Sean Hogan is the Executive Director of Build Inc. an Indigenous social enterprise that hires, trains, empowers, and launches individuals facing barriers to employment into meaningful careers in trades. Sean’s trainees are often starting from zero when it comes to trades, so BUILD – which stands for Building Urban Industries for Local Development – provides the tools and equipment needed for the job.
BUILD won the hearts of voters as People’s Choice ScaleUP of the Year after Hogan showed off the organization’s mission and heart. Having grown BUILD from a small three-crew endeavour to an organization capable of running as many as sixteen crews at one time, Hogan puts more than a million dollars of payroll into the pockets of people starting new careers. Every seven weeks, BUILD holds an open house information session that allows individuals who face barriers to employment the opportunity to apply for one of their available roles. BUILD then trains these employees for work in carpentry, and puts them to work doing repairs in social housing.
The intertwined training program and social enterprise combine to support both BUILD’s revenue and workforce. During their 6 week intensive training, BUILD’s new employees learn through in-class experience and shore up gaps in education, hard-skills, and soft-skills.
BUILD has been operating in Manitoba since 2006, and relies on the provincial government to fund some of its programs. Executive director Sean Hogan has been with the program since 2020, where he has since garnered more than $2 million from the province’s employment and training budget for his initiative.
This budget helps to support the paid 6 week training program attended by all employees. Once a trainee completes their time on BUILD’s training team, they graduate to on-the-job mentorship with one of the many BUILD crews across Winnipeg and Southern Manitoba. During the job-placement portion of the training, the trainees are introduced to the pressures of real life work, including deadlines, pace, and accountability – but the program is designed to hold a healthy and supportive space for trainees during this time. As BUILD crews pick up speed, they transition from training for their new career to thriving in it!
BUILD supports its teams as people, not just employees – from help with taxes to furnishing their homes and coping with mental health challenges, BUILD helps to create a supportive environment for its team. This focus is what allows the company, and its employees, to thrive.
