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most of their eight-hour day “welding, welding” using $6 mil- gram a success, he needed to devote full time to it. So he ex- lion worth of donated, state-of-the-art equipment, says Todd ited the navy, returning to civilian life with a clear idea of what

Elden, West Coast manager for the Weapons Support Group, he wanted to accomplish. He settled on San Diego as WFW’s

BAE Systems and a 26-year Navy veteran. new home. It has not only the largest concentration of military

Students can take a four-, eight-, 12- or 16-month program. bases, defense contractors and shipyards in the country, but

Four months of classes and a single credential will provide also the largest number – 40,000 – of transitioning service entry-level, full-time work at $15 an hour. At the other end of personnel annually. the spectrum, the full 16-month program opens up entry-level Next up was ? nding funding and donors to provide software jobs at $25 an hour. and training equipment, and scholarships for his students. Al-

To date, WFW has graduated 288, who collectively have though accredited, WFW receives no federal or state money, earned over 1,000 credentials, and have an average starting and students can’t apply the GI Bill to the program until 2018. salary of $60,000. With 2500 job openings just in San Diego All funding comes from private donors, big organizations and for every graduate, the program boasts 100% employment. It WFW Industries, a for-pro? t advanced manufacturing sister has a waiting list of 550 applicants. Its success has garnered facility launched in 2009 that does prototypes, parts fabrica- a number of awards, and even attracted the attention of the tion and repair to help support WFW training ? nancially.

White House, which in 2013, recognized Luis y Prado with its “We need the maritime industry to come together and rec-

Champion of Change Award, to honor his dedication to help- ognize the need to fund this training.” says Luis y Prado. “The ing fellow veterans. only thing constraining us is money.” Industry support and partnerships are especially needed now that the White House

Where the Boys Are has asked Luis y Prado to expand the program to 103 centers

In 2013, Rachael, who is WFW’s COO, told her husband around the country over the next ? ve years. But ? rst, Work- that if he really wanted to make the then ? ve-year-old pro- shops for Warriors is launching a $15 million capital campaign

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