For many start-ups and small non-profits, having their own grant writer is not affordable or practical.  Small organizations tend to rely on individual and corporate funding, plus their executive directors can be anywhere from the whole development/fundraising team to even a one-person staff working on all aspects of an organization.  When CICC first enlisted the help of AJS, they were a start-up program with a class in one high school in Colorado Springs with a dream of significantly growing to make a difference in the lives of students and the construction industry in the whole state of Colorado.  The first grant assisted with resulted in a multi-year $5 million grant from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to do just that.

Since launching at a single school in 2015, the program has now expanded to 83 schools statewide as of the 2024-2025 academic year, with a total of 13,513 students participating over the years. Of these, 6,827 have earned Pre-Apprenticeship Certificates in the Trades certificates, and 3,991 have obtained OSHA-10 certifications providing them with industry-recognized credentials.  More than 1,500 students have transitioned directly from high school into construction jobs, demonstrating the program’s effectiveness in creating meaningful care pathways.

AJS has been with CICC through all of this.  AJS has functioned as their grants department, researching and re-researching yearly, applying for grants on a usually weekly basis (on average nearly 50 grant applications a year since 2020), providing guidance and compliance for all government and federal funds to ensure these types of grants are possible going forward, and assisting with all of the yearly reporting that is associated with this large volume of grant funding.  In 2024 alone, AJS was able to confirm for CICC $2,264,663.27 in funding.  This is the strength of a long-term relationship with a consulting firm that is capable of describing your programming in depth.