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“The whole point of Building Up is to connect people with barriers to employment to careers in construction,” explained Marc Soberano, founder of non-profit project Building Up. “We help people break the cycle of poverty and make a life for themselves.”
Building Up was one of the 2023 recipients of funding from the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, winning the ‘Strengthening Community Connection’ for their inspiring community building work as a non-profit social contractor. We sat down with Marc Soberano to chat about the project, its mission, how he’s used his winnings from the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, and his vision for the future.
Empowerment through employment
Marc’s inspiration for Building Up stemmed from his desire to use business as a force for social good. “I studied business in school and was really interested in how a lot of the issues we face with poverty and housing are a result of how our economy works,” he shared.
“It unfortunately often leaves people aside and creates ‘have’ and ‘have nots’,” Marc explained. “We’re never going to turn the world away from capitalism, so how do we use those same principles to bring people into a social enterprise? For example, every company has staff, but how can we be really intentional about creating a company that’s meant to support their staff more than supporting the company?”
Established in 2014 in Toronto Marc founded Building Up to channel his entrepreneurial spirit into addressing two of Canada’s most pressing crises: the labour shortage in the construction industry and rising unemployment rates.
Today, Building Up operates as both a construction company and a non-profit, connecting individuals struggling to find employment with training and careers in construction. The company bids on construction jobs like any contractor, but does it with the ultimate goal of creating rewarding careers for those who’ve historically struggled to find opportunities to work.
“We run our business to train and employ people,” Marc said. “People work on our job sites and they get the exposure they need for future jobs. We also help them get their driver’s licence, we help them find housing, we help them work out personal situations – it’s less of a traditional job and more of a true partnership.”
Building Up’s employees hail from all sorts of backgrounds – backgrounds which often pose challenges to joining or returning to work. “We work with a lot of refugees and newcomers, as well as with people who are coming out of jail,” Marc said. This inclusive approach ensures those in greatest need of Building Up’s services can access them to start building a better future.
“The funding will support our work and help more and more people who are looking to turn their life around through a career in construction.”
Marc Soberano, founder of Building Up
Adding new levels with the Xero Beautiful Business Fund
Marc had his eyes set on expanding Building Up’s mission and reach, but capacity and funding have always been two persistent obstacles. “We receive about 3600 applications every year for 100 spots,” Marc explained. “We’re really looking to grow, and as a non-profit, it’s not like you can go and easily get some equity to think about growth.”
About 75% of Building Up’s budget comes from its operations as a non-profit. And instead of using their jobs to make money, they use them as opportunities to provide training and employment for people. “We feel the challenges of trying to run a business,” Marc shared. “Most companies focus really hard on trying to reduce staff turnover, and our whole business model is to hire people that no one else will hire because they don’t have the experience. Once they become productive, we intentionally have a hundred percent turnover.”
Well before applying for the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, Building Up had been using Xero for various aspects of their operations, from stakeholder reports to organising grants and handling overall finances. “Xero has been in the backdrop of helping manage this organisation since it started,” Marc noted.
Marc first heard about the Xero Beautiful Business Fund through a Xero newsletter and saw it as an opportunity to advance Building Up’s vision a little further. “The process was great. We just made a quick little video and put it out into the world, and it came back that we were a winner,” Marc recalled. “The funding will support our work and help more and more people who are looking to turn their life around through a career in construction.”
Some of Building Up’s winnings from the fund have gone into launching an entirely new venture, focused on housing insulation. This required training a new crew from scratch and purchasing a new array of equipment, with the winnings offsetting these upfront costs. Beyond insulation, the winnings have also allowed Building Up to further expand its training centre and energise its broader fundraising efforts among other investors and the community.
A blueprint for the future
Building Up’s early successes have only fueled the group’s ambitions. “Our goal is to double our capacity so we can train 200 people in a couple of years from now,” Marc said.
At the same time, Marc plans to expand Building Up’s work in fostering long-term relationships with alumni. This could provide additional career security for these individuals: if they find themselves out of work between projects, they can return to Building Up to mentor new students. “We have an alumni program at Building Up, so if anybody comes across challenges finding employment later on, they can come back, work on our sites, and help mentor the next group of people,” Marc shared.
Building Up continues to build on their strong foundations, aiming to create lasting change and uplift communities. With Xero’s support, they’re able to ensure that their construction business remains focused on building better lives.
The Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024 and entries are officially open.
The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and non-profits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of our past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals. Check out these stories by visiting the Xero blog.
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