An inner-city trades builder

Skilled trades, smart capital,stronger blocks.

Stepsmith converts inner-city trades labor into equity-holding employers. HVAC, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, roofing — wrapped in diagnostics, capital, a paid 12-week pipeline, and anchored procurement.

Apply to StepsmithSee how it works
  • HVAC
  • Electrical
  • Plumbing
  • Carpentry
  • Roofing

High-demand field labor should produce equity-holding employers —not a permanent subcontractor underclass.

60%
local workforce hire per financed business
$5K–250K
revenue-based micro-financing per founder
12 wks
paid apprenticeship-to-ownership pipeline

How it works

From intake to first PO in twelve weeks.

Not a demo day. Not a fellowship. A payroll-tracked, capital-funded, crew-hiring pipeline that ends with a real contract and a real crew on the books.

  1. W 1–2
    MilestoneIntake + diagnostics
  2. W 3–4
    MilestoneBusiness plan + license packet
  3. W 5–8
    MilestoneCapital + tools, equipment issued
  4. W 9–10
    MilestoneCrew hire, local hiring pledge on file
  5. W 11–12
    MilestoneBid placement + first PO

The stack

Four layers, fused — not a stack of referrals.

Stepsmith wraps every founder in diagnostics, capital, an apprenticeship-to-ownership track, and a buyer network that already buys trades in the zip codes where the employer operates.

01

AI benchmarks

Diagnostics

Every founder gets a market-grade read on licensing, pricing, and capacity — calibrated against local trade data, not generic SBA thresholds.

02

$5K–$250K + NMTC

Capital

Revenue-based micro-financing paired with New Markets Tax Credit leverage and matched philanthropic capital — sized to the bid, not the elevator pitch.

03

12-week paid pipeline

Apprenticeship

A structured apprenticeship-to-ownership track that turns journeyman skill into business ownership — instrumentation, estimating, and crew on the same payroll.

04

Anchored procurement

Buyers

Municipal, healthcare, higher-ed, and developer procurement teams actively sourcing from Stepsmith graduates in the zip codes where they operate.

Anchor markets

Concentrated, on purpose. Three cities. Real demand. Real gap.

Each market was chosen against ICIC trade signals and a verified buyer pipeline — no spray-and-pray roll-out. Stepsmith is denser by design.

Detroit
MI

Mature CDFI infrastructure, deep subcontracting bench, and a city buyer network that already contracts with inner-city trades firms.

38%
of MI inner-city jobs in skilled trades (ICIC 2024)
Cleveland
OH

County-level set-aside programs (Cuyahoga, CEDI) plus anchor institutions (Cleveland Clinic, CSU) sourcing locally.

24%
Cleveland neighborhoods designated Opportunity Zones
St. Louis
MO

North-side building trades; hospitals (BJC, SSM) and the developers behind the brick north-corridor redevelopment actively seek qualified trades bidders.

1,420
licensed apprentices placed since the MO gateway pilot

The pledge

60% of every financedcrew hired from thesame neighborhood itserves.

Grounded in the data

ICIC's finding: inner-city firms disproportionately re-employ locally — at a rate generic accelerators underestimate. The 60% standard is operationally tough and externally cited.

3
anchor cities, not all 50
$250K
ceiling per founder
NMTC
when leverage helps

Frequently asked

Questions founders ask before they apply.

The short version — anything longer, stepsmith@polsia.app.

Trade your sub role for a stake

Ready to stop carrying someone else'strademark?

Stepsmith accepts applications on a rolling basis in Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis. Founders with active trade experience in HVAC, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, or roofing get priority review.

Apply

Send a one-paragraph intro and the trade you want to scale.

Start the intake form

Buyer network, press, partnerships — same inbox. We route fast.