Landmark Excavating is a large Utah-based civil construction company.

To better develop Utah's workforce, the state offers an accredited apprenticeship program that provides new entrants to the trades with pathways and certifications. After Landmark Excavating learned about the program, they realized they could use it to develop their workforce, even though they were a non-union company.

The program requires a certain number of hours of bookwork and videos, as well as field proficiency. However, as Landmark built its program, there was little relevant civil construction content, leading Landmark to propose that BuildWitt Improve become a state-approved resource. After the state's approval, they began by putting all their senior field leaders through the program to offer their future apprentices mentorship from those who had themselves gone through the program.

"There have been many times that they've watched BuildWitt videos and have said, 'I've been doing this for 30 years and didn't realize that we could do it this way.' These guys take a lot of pride in having done it their whole lives. But when they let that chill and are willing to be humble, they learn new things. They're especially taken to the leadership content. It's been really neat to watch."

Once leadership completed the program, it was time for the first apprentices, who enjoyed the relevant content on BuildWitt Improve from day one…

"BuildWitt's videos are what hooks them. They roll their eyes at some of the more traditional materials, but when they watch BuildWitt videos and see people who really know what they're talking about, that's when they buy in, as it makes the program cool."

What's the benefit for Landmark? Why make such a significant investment in the first place?

"For us, it was the right thing to do. If we say we care about our people, we have to bite the bullet and show it. As a result, turnover has improved dramatically since we started this. We now have little turnover in 0-6 months, with none after 6 months. So if we can get people past their first six months, they're here to stay."

And it's not just the right thing for Landmark's business—the training offers each person more.

"We start our new people in this program immediately, getting them bought in and making them feel like they're progressing in life. They can feel proud. Guys are telling me stories of themselves sitting at family BBQs, telling others how they're proud of the fact that they're studying and moving forward."

In addition to the apprenticeship program's success, Landmark Excavating also uses BuildWitt Improve to regularly train its entire workforce.

"We also revamped how we do our morning meetings. We either send a video to watch out, or if it's a small group, they jump on the company tablet and watch it together. It grabs their attention and gives them something to talk about as a team."