TradeBuilt was founded on a belief that has remained at the center of our mission: the skilled trades are learned by doing.

Founder Ken Thompson spent ten years serving in the United States Army before transitioning into the skilled trades through trade school, first pursuing HVAC and later electrical. His career took him across multiple states and through residential, commercial, and industrial environments, ultimately leading him to become a licensed contractor.

His experience in the field eventually led to education. Beginning as an instructor and advancing to Associate Director and then Director of Skilled Trades, overseeing multiple skilled-trades programs, Ken experienced trades education from nearly every perspective—as a student, tradesperson, contractor, instructor, and educational leader.

As distance and hybrid education expanded after 2020, an important gap became increasingly clear. Education was becoming more digital, but practical skilled-trades learning was not advancing at the same pace.

• Lectures could move online.
• Textbooks could become digital.
• Tests could be taken from anywhere.
• But the practical experience that makes trades education effective was much harder to translate beyond the lab and the field.

The skilled trades require more than memorizing information and passing an exam. Students need opportunities to apply what they learn, work through problems, make mistakes, troubleshoot, and understand how a concept connects to the systems they will encounter in the real world.

TradeBuilt began development in 2025, initially through applications created for technicians in the field. The vision soon grew into something larger: an opportunity to build technology specifically around the way skilled trades are taught and learned.

That purpose became the foundation of TradeBuilt—to make practical learning more accessible, connect education to real-world application, and create an experience that helps learners understand rather than simply memorize.

Technology should not replace the lab, the instructor, or hands-on experience. It should strengthen them. It should give learners another place to practice, explore concepts, develop confidence, and continue learning when the physical lab or jobsite is not available.

The name TradeBuilt represents that philosophy as much as it represents the company. To be TradeBuilt is to develop more than technical ability. It represents strength of mind and character, practical intelligence, creativity, problem-solving, and the ability to turn knowledge into something real.

The skilled trades build the systems and infrastructure our communities depend on, but their impact reaches much further. They create careers, support families, provide opportunity, and give people the ability to build a future through knowledge and skill.

TradeBuilt is being built with a vision that extends nationwide and, ultimately, internationally. As the platform grows, so does the mission: to strengthen digital skilled-trades education, help create pathways into meaningful careers, expand practical learning opportunities, and one day support future tradespeople through initiatives such as scholarships.

The technology will continue to evolve, but the purpose will remain the same: help people understand the trades, develop practical ability, and build a future with skills that matter.