Utah Bridge to Work — connecting the workforce that designs, builds, and operates the infrastructure powering Utah's future. Six sectors, three operational zones, and a pipeline from students, veterans, technical colleges, and apprenticeships into real careers.
A Voluntary Workforce Coalition · 2026

One ecosystem. Real work. Real employers. Real impact.

This is not a career fair. It's a direct-hire, direct-enroll matchmaker for Utah's infrastructure workforce — a voluntary coalition uniting education, industry, military, and communities to power what powers Utah's future.

The model

A matchmaker — not a career fair.

What it is

A pre-pursuit, market-conditioning program. We bring Utah employers with real near-term openings together with veterans, students, recent graduates, apprenticeship cohorts, and career-changers — at one direct-hire and direct-enroll event in 2026, with structured follow-up to convert conversations into hires.

What it isn't

Not a generic career fair. Not a marketing roadshow. Not a new legal entity, government program, or revenue venture. Every participating organization brings near-term opportunities — jobs open now, training programs starting soon. No fluff.

Three operational zones

Design with vision. Build with purpose. Operate with excellence.

The day is organized around the same three zones that organize the work itself — so candidates and employers find each other by capability, not by alphabetical booth order.

Zone 1 · The Brain

Design & Concept

Turning ideas into intelligent, buildable solutions.

Engineering · Planning & Architecture · Digital & GIS · Controls & Automation · Project Management

Zone 2 · The Hands

Build & Assembly

Building today with skill, safety, and pride.

Electrical · Mechanical & Piping · Welding & Fabrication · Heavy Equipment · Linework & Utilities

Zone 3 · The Cavalry

Operate & Maintain

Operating reliably. Maintaining relentlessly. Powering tomorrow.

Data Centers · Utilities & Grid Ops · Facilities Management · Field Service · Reliability & Asset Management

Find your way in

One short form. Routes to the right person.

For Employers

You have openings. We have candidates ready to fill them.

  • Booth + on-site interviews at the 2026 Matchmaker
  • Curated, screened candidates across energy, construction, and data center roles
  • Direct access to veteran, student, and career-changer pipelines
  • No fee to participate; vendor criteria apply
Apply as an employer → ↓ Download Employer 1-pager (PDF)
For Training Providers

Fill your next cohort with motivated, ready candidates.

  • Reach prospective enrollees with imminent program start dates
  • Co-market apprenticeships, stackable credentials, and on-the-job pathways
  • Connect directly with employer partners hiring your graduates
Apply as a training partner → ↓ Download Training Partner 1-pager (PDF)
For Job Seekers

One day. Real jobs. Real training. Real interviews.

  • Open to veterans, students, recent graduates, and career changers
  • Bring a résumé and a willingness to interview
  • Employers and training providers ready to hire and enroll on the spot
  • Free to attend
RSVP to attend → ↓ Download Job Seeker 1-pager (PDF)
Resources

Everything you need, in one place.

Packets, 1-pagers, and program documents — downloadable, no login required. The Advisory and Vendor packets are the most current; the 1-pagers are short, audience-specific summaries you can hand out.

Packets

Full program packets

Folder cover

Cover & Contact Sheet

One-page entry sheet for resource folders, mailings, and printed handouts. Links, contacts, leadership, QR.

↓ Download Cover & Contact Sheet (PDF)
Co-marketing

Outreach Toolkit

For trade associations, alumni networks, veterans orgs, and ecosystem partners. Pre-written newsletter blurbs, emails, social posts, slide copy, and a 30-second call script. Copy, paste, send.

↓ Download Outreach Toolkit (PDF, 7 pages)

Other program documents (request access)

The following internal working documents live in the program's Google Drive. Email info@utahbridgetowork.org with your role to request access. Some require coalition membership to view.

  • Utah Bridge to Work Program Charter (Draft v.1)
  • Program Outreach Plan
  • Program Outreach Copy & Process
  • Vendor Criteria
  • Candidate Recruitment Criteria
  • Career Workflows
Flagship Event · 2026

The Utah Bridge to Work Matchmaker

One day. 20–30 employers. 10–15 training providers. Hundreds of veterans, students, and career-changers — all ready to engage on the spot.

Date
2026 (TBA)
Location
Wasatch Front (TBA)
Format
In-person, one day
Cost
Free to attend

What happens at the event

  • Employer + training-provider booths sized for real conversation, not crowd surfing
  • On-site application and résumé support for job seekers
  • Real-time interviews for candidates who arrive prepared
  • Structured introductions between employers and training partners
  • Curated networking for industry, state, and ecosystem leaders

Vendor criteria

Participants must:

  • Be actively hiring or enrolling for openings in the next 6 months
  • Send a representative empowered to accept applications and discuss specifics
  • Commit to basic post-event follow-up
  • Provide simple outcome data after the event

Apply or RSVP — one short form

Employers, training providers, sponsors, candidates: same intake form, takes 4 minutes.

forms.gle/odSEAE2YD7DeaGPL6 →
Built on partnership

Building this with Utah's industry, education, and public-sector leaders.

Utah Bridge to Work is a voluntary coalition — not a new agency, not a vendor, not a fundraising vehicle. Every partner contributes time, networks, venues, or in-kind support around a shared outcome: real Utah hires and enrollments.

Utah Grid Edge Forum · Beehive Energy Alliance · Utah Office of Energy Development · Wheeler CAT · Northwest Lineman College · Quanta Services · and growing
Sponsor

Sponsor the event

Cover a tangible cost: venue, catering, candidate transportation, on-site interview rooms. Recognition modest and proportional.

Talk to us →
Partner

Join the Core Partner Council

Industry, education, state, or community organizations contributing networks, candidates, or operational support.

Apply →
Co-Market

Co-market the event

Trade associations, alumni networks, veterans organizations: share the event with your membership in exchange for visibility. Drop-in copy for newsletters, emails, and social.

↓ Download Outreach Toolkit (PDF)
About

Why we work upstream — and who's driving it.

Utah Bridge to Work was conceived as a grassroots, fast-moving response to a structural workforce gap — built by industry, education, and public-sector leaders willing to act before formal programs catch up.

Working upstream

We get involved before formal projects, contracts, or requisitions exist — not after. Major Utah infrastructure projects face a real risk: a lack of ready workforce and aligned training pipelines that can delay or derail execution.

Bridge to Work anticipates that gap rather than reacting to it. Low-cost, low-risk, high-leverage — a "first, fast mover" model designed to test what works before institutionalizing anything. Announced at the Utah Grid Edge Forum in March 2026, moved from idea to flagship event in roughly 90 days.

Operating principles

  • Speed over bureaucracy
  • Trust over contracts
  • Outcomes over optics
  • Complement, don't duplicate

Leadership

Steve Thomas

Program Lead

Director of Energy & Infrastructure at Currie & Brown. Steve convenes Bridge to Work, sets strategic direction, and serves as the program's primary point of accountability. He brings deep industry, government, and education relationships across Utah's energy and infrastructure ecosystem, and also convenes the Utah Grid Edge Forum.

Anca Matcovschi

Program Co-Lead

Marketing executive, strategist, and consultant. Veterans advocate, university professor, and award-winning economic development leader. Anca leads candidate outreach and preparation, contributes brand, marketing, curriculum, and inclusion expertise, and ensures Bridge to Work reaches veterans, students, and underrepresented talent across Utah.

Get involved

Tell us how you want to plug in.

One short form gets you to the right person. We respond within 2 business days.

Bridge to Work intake form

Employers, training providers, sponsors, candidates — same form, routes to the right lead.

forms.gle/odSEAE2YD7DeaGPL6 →

Direct contact

General: info@utahbridgetowork.org

Press / media: press@utahbridgetowork.org

Sponsor inquiries: route through info@ — Steve will respond directly.

QR code linking to utahbridgetowork.org

Scan to share

Point a phone camera here to open utahbridgetowork.org. Save it, share it, or print it for your team.

What you'll be asked

Organization name, primary contact, what you're hiring for or enrolling, target dates, and how you'd like to participate. Four minutes. Single form.

Utah's next infrastructure decade starts with the workforce we build now.

Join the 2026 Matchmaker as an employer, a training partner, a sponsor, or a candidate.

Get Involved →