the deputy state treasurer of Illinois, I revamped our investment strategies. This included increasing the involvement of diverse, women-owned, and Illinois-based firms in managing the state's $31 billion investment portfolio from less than half a percent to 60-70% in several different assest classses.
Who have been your primary mentors in progressing in your career?
Former Illinois Senate President John Cullerton was my primary mentor. I worked with him as he navigated his path to becoming Senate President. From him, I learned the importance of solution-oriented leadership and pragmatism in legislative processes. He taught me that often, incremental change is the most effective way to make progress, emphasizing the need to persistently work towards goals, as demonstrated through his long-term advocacy for seat belts, gay marriage, and smoke-free legislation.
What have been keys to your success?
The key to my success has been persistent follow-up, which I like to think of as “polite nagging.” Given that everyone is busy with numerous priorities, it's important to keep your issues visible and on their agenda. Equally important is active listening and finding common ground. It's easy to share your own views, but the real challenge lies in truly understanding others and identifying areas of agreement to guide collaborative progress.
Tell me what it is like to work at HIRE360. What makes it special or unique?
What makes HIRE360 stand out is our comprehensive approach to partnerships in diversifying the construction industry. Traditionally, initiatives were focused on isolated projects or specific trades. Instead, we collaborate across the entire industry, which is quite unique. For example, working with the Elevator Constructors Union, which only recruits every two years, we continuously recruit for all trades, directing candidates to opportunities as they arise. This method proves much more effective than the sporadic efforts of individual trades or contractors.
Moreover, maintaining these partnerships, especially when dealing with the competitive nature of the construction industry, presents challenges, but it's great for sustainable growth. Our model not only supports individual candidates but also helps diverse businesses gain more consistent opportunities across various projects.
What types of talent pools do you work with?
We are dedicated to diversifying the construction trades by attracting more women and diverse candidates, as well as supporting the growth of related businesses. To accomplish this, we've formed over 50 partnerships with various community and faith-based organizations to help refer interested individuals to us. We also use digital advertising to directly reach potential candidates.
We want to address the misconception that careers in construction are less desirable than obtaining a college degree. Interestingly, many of our trade applicants now hold four-year college degrees, which dispels this outdated view and underscores the importance of educating people about the valuable opportunities available in construction.
What is HIRE360 hoping to achieve in the next few years?
Over the next few years, HIRE360 aims to support contractors, candidates, and partners in achieving various diversity and residency goals. Specifically, we are focused on scaling up diverse businesses to meet Chicago’s targets of 26% diverse contractors, 6% female contractors, and 50% city residency. Our goal is to consistently meet these benchmarks across all projects, not just on individual ones.
Additionally, we are expanding our efforts into the clean energy sector and plan to roll out programs statewide. This expansion will involve partnerships with trade unions, community colleges, and community organizations to recruit diverse candidates throughout Illinois for emerging clean energy opportunities.
What significant challenges is HIRE360 facing at this moment?
HIRE360 is currently working hard to complete a 54,000 square foot training center in Bronzeville that will play a key role in workforce development. We've embarked on this ambitious $9 million project to enhance training opportunities in the construction industry and other fields.
The center will be a collaborative hub where industry leaders, contractors, sub-contractors, developers, organized labor, and apprentices can come together to shape the future of Chicago's workforce. This center will also feature a conference, event and meeting spaces for networking and education, demonstration space for 37 trades, and a playroom for children of business owners and workers, all designed to support the development of local communities. Our ability to move forward with this project relies heavily on the support of contributions from the community and partners, who help bring these plans to life.
What kinds of employer partners do you work with? Is there a particular size or sector that you focus on?
We work with two main types of employer partners at HIRE360. First, we focus on scaling up diverse contractors and supply firms. We currently support about 177 diverse contractors. These are typically smaller, often non-union businesses that we help transition into union-signatory firms by assisting with wage and welfare bonds, lines of credit, and other financial needs to help them grow and sustain their operations.
Additionally, we're working to create more diverse supply firms. For example, we recently helped launch the first Black-owned HVAC supplier in the Midwest and supported an established contractor in securing a million-dollar loan to purchase a warehouse to supply materials in partnership with major manufacturers like Mitsubishi and Trane.
On the other side, we connect these firms with general contractors and developers who need their services, facilitating introductions and helping them navigate pre qualification processes. Our goal is to foster long-term relationships and mentorships between these firms and general contractors for partnerships that extend beyond single projects.
What are the most common challenges that employers come to you with?
Employers, particularly general contractors and developers, often approach us when they have upcoming projects with specific diversity goals. These goals might be set by private project owners who prioritize community opportunities or by government mandates that require specific hiring practices. When these employers reach out, they typically request a list of potential firms. However, our approach at HIRE360 is more tailored. We prefer to first understand the specifics of the opportunity and then recommend two or three firms that are well-suited in terms of size and business direction. This method builds more meaningful and effective partnerships rather than just fulfilling a quota.
What are some common stumbling blocks you run into when establishing a partnership with an employer?
The project-based nature of the construction world can be challenging when establishing these partnerships. Each project typically involves a developer or owner who then contracts a general contractor, who in turn hires various subcontractors. This means the teams are constantly changing, which can complicate partnerships.
By the time an employer reaches out for a sponsorship, we have candidates ready to start, having invested significant time in their preparation. This way, we can quickly match trained candidates with employer needs.
Even with committed developers and general contractors, each new project can feel like starting from scratch because of the reshuffling of teams and the introduction of new staff who may not be familiar with our organization. We need to continuously reintroduce and reestablish our role with new project teams, which means we are often starting anew with each project. Furthermore, with potentially thousands of subcontractors who could be awarded work, coordinating and ensuring that our firms and workforce are included in the bidding process can be a substantial hurdle.
Despite these challenges, we often see repeat engagements from subcontractors who have successfully partnered with us in the past and value the talent we bring into the trades.
What kind of time commitment/time table do you find is necessary to begin a successful partnership?
Quick adaptation and responsiveness are important for establishing successful partnerships. Sometimes, we get last-minute requests needing help the next day. While we can handle these with our job order tool to find the right candidate quickly, having a few days to a week is better for matching candidates effectively.
Construction often brings surprises, so we strive to respond swiftly and adapt to the changing needs of our projects, whatever the challenge may be.
How does the apprenticeship program work from an employer’s perspective? If an employer expresses interest, what is the process?
When an employer shows interest in our pre-apprenticeship program, we begin by tapping into our ongoing recruitment efforts to find suitable candidates. We prepare these individuals through a detailed curriculum provided by the North American Building Trades Unions, focusing on math, spatial reasoning, and soft skills. This training typically involves 120 to 180 hours, tailored to specific program needs, such as additional modules for electric vehicles.
After training, we support candidates in the apprenticeship application process, by helping with paperwork and covering test fees. We also have a fund to help with initial expenses like tools and boots, and we offer stipends to cover living costs during the unpaid initial weeks of some programs. Our trade union partners have been so helpful in opening their apprenticeship programs for tours and meetings with our candidates, so they really get a sense of what they are signing up for. Further, they have helped us understand how to best prepare our candidates to be accepted and successful in the trades.
By the time an employer reaches out for a sponsorship, we have candidates ready to start, having invested significant time in their preparation. This way, we can quickly match trained candidates with employer needs.
How much does your programming cost per hire?
Our programming costs vary depending on the project's scope and specific requirements. For general services like matching diverse contractors or facilitating sponsorship opportunities, we do not charge. Our primary aim is to continuously create more opportunities, and these services are integral to our mission.
However, for larger projects with specific recruitment goals, such as targeting candidates from certain geographic areas or pre-apprenticeship training, the costs can increase due to the required planning and execution. For example, our work with the Obama Presidential Center involved recruiting individuals from specific neighborhoods and the broader Chicago area well in advance. This process included targeted advertising, pre-apprenticeship training, and assisting candidates in entering the trades, which proved to be very successful.
For these more targeted and intensive projects, we generally seek funding to cover the associated costs. We're fortunate to offset some of these expenses with government grants, but additional funding is often necessary to meet the project's unique demands.
What are some kinds of employer partners you’d like to connect with in the future but haven’t yet?
We are particularly interested in expanding our partnerships within the green energy sector. This area is burgeoning, especially with significant funding from the state of Illinois for clean energy initiatives. Many firms are entering the Illinois market from out of state, and numerous startups are emerging locally.
We're eager to launch the Climate Equity Jobs Act Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program, which will focus on recruiting individuals in Central and Southern Illinois to enter union trade careers in the clean energy sector. While joining a union is an important step, our ultimate goal is to secure sustainable employment and future pensions for our graduates. Therefore, we aim to cultivate strong, ongoing relationships with these green energy employers to make sure they consistently hire our trained graduates.
What results are employers achieving? What kinds of results do you report out to employers, funders, etc.?
Tracking outcomes in the construction industry is challenging because workers often move between projects and firms. If we don't hear from our candidates, it usually means they're steadily employed—a good sign. However, without detailed wage data, it's hard for us to track their employment status thoroughly.
If there’s anything to take away, it would be this: Give us a call. We're an industry-led partnership with a board that reflects our diverse mission, covering sectors like labor unions, trades, contractors, and developers. We're all about flexibility and customizing our approach to fit your specific needs.
When new opportunities arise, we reach out to candidates, which often confirms they're still working in the field. We also keep detailed metrics for the diverse contractors we help grow. Through our working capital loan pool, started by David Carlins of Magellan Development, we help smaller and diverse firms overcome growth barriers. So far, we've helped back 80 loans totaling around $14 million, which give us solid data on our impact.
What is a success story you would like to share from your work?
One recent success story involves a journey worker electrician from the Austin community. He started his own firm, and with our assistance, secured a working capital loan, thanks to funding from JP Morgan and collaboration with Allies for Community Business. We also helped him obtain certifications to become an EEC (equity-eligible contractor) under the state’s clean energy law. Through our partnership with Pepper Energy, he secured a five million dollar contract for several solar projects. This is just one example of how we've helped small firms grow significantly, with many reaching annual revenues of five to six million dollars.
What impacts - positive or negative - has the pandemic had on your work?
Starting our nonprofit in January 2020, right before the pandemic, was tough. By April or May, with the construction industry down to 75% capacity, we were worried about shutting down. The slowdown especially impacted our apprenticeship programs, which had to stop taking new entries.
Despite these challenges, the pandemic strengthened our relationships with diverse contractors, helping them find ways to stay afloat through pandemic-related loans and finding them smaller projects. We also moved many of our educational offerings, like math courses, online to better fit the schedules of candidates juggling work and family. While virtual learning has its drawbacks, such as varying attention spans, it has been transformative for many; it has allowed them to improve their skills without sacrificing their responsibilities.
Furthermore, our work with Constellation Energy created a virtual cohort that prepared candidates for jobs at nuclear plants nationwide. The pandemic pushed us to be more flexible and innovative, which has significantly broadened our reach and impact.
If an employer reading this walks away with one thing, what do you hope it will be?
If there’s anything to take away, it would be this: Give us a call. We're an industry-led partnership with a board that reflects our diverse mission, covering sectors like labor unions, trades, contractors, and developers. We're all about flexibility and customizing our approach to fit your specific needs.
We work on various initiatives with different partners to tackle their unique challenges and opportunities. For example, we collaborate with Related Midwest to reach out to contractors about upcoming projects and host events at our training center to facilitate these discussions. We also work with the Chicago Federation of Labor's Workforce and Community Initiative to provide significant incentives for hiring apprentices.
Our partnerships include major projects with organizations like the CTA, where we adapt recruitment strategies to meet specific workforce goals. We're ready to understand your needs and tailor a solution just for you. Reach out, and let's start a conversation.
Interviewed by Tami Hillberry on April 30, 2024 | Written by Maria Barannikova