Craft Services

Build your workforce pathways, start from anywhere.

Craft Services meets you at any phase of the apprenticeship lifecycle. From "we are not sure this is for us" to "we have three sites and need to scale." Four solution families, two levels of support. Tell us how to do it, or do it with us.

Most organizations are earlier in the process than they think.

That is not a problem. It is the starting point. The hardest part of apprenticeship is rarely the idea. It is knowing which role to start with, where the money comes from, who sponsors the program, and who teaches the coursework. Craft Services exists for every phase of that, not just the last one.

Find your phase.

Ten phases from first conversation to a program that runs itself. Pick yours and see what typically happens there, who needs to be in the room, and where Craft comes in.

Explore and Design
1Explore and Plan
2Design the Program
Fund and Register
3Fund and Build the Case
4Register and Get Approved
Prepare and Launch
5Prepare Your Organization
6Implement and Set Up
7Apprentice Launch
Operate and Grow
8Deliver and Support
9Comply and Report
10Measure and Improve
Phase 1

Explore and Plan

Typical: 2 to 6 weeks
What happens in this phase

You work out whether apprenticeship fits the roles you are actually struggling to fill. Vacancy data, turnover, and the staff you already employ get looked at together. Most of this phase is narrowing, not building.

How Craft supports you

A workforce diagnostic that names the occupation to start with, the likely funding stacks, and an honest scope for the build.

Who is typically involved

HR leadership, the hiring manager for the target role, finance, and one executive who can say yes.

Where to startStrategic Consulting · Focused Consulting Sprint
See the solution
Phase 2

Design the Program

Typical: 4 to 10 weeks
What happens in this phase

The occupation becomes a work-process schedule: competencies, hours, wage progression, and the related technical instruction (RTI) that goes with it.

How Craft supports you

Pathway Design Toolkit if your team is drafting it. Fractional Pathway Design if you want a Craft expert drafting alongside them.

Who is typically involved

Clinical or academic subject matter experts, HR, and the supervisors who will host apprentices.

Where to startPathway Solutions
See the solution
Phase 3

Fund and Build the Case

Typical: 6 to 16 weeks
What happens in this phase

You find out where the money comes from. Braided funding pulls together workforce dollars, state apprenticeship funds, philanthropy, and the training budget you already have. The business case goes to whoever signs.

How Craft supports you

Braided Funding Toolkit maps the stacks available to you. Fractional Funding Execution writes and manages the applications with your team. Craft does not guarantee funding.

Who is typically involved

Finance, grants staff, HR, and your state workforce board contact.

Where to startFunding Solutions
See the solution
Phase 4

Register and Get Approved

Typical: 8 to 20 weeks
What happens in this phase

The program goes to the state apprenticeship agency or the Office of Apprenticeship. Standards, the work-process schedule, and sponsor documentation get reviewed and revised.

How Craft supports you

RAP Launch Toolkit for the filing itself. Fractional RAP Implementation to build and run the sponsor’s infrastructure. Sponsorship is handled at the program level, not by Craft.

Who is typically involved

The sponsor of record, HR, legal or compliance, and the state apprenticeship director.

Where to startSponsorship Solutions
See the solution
Phase 5

Prepare Your Organization

Typical: 4 to 8 weeks
What happens in this phase

Policy, wage schedule, supervisor time, and mentor selection get settled before anyone is hired. This is where programs quietly stall.

How Craft supports you

Readiness review and change management for the parts leadership has not agreed on yet. Craft does not provide your mentors.

Who is typically involved

Department leadership, HR, frontline supervisors, and labor relations where that applies.

Where to startStrategic Consulting · Focused Consulting Sprint
See the solution
Phase 6

Implement and Set Up

Typical: 4 to 8 weeks
What happens in this phase

Systems get configured: on-the-job learning (OJL) tracking, RTI enrollment, payroll codes, and the reporting your funders will ask for later.

How Craft supports you

Craft Connect is set up for OJL tracking and reporting. The academic partner is confirmed: Pangea Learning for healthcare RTI, WGU School of Education for education RTI.

Who is typically involved

HR operations, IT, payroll, and the academic partner.

Where to startInstruction Solutions
See the solution
Phase 7

Apprentice Launch

Typical: 4 to 8 weeks
What happens in this phase

Candidates are recruited, selected, and onboarded. Grow-your-own means a good share of them already work for you.

How Craft supports you

Launch support for selection criteria, the onboarding sequence, and the first cohort’s schedule. Craft does not employ your apprentices.

Who is typically involved

HR recruiting, hiring managers, mentors, and the apprentices themselves.

Where to startSponsorship Solutions
See the solution
Phase 8

Deliver and Support

Typical: 12 to 48 months, ongoing
What happens in this phase

Apprentices work, log hours, and take coursework close to home. Supervisors sign off. Problems either show up early or they show up expensive.

How Craft supports you

Program support and RTI management so the academic side stays on schedule. Day-to-day case management for apprentices and mentors stays with you.

Who is typically involved

Mentors, supervisors, the program coordinator, and the academic partner.

Where to startInstruction Solutions
See the solution
Phase 9

Comply and Report

Typical: ongoing, on a quarterly cycle
What happens in this phase

Hours, wage progression, and measurable skill gains get documented for the state, for the funder, and for your own file.

How Craft supports you

Audit-ready reporting built from the OJL record you are already keeping, with funder reporting handled alongside it.

Who is typically involved

Program coordinator, compliance, finance, and grants staff.

Where to startFunding Solutions
See the solution
Phase 10

Measure and Improve

Typical: annual review cycle
What happens in this phase

Completion, retention, and time-to-fill get compared against what you were doing before. Then you decide whether to add a second role or a second site.

How Craft supports you

Program review and expansion planning. Where the first one worked, the next one is faster.

Who is typically involved

The executive sponsor, HR leadership, finance, and department leadership.

Where to startStrategic Consulting · Strategic Consulting Engagement
See the solution

Timelines are typical ranges and vary by occupation, complexity, sponsorship model, and organizational readiness.

Four solutions. Two levels each.

Level 1 gives your team the tools and the guidance to build it. Level 2 puts a Craft expert alongside your team until it is built.

Fractional means a senior Craft expert embedded with your team, part-time, for the length of the build.

Funding Solutions

Public dollars already pay for this. Most organizations never reach them.

L1Braided Funding Toolkit
L2Fractional Funding Execution
See what is included

Pathway Solutions

The program design is the part most teams underestimate.

L1Pathway Design Toolkit
L2Fractional Pathway Design
See what is included

Sponsorship Solutions

Someone has to be the sponsor. Craft makes sure they are ready.

L1RAP Launch Toolkit
L2Fractional RAP Implementation
See what is included

Instruction Solutions

The academic partner is named on day one.

L1RTI Partnership Toolkit
L2Fractional RTI Management
See what is included

For the parts that do not fit a package.

Workforce diagnostics when you do not know which role to start with. Change management when leadership is not aligned. Expansion planning when the pilot worked. Strategic Consulting attaches to any solution above, sized to the work.

Focused Consulting SprintStrategic Consulting EngagementEnterprise Transformation

What Craft does not do.

Worth saying plainly, because it saves everyone time.

  • Guarantee funding
  • Employ your apprentices
  • Provide your mentors
  • Act as your RAP sponsor. Sponsorship is handled at the program level. We build and run the sponsor’s infrastructure.
  • Run day-to-day case management for apprentices or mentors

It starts with a 30-minute conversation.

01

Tell us where you are.

Use the phase finder above, or just describe the situation.

02

We scope it.

You get a written recommendation with a level, a timeline, and an investment range. No obligation.

03

You choose the level.

Tools and guidance, or a Craft expert alongside your team.