ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A new partnership in the Lehigh Valley aims to strengthen the health and well-being of entrepreneurs, especially those in Black and Brown communities.
The Watson-Batts School of Construction and St. Luke’s University Health Network are launching a program aimed at getting minority contractors more represented in health care construction projects.
“I really want to grow my company to the next level,” said Nicole Gerhart, owner of CC Visions in Whitehall Township and a student of the new school.
“I'd like to take on higher bids, so getting certified and actually being able to bid for those contracts is predominantly my reason."
Gerhart is part of one of the first classes in the Watson-Batts School of Construction and helped cut the ribbon on the new program.
"This is a great opportunity for the people in the community because we don't often get these opportunities given to us, so we have to work for them,” she explained.
The Program
The eight-week program has two paths, one for young adults, under 28 years old, interested in the professional side of the construction business and the other is for small business owners.
"It's an opportunity for small business owners to learn to scale their business."Hasshan Batts, Co-founder, Warson-Batts School of Construction
"It's an opportunity for small business owners to learn to scale their business so that we can get involved in construction sites that are going up," said Hasshan Batts, of the nonprofit Promise Neighborhoods. He is the co-founder of the school.
"And youth in the community to see their place in the community, to have hope and so know that all of this development can include them.”
Batts said they partnered with St. Luke’s to offer their students a chance at better health outcomes through employment and business ownership.
"When people feel a sense of hopelessness and they don't see opportunities, they fall into diseases of despair and they fall into poor decision-making,” he said.
"St Luke's came along as a partner and recognized that. They said, ‘We're here to fight for healthy outcomes and healthy life and health outcomes,’ and this collaboration is doing just that.”
Improving health outcomes
The program is based out of the health provider’s CareerLink center at St. Luke's Sacred Heart campus in Allentown.
"[When] we look at our Community Health Needs Assessment, workforce development was one of the key issues in there, and in terms of helping people to secure training and creating a pathway to employment," St. Luke's West Region President Bill Moyer said.
"And that pathway to employment and securing employment is really essential in someone's overall health.
"This is a continuation of our commitment to education, not just for our employees and for future health care workers, but also going out in the community, creating those pathways to improve overall health."
How it came to be
The Watson-Batts School of Construction was co-founded by the president of Watson Organization Ivan Watson. He started the Philadelphia-based company more than a decade ago with no prior business knowledge.
“We didn't understand the business," Watson said. "We didn't have any mentors to really guide us through and we learned a hard lesson and we learned that hard lesson in a lot of ways."
He now is using his years of experience to mentor a new generation.
“We were cautious about that not happening to other businesses, particularly first businesses because they're already at a disadvantage," he said.
"I always wanted to create something for them that would leave a legacy, To create that generational wealth, so that they are able to take this business to the next level."Nicole Gerhart
"They're already lacking opportunities, they're already lacking confidence.”
For Gerhart, it’s about ensuring her children have a healthy and financially sound future ahead.
"I always wanted to create something for them that would leave a legacy,” she said. “To create that generational wealth, so that they are able to take this business to the next level."
Currently, the program has 21 students, but the plan is to expand.
Students are accepted based on what community they live in, what income level they hold, whether they are a disadvantaged business and what their goals are, according to Batts.
He said the partnership with St. Luke's not only helps career growth, but also builds relationships between large companies, like the health care provider, and small business owners in the community.
“It works for students on how to make sure that the businesses qualify for large scale contracts, so that's things like bonding, that's things like insurance, that's things like walking a job site, putting forth a bid, making sure that it's really a level of professionalism that can take them from residential construction, like maybe redoing someone's bathroom or basement, to building towers,” Batts said.
The first class of the Watson-Batts School of Construction is expected to graduate in a few weeks.
