DOING GOOD

GMP LABS

AN EXCEPTIONAL

WHAT IF?

• There was a place where at-risk youth in under-served neighborhoods had a place to receive practical, marketable and deployable trade-related job skills?

WHAT IF?

• That place not only minted entrepreneurs, but in the process, produced affordable housing in the community and

WHAT IF?

• That housing, in-turn, provided for the creation of wealth for it’s owners and their families?

WHAT IF?

• That place leveraged the strength of three prominent charitable organizations’ 96+ years of collective experience in helping stabilize 1 million+ at-risk youth & helped over 5,600 people achieve gainful employment?

WHAT IF?

• That place were located in the heart of Chicago’s East Garfield Park community?

WHAT IS!

• Born of the not-so-ridiculous premise that a local kid who ‘made good’ could come back to his community and not only ‘do good,’ but ‘do REAL good.’

WHAT IS!

• By marrying the accumulated knowledge of his 40+ year career as a builder, developer and entrepreneur with the proven, hands-on experience of three well-established local charitable organizations, Steve Searles has engineered the creation of the first-of-it’s-kind private/not-for-profit partnership.

WHAT IS!

• GMP Labs is a new Workforce Development & Vocational Training Academy based in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood and represents the progeny of Covenant House Illinois, Breakthrough Urban Ministries, CARA Chicago and GMP Development, LLC.

WHY NOW?

• Because at-risk youth in under-served neighborhoods have nowhere to receive properly marketable trade-related job skills and, while they may acquire remedial-level so-called ‘soft skills,’ once trained, this population must then engage in the proverbial ‘fight of their lives’ in order to secure gainful, entry-level employment with no guarantee of placement or success.

WHO'S INVOLVED?

• Along with GMP Development, LLC., the privately held design/build firm headed by East Garfield Park native son, Steve Searles, Covenant House Illinois, Breakthrough Urban Ministries and CARA Chicago have united to deliver this unparalleled educational/ vocational initiative to the 27th Ward.

STEVE SEARLES

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• Born just around the corner at 3116 W. Fulton, Steve quickly rose to become Senior General Superintendent & Project Executive at firms like Pepper, Turner & Gilbane and has participated in over $5 billion dollars of develop-ment, including stints as Director of Purchasing for the $600 million dollar McCormick place expansion and SVP of Operations at Provident Hospital.

SCOTT M. SIEGEL

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• A native Chicagoan, Scott is a highly effective operating executive with over 28 years of experience in multi-state and international, high-volume real estate, banking and financial services organizations.

WHAT IS IT?

• GMP Labs offers a 4-year Master Home Builder Apprenticeship where students will receive education in and, through the hands-on experience gained by building a total of 8 new homes, achieve mastery of the following trades:

MASTERY IN THE FOLLOWING TRADES:

• 1) ROUGH & FINISH CARPENTRY Including: Concrete footings and foundations , Framing , Roofing , Doors , Flooring & Finish carpentry 2) HVAC 3) ELECTRICAL 4) PLUMBING 5) TAPING & PAINTING

HOW DOES IT WORK?

• The Academy consists of two main components. The Pre-Apprenticeship and The Apprenticeship.

THE 90-DAY PRE-APPRENTICESHIP

• A) 8 weeks of initial classroom education B) 1 week of field work pouring footings and foundations and then another C) 4 weeks in the classroom

THE 6 MONTH APPRENTICESHIP

• Students spend 6 months in-the-field completing the first of their 8 new-construction homes
• Apprentices then cycle-back every 6 months to begin work on the next new home, thus completing 2 new homes every year for a total of 8 over their 4-year Apprenticeship!

AND THEN WHAT?

• Graduates of GMP Labs™ will be uniquely qualified to pursue a variety of entrepre-neurial opportunities in the marketplace, such as:

THEY MIGHT:

• 1) Offer their services to homeowners as “Handy (Wo)Men” 2) Endeavor to buy, renovate and flip houses as a property renovator 3) Market themselves as a General Contractor to do work for others 4) Job themselves through the retail arm of GMP Labs’ Property Services Division 5) Select a trade specialty and endeavor to join a trade union

WHATEVER THEIR CHOICE

• Our graduates will have mastered the transportable skills necessary to work for themselves, for others or a combination of both.

WHEN DO WE START?

• The new GMP Labs Training Academy breaks ground in Q3 '18 and The GMP Labs Innaugural Class of '22 Com-mences in January of '19

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• Sponsor a Student's Education
• Donate a Vacant Lot
• Donate Tools or Equipment
• Donate a Vehicle
• Volunteer Your Time & Expertise

NEXT STEPS?