WorkTexas at Night: Offering Hope and Skills to All Ages
Before they pick up any tools, students in WorkTexas evening classes attend a weeklong bootcamp. In mid-February, a new cohort gathers in a bare-bones metal building next to the Gallery Furniture store that the staff jokingly call “the Castle.” A sign on the exterior reads: “Work is life’s greatest therapy.”
About 30 young men—and a few women—show up before and after the first session starts at 6 p.m. In this program, the average student’s age is 31. Participants have ranged from age 17 to 78; about one-third are 17 to 24 and another third are 25 to 35. There is some slack for being late this evening since it’s pouring rain outside, but punctuality is among the many values WorkTexas staff emphasize, and they make it clear everyone must arrive on time—or early—the next night.
Feinberg tells students the program will equip them with both the technical skills and the virtues they need to enter the workforce as reliable employees.
“The virtues are your behavior, making moral choices. That is what the employers really want,” Feinberg said. “They want people who know how to work on the team, know how to follow directions, . . . know the right thing to do.”
Throughout the bootcamp, Feinberg repeats the mantra: “Show up. Be on time. The best ability is availability.”
The orientation covers class expectations and how to develop a good work ethic, but it’s also designed to inspire. Mattress Mack is the opening night headliner. He tells his story of coming to Houston with $3,700 in his pocket and a dream, putting in 20-hour days, seven days a week for years. “Find a job you love to do, and you never work a day in your life. That’s what WorkTexas is all about,” McIngvale said.
In 2023–24, WorkTexas reports that 88 percent of its adult students completed training. Those employed for a year or more earn an average of $23 per hour. The program aimed to have three cohorts in each location in 2024–25 with six to seven different trade training options, which means about 40 trade classes serving about 300 adults.
WorkTexas staff tell students they are committed to them for the long term and will reach out for updates several times a year after they graduate.
“If you decide to stay, this is a five-year relationship. Don’t freak out,” said Shirmeca Littlejohn, a WorkTexas career-success coach at the orientation. “Five years of us checking in with you: Are you working? Are you happy at your job? Are you working on a promotion? Do you need resources?”
Listening to employers and following up with students to ensure job placement set WorkTexas apart, said Yazmin Guerra, vice president and director of workforce development, who has helped the organization reach out to more than 200 employers. “Other programs are focused on giving credentials, but once that person leaves there is little accountability on their employment,” she said. “We make that a priority. Success is not merely graduation.”
Of the 637 alumni from the evening program, 345 are employed, and about 100 have returned for a second round of training to upgrade their skills, according to WorkTexas. Despite outreach efforts, staff have lost touch with 172 individuals, and 118 are unemployed.
The promise of ongoing support and a different kind of training appeals to Zaman Al-Mansri, 18. He went to community college but dropped out after a semester and now works as a personal shopper at Walmart, earning $14 an hour. Al-Mansri signed up for the welding program at WorkTexas, where he hopes to earn $18 to $23 an hour. “All the testing is hands on. It’s not on paper. The grading is just how well you do it,” said Al-Mansri.
Al-Mansri’s tuition, like that of many others, was covered by a WIOA program targeted for out-of-school youth through the Texas Workforce Commission and paid to WorkTexas as an approved education provider.
On the third night of bootcamp, WorkTexas brings in representatives from nonprofits that offer financial planning, computer classes, résumé-writing assistance, and other services. As students rotate through in groups, Cecily Salas scans the representatives’ QR codes at each stop. “If it’s free, it’s for me,” said the 23-year-old, who is enrolled in the commercial electrical class. A TRIO grant received by the Texas Workforce Commission is covering the cost of her training. She has a one-year-old daughter and has been working as a nanny. Having attended college for only one year, Salas said she hopes the certificate will increase her earning potential.
Challenges with child care and transportation number among the top reasons individuals can’t hold on to jobs, Feinberg said, and WorkTexas is still trying to figure out the best way to support students who have those problems. Initially, a childcare center was set up at Gallery Furniture, but not many students used it during training. The program pivoted to connecting students with subsidies and available child care in neighborhoods closer to their jobs. WorkTexas has a bus that takes students to work-based internships, and it provides passes for public transportation, but Feinberg said the organization has yet to find a way to completely address that challenge.
Jacob Martinez turned to WorkTexas for training, and it helped him launch a new career. He graduated from high school in 2018 without a plan beyond continuing his job at a grocery store. Martinez moved on to Best Buy but got laid off during the pandemic. “Finally, I thought I needed a skilled trade—something that was going to be permanent,” said Martinez, who finished a 12-week HVAC course at WorkTexas in 2022, funded by the WIOA program for adults.
Martinez worked with various contractors and businesses before landing a job as an HVAC technician for the Houston Astros at Daikin Park, earning $60,000 a year with full benefits. “WorkTexas gave me the skills and confidence to go out on my own path,” said Martinez, 25. “I’m building for my future and starting to think about applying for a house one day and maybe getting a newer car.”
As WorkTexas evolves, the question arises: Is it scalable beyond Houston?
“Mack is definitely the X factor in everything we do,” said Feinberg of McIngvale’s ability to leverage his position as a top advertiser to get the word out about the program. “But every community has someone like a Mack who is a connector or a local celebrity who could play that role if the community so chose.”
In Austin, Richard Whatcott, regional vice president for Camden, a company that owns and manages apartment communities, recently sought partners to provide training for maintenance technicians, much as WorkTexas did in Houston. In Houston, 31 individuals have completed the 10-week training program that WorkTexas runs with Goodwill Industries, and Camden has hired 23 of the graduates. Graduates can start at the company at $18 to $22 an hour with opportunities for advancement, Whatcott said, and many stay there for years.
Whatcott hoped to enlist Austin-based companies to support the training effort and build credibility with the local community. “I knew I couldn’t stand this up on my own,” he said. Whatcott reached out to the Texas Apartment Association and found a strong partner in Becca Ramati, who manages the trade association’s education foundation. Ramati used her network to get two other companies in the sector involved. “She became the Mike Feinberg in Austin,” Whatcott said.
Whatcott also contacted Goodwill in Austin, which was eager to assist the training program and offered space. Camden put up seed money for the training and leveraged state workforce development money to cover the paid work experience portion of the program. “That made it more appealing to get other companies involved who may not have the resources to invest,” he said. “There’s no risk. . . . We only ask that once they’re trained you give them a fair shot to get a job with you. It became a no-brainer for other companies.”
After all the partners were on board, the first cohort of the Austin program for training apartment-maintenance technicians began in April 2025. With demand for these skilled technicians outpacing supply nationwide, Whatcott would like to see the model developed elsewhere.
