Black & Veatch investing $50K in CAPS network, hoping to unite corporate champions amid lagging labor market

One of the earliest supporters of the Center for the Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) is stepping up again to set the tone for foundational corporate backing as the Johnson County-spun experiential learning effort scales across North America.

CAPS announced Monday a $50,000 investment from Black & Veatch to further long-term employment solutions for the engineering and construction industry. With the investment, Black & Veatch joins the STEM-focused CAPS Network Council of Champions as its inaugural CAPS Network Engineering Champion.

“Starting in 2009 when the CAPS model was in its infancy and operating in one location, Black & Veatch was one of its first corporate partners,” said Corey Mohn, the president and executive director of the CAPS Network. “The company’s leadership and employees have proven over and again their commitment to career-connected education. This partnership will ignite powerful connections between professional engineers and students who will be their future colleagues.”

Supporting CAPS’ work is expected to help Black & Veatch — a Kansas City-based global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with revenues of more than $3.3 billion in 2021 — address key industry challenges, as well as opportunities created by globalization and evolving technology, Mohn said, specifically noting job openings left unfilled and critical skills lacking in the labor market.

Click here to read more about Black & Veatch’s support for the Ignition Lab at Operation Breakthrough.

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What is CAPS?

The CAPS Network is a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on paving the education-to-employment path through profession-based learning. Programs that affiliate with the CAPS Network share best practices and connections with professional partners, post-secondary institutions, teachers and students. CAPS Network membership currently includes 81 affiliate programs across 21 states and three countries.

Click here to learn more about the CAPS Network.

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The CAPS Council of Champions is a select group of industry advocates and community-driven national and global organizations. As a CAPS Network Engineering Champion, Black & Veatch is committing to partnership in the work of expanding profession-based learning to deliver experience to as many students as possible, regardless of their backgrounds or locations.

The Council of Champions’ goal is to unite meaningful brands across industry sectors to make a significant impact on behalf of students, teachers and community partners.

“For more than a decade, CAPS has demonstrated the inherent value of partnering business professionals with kids in helping those students achieve their dreams,” said Patty Corcoran, chief human resources officer at Black & Veatch. “This latest investment in CAPS strengthens that commitment to tomorrow’s young professionals.”

Black & Veatch’s participation in the CAPS Council of Champions includes opportunities for the company’s professionals to work with engineering instructors from across the CAPS Network to influence and support work with students, mentoring and client-connected project work directly with CAPS Network students, and providing guidance, advice and support to the work and vision of the CAPS Network.

Clint Robinson, a Black & Veatch associate vice president for government affairs who served on the Blue Valley (Kansas) School District board when that system became the first to adopt CAPS in 2009, was instrumental in shaping the company’s involvement, Mohn noted.

Click here to read about Black & Veatch’s involvement in the first class of corporate leaders who signed KC Rising’s CEO-to-CEO Challenge.