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What Is Energy Expressway by BridgeYear?

Inside BridgeYear’s New Employer-Backed Talent Pipeline for Houston’s Energy Workforce

Houston’s energy and infrastructure employers are facing a talent shortage that will only deepen as experienced workers retire.

Energy Expressway was built to close that gap by turning recent high school graduates into certified, interview-ready candidates in two weeks. 

For employers evaluating where to invest their workforce development dollars, this program offers a fast, low-risk way to build the entry-level pipeline your industry needs.

BridgeYear hosted our final Career Test Drive® Fair of the school year The Garden

What Is Energy Expressway?

Energy Expressway is a two-week, employer-connected workforce initiative that prepares recent Houston-area high school graduates for careers in energy and infrastructure. 

Launched by CenterPoint Energy, Quanta Services, and the Greater Houston Partnership, with BridgeYear leading student recruitment and workforce readiness, the program combines hands-on career simulations, industry certifications, and guaranteed employer interviews into a single, fast-moving pathway from graduation to hire.

Participants earn OSHA 10 and CPR/First Aid certifications, get exposure to roles like lineman, gas operator, and heavy equipment operator, and complete formal interview training before meeting with employers. It is a model built specifically for Class of 2026 graduates who have a strong work ethic but not enough industry exposure.

First Aid certifications Career Test Drive® Fair at The Garden

Why Energy and Infrastructure Employers Are Backing This Model

Houston is the energy capital of the world, yet most graduating seniors cannot explain what a career in energy or infrastructure actually looks like. That awareness gap has become a hiring problem. As experienced tradespeople retire, employers in construction, utilities, and energy are competing for a shrinking pool of qualified entry-level talent.

BridgeYear’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Victoria Chen, puts it clearly: “Students cannot choose careers they have never seen.” Energy Expressway solves that by giving employers a structured, pre-screened pipeline instead of an open job posting competing against every other employer in the region.

Watch BridgeYear’s Victoria Chen Talks Energy Expressway on Great Day Houston

For companies exploring a workforce development partnership, Energy Expressway is a concrete example of what a coordinated talent pipeline looks like in practice: recruitment, training, certification, and interviews handled by one partner, BridgeYear, on your timeline.

The Data Behind the Urgency

Just 10% of Gen Z students and 17% of parents report familiarity with apprenticeship pathways, despite growing employer demand for skilled entry-level talent.

Houston does not have a shortage of capable young talent. It has a shortage of coordinated systems connecting that talent to employers early enough to matter.

GEN Z student career pathway high school

How Employers and Sponsors Can Get Involved

Energy Expressway is one example of the broader partnership model BridgeYear has built over nearly a decade of connecting Houston youth to high-demand, non-four-year career pathways. Employers and community partners can plug in at several levels:

  • Participate in student recruitment efforts to help identify motivated Class of 2026 graduates.
  • Commit to guaranteed interviews for program completers, building a pre-screened, industry-ready applicant pool.

BridgeYear Highlights the Apprenticeship Awareness Gap

BridgeYear breaks down why so few students and parents understand apprenticeship pathways, even as employers increasingly rely on them to fill critical roles. Read the full post here.

  

How Work-Based Learning Bridges Education and Employment

BridgeYear shares how partnerships with employers like Gulf States Toyota and Houston Methodist give recent graduates real workplace exposure and career-connected skills. Learn more here.

  

Build Your Talent Pipeline With BridgeYear

Energy Expressway is one example of how BridgeYear helps Houston employers build a sustainable, entry-level talent pipeline. If your company is ready to invest in workforce development that delivers measurable hiring results, connect with our employer partnerships team today.

Related Blogs

FAQs

What is Energy Expressway?

Energy Expressway is a two-week workforce program from CenterPoint Energy, Quanta Services, the Greater Houston Partnership, and BridgeYear that prepares recent high school graduates for careers in energy and infrastructure.

How can employers get involved in Energy Expressway?

Employers can participate in student recruitment, host brown-bag sessions during training, offer guaranteed interviews, or explore a broader apprenticeship sponsorship with BridgeYear.

Why is BridgeYear leading Houston’s energy workforce pipeline?

BridgeYear has spent a decade bridging the gap between Houston students, training providers, and employers, making it the regional execution partner for programs like Energy Expressway.

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learn MORE ABOUT the careers we offer

Students engaged in career planning, holding informational pamphlets about apprenticeship pathways and skilled trades.

BridgeYear exposes youth to affordable and accessible careers that provide youth economic stability and independence. 

All careers we highlight:

  • Require less than a 4-year degree
  • Are in-demand by employers 
  • Provide a living wage
  • Offer career ladders/opportunities for advancement

Why non 4-year degree pathways?:

Traditional education has long placed great emphasis on four-year degrees, forcing many students – like those who cannot afford college, those with GPAs at or below 2.5 and those who simply aren’t interested in a four-year degree – to disengage from planning their future after high school. This has caused many to feel their only options are unskilled jobs, like in retail or food service, which often offer unstable wages, zero benefits and slim opportunities for advancement.

How do you know employers are in need of BridgeYear’s careers?

Instead of relying solely on workforce data, we partner directly with employers and corporate sponsors to learn what labor gaps they are facing now and in the future so we can help them recruit for their most immediate needs. Currently, we have partnerships with Gulf States Toyota, to promote the career of automotive technician, and the National Kitchen and Bath Association, to promote trade careers in the kitchen and bath industry including Electrician, Finish Carpenter, and Kitchen and Bath Designer.  

How our program impacts advanced youth

Young man assembling a pendant light fixture, demonstrating hands-on skills in the electrical trade, relevant to BridgeYear's apprenticeship programs.

Graduating high schoolers from low-income communities are part of the most vulnerable populations affected by the current crisis. COVID-19 has made their transition to college and the workforce less secure than ever, compromising crucial employment years that impact opportunities to escape poverty. 

According to a national survey conducted by Equitable Futures early in the pandemic, the coronavirus crisis has caused young people to feel great uncertainty about their future. Among a sample of “Black and Hispanic youth and white young people from households with lower incomes,” the percent of those who reported feeling very clear about their future job or career dropped from 43% in 2019 to 27% in 2020. The report also showed that a majority of youth value college differently with nearly 1 in 3 claiming they now think college is not worth pursuing compared to pre-pandemic. Today, this situation is expected to be worse due to plunging community college enrollment (NSCRC) and a 102% increase in student debt over the last decade (US Federal Reserve). These shifts all point to an important reality: youth need help forging non 4-year pathways that won’t trap them in a cycle of poverty.

Advanced youth, especially high school seniors and opportunity youth, have been BridgeYear’s primary programming focus since 2016. Our Career Test Drive® program helps youth plan their path out of high school by exposing them to affordable, in-demand pathways they can pursue immediately.

How our program impacts intermediate youth

Students participating in a hands-on medical training session, practicing skills related to healthcare careers, with a focus on youth engagement in career pathways.

To better prepare all students for opportunities after high school, BridgeYear offers our Career Test Drive® program to 7th-9th graders to increase awareness and strengthen career choice.

For 7th through 9th graders, our program was designed to help students make informed decisions that will prepare them for viable career paths after high school. As a result of House Bill 5, 8th grade students in Texas are asked to select an endorsement area for their high school studies. Selecting an endorsement – and specifically, selecting a Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway within an endorsement – offers students the opportunity to earn a free, industry-recognized credential. Yet when so few students receive these industry recognized certificates in the greater Houston area, too many students are missing this opportunity to become competitive in today’s workforce. 

By exposing youth to in-demand careers they can get obtain accreditation for during high school, our Career Test Drive® program helps students decide what CTE pathway aligns with their skills and interests and inspires them to optimize their time in high school to succeed in the workforce. 

READ MORE ABOUT facilitation options

Students engaging in hands-on learning during BridgeYear's Career Test Drive program, with an instructor facilitating a Career and Technical Education activity in a classroom setting.

Our Career Lab program offers two facilitation options: our full-service BridgeYear Facilitation option and a Self/Teacher Facilitation option. 

BridgeYear Facilitation

  • BridgeYear manages full setup, refilling and maintenance of all materials.
  • Trained BridgeYear staff facilitate the entire experience in-person and offer students moments of critical thinking and discussion around the activity and career.
 

Available to schools and organizations located within the Greater Houston area. For those outside Houston, BridgeYear Facilitation is available for an additional cost to cover travel. 

Self/Teacher Facilitation

  • BridgeYear ships all materials to you, including extra supplies and refills. 
  • BridgeYear provides videos and an instructors manual that explain each step of the activity for use during classroom facilitation.  
 

Available to schools and organizations located outside the Greater Houston area. For those inside Houston, BridgeYear Facilitation is already factored into your quote.  

READ MORE ABOUT in-class facilitation

Via our full-service model (BridgeYear Facilitation) or through pre-recorded videos (Self/Teacher Facilitation), our Career Lab program will lead your students through in-depth career exploration all from the comfort of your classroom: 

    • Students explore one career per class period.
    • Each Career Lab activity is designed to be completed on student’s desk.
    • Career Labs can be purchased to be reused with multiple class periods. We sell extra materials and refills to ensure you have enough for each student.

This experiential learning program provides schools and teachers an accessible experience they can implement with each class period throughout an entire school day.

READ MORE ABOUT OUR HANDS-ON ACTIVITES

BridgeYear firmly believes that hands-on learning is essential to career exploration and building career identity.

All Career Test Drive® (CTD) Program simulations are designed like science labs in order to:
  • Maximize engagement: Students are more likely to enjoy career exploration if activities are engaging and fun.
  • Mimic real-life careers: By simulating real career tasks, youth are able to determine whether a career fits their interests and skills.

Students need more than just talking, they need doing.

After watching students withdraw from the monotony of career brochures, speakers and staged videos, co-founders Victoria Chen and Victoria Doan reimagined career exploration to provide an immersive, hands-on opportunity for young people to explore their options after high school.

As one student put it: “The [CTD Program] gave me more ideas on what I can become in the future and brought more light to skills I did not know I had.”