Rockford workforce program lays concrete foundation for young adults

As Illinois faces high unemployment, a persistent skills gap and thousands of at-risk youth, Rockford delivers opportunity through a targeted workforce program. It offers a model for other Illinois cities.

Rockford and a local contractor are providing paid job training for at-risk and minority young adults that is boosting their incomes and getting two miles of city sidewalk paved each year.

Launched in 2022 as a collaboration between the city and LT Construction, the “Destruction to Construction” program provides the young adults with paid, hands-on training while they work on community infrastructure projects. It goes beyond a summer job to be a model of career-first education, prioritizing skills training and work-based learning to help young adults build long-term prosperity.

“In our community, there’s not a lot of hope. There’s not a lot of outlets. Everybody is not going to go to college but everyone has a skill,” said the Rev. Albert “Tank” Weathers, the program’s founder and owner of LT Construction.

The program, now entering its fourth year, is a minimum of 720 hours of on-the-job training plus CPR, concrete safety and 40 hours of safety training. It also teaches essential soft skills, including punctuality, the power of a positive attitude and how to navigate formal hiring processes.

The goal: prepare participants for a smooth transition into a union apprenticeship or full-time employment.

Since its start, six participants have graduated each year. All participants have had opportunities for full-time employment after completing the program, with most still employed in the concrete trade and some on track to achieve union journeyman status.

Although the program is small, it has potential to grow. When replicated, small-scale efforts such as Rockford’s can drive broader, lasting change. Rockford’s model is one other Illinois communities could adopt, demonstrating how programs don’t need to be big to make a big impact.

Programs such as Rockford’s can help Illinois tackle its challenges with high unemployment – ranked sixth nationwide – and a persistent “skills gap,” or mismatch between job requirements and job-seekers’ skills. Over half of jobs in Illinois require skills training beyond a high-school diploma but not a college degree, yet only 41% of residents possess such skills. The state needs more alternative pathways to careers, especially for individuals who can’t afford to spend years in school without income.

Rockford’s program also aims to help at-risk youth break the cycle of poverty through meaningful employment. Youth unemployment in Illinois remains above the national average – with 11% of 16- to 24-year-olds unemployed as of April 2025. As of 2022, over 163,000 young Illinoisans, disproportionately minority youth, were neither in school nor working.

Weathers serves as a technical instructor and mentor, using his personal story of overcoming a troubled past to owning a successful construction business to inspire participants and help grow their confidence and personal responsibility. Many past graduates return to the worksites to guide new classes, fostering a sense of camaraderie and support.

“The program’s biggest success lies in the fact that the mentees once felt they were not part of the community, no one cared about them, or there was no path to something better,” said Ken Mattson, Rockford’s capital improvement program operations manager. “What Tank has shown me is that, given the opportunity, these young adults will take it and run with it now that they know it isn’t just an empty promise.”

The city currently covers the cost of the program with federal pandemic funds. When those funds expire, it intends to figure out the funding so it can continue the program.

Rockford’s program shows local communities can create alternative pathways to employment, offering dignity and mobility without the burden of student debt. By expanding career-first education programs like this, Illinois can close its skills gap, meet workforce needs and expand opportunity for those who need it most.