Kenneth Heard is a graduate of the Building Value job training program, which is one of many social enterprises that works with the Urban Workforce Development Initiative, UWDI for short.

UWDI’s mission is to remove barriers to employment, which range from the lack of reliable transportation, financial hardship, to problems at home.

“I’ve been trying to get into the trades since I was 16,” Heard said. “I was in North Carolina when my mom sent me a brochure about apprenticeships. Building Value was the first one I came to.”

In March, Kennth got an interview for an apprenticeship with ESI Electric, Local 212. Thanks to the support he received from mentors at Building Value and on the field

“It got me a job. I learned how to do certain things before I got in the field,” Heard said, referring to the benefits of the job training program provided by Building Value and UWDI. “Usually, people jump in with no experience, but I had a little bit of experience with those things.”

Jason Fleming, a project manager at ESI Electrical, provided a glowing review for Kenneth when the time came to apply for the local electrical union’s apprenticeship program.

“We started down at Duke Convention Center,” Fleming said. “We were approached by Stanley Warren Huffman about the UWDI program and the benefits of it. We were impressed at how they helped people with whatever kind of issues that are holding them back from working.”

April 1st marked one whole year since Heard has been in the construction industry, a journey that started with Building Value and UWDI. His biggest challenge?

“The physical aspect of me being skinny,” Heard laughed, adding that safe power tool usage was another learning experience for him.

Heard was the first candidate that ESI took on as part of the workforce development program, and his mentors have all remarked at the speed at which he’s been able to adapt to new environments.

“It’s pretty neat to see him come out of his shell, joke around and really embrace this opportunity down at Duke to pursue a career path with ESI,” Jason said. “So, he’s made big strides since he’s been with us.”

Heard went on to win the Allied Construction Industries (ACI) award for apprentice of the year in 2025 and was among several apprentices from the Tri-State region that were honored with the achievement.

Now that Heard is an apprentice, he will separate himself from the UWDI program and be put on the ESI payroll.

Fleming said this was all thanks to the perseverance from the staff at Building Value.

“If you need something, they’re knocking on your door, even a couple minutes after you hang up the phone,” Fleming said, referring to the tireless efforts of Dave Daniels, Workforce Development Manager at Building Value.

“They will call you at night if you have any issues, with any candidates,” Jason said. “So they’re very responsive to any issues you have.”

According to Fleming, there are plenty of opportunities outside of just working in the field. Fleming himself came up through the UWDI apprenticeship program and is now a project manager—a trajectory that he foresees can happen to candidates like Heard.

“My first day as an apprentice, barely knew how to turn on a light switch,” Fleming laughed. “You get in, you get the training, you learn the trade, and then there’s a lot of opportunities outside that. A lot of times you’re promoted from within, just because once you learn the industry, the value of that, it translates on onward from there.”