DENVER — Feb. 24 , 2020 — The Denver Business Journal has named Pinnacol Apprenticeship Program Manager Mark Tapy as a member of its 2020 class of “40 under 40.” Nominees are professionals under 40 in the Denver metro area and were judged on their leadership, business success within their organization and industry, and community involvement.
Since his hiring in 2017, Tapy has helped design and lead the innovative employer-based Apprenticeship Program at Pinnacol Assurance. Tapy and his team have collaborated with 13 local high schools and CareerWise Colorado to launch the largest high school apprenticeship site in the state. Through his work, Tapy has helped redefine the talent pipeline and recruitment strategy for the 105-year-old Colorado-based workers’ comp insurer in the face of fierce competition for talented workers and a need to attract young workers. Tapy’s work showing businesses how to proactively design their desired workforce and plan for the “future of work” has been recognized nationally and at the state level.
Most recently, he’s also been involved with the program’s expansion into other states, including New York. Tapy consulted with the newly formed chapter of CareerWise New York to help businesses including Amazon, Accenture, Google and Citibank understand the challenges, benefits and operating procedures of building these programs inside businesses. His work is studied on a national scale and is helping the concept of employer-led education catch fire.
Reflecting on these accomplishments, Pinnacol CEO Phil Kalin said, “When we decided to create an apprenticeship program at Pinnacol, there was no playbook. Today, we’re hiring students who complete this program, and they’re extremely valuable and respected parts of our team. Mark has been at the center of radical shifts in thinking, operating and planning for our future workforce.”
Prior to joining Pinnacol, Tapy ran his own company, which provided services for well site geology. He also provided consulting services to nonprofits and worked for Goodwill Industries of Denver’s Youth Services Department, where he designed, implemented and managed workforce development initiatives, including the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Mentor Enhancement Demonstration Program grant. In this capacity, Tapy’s programming intersected with 15 schools in five metro area school districts, which engaged more than 150 mentors and served more than 750 students between 2010 and 2017.
Tapy is also committed to community support. He volunteers at and has served as a founding board member of Prodigy Coffee House since 2015, and he frequently volunteers his time at various charities with the apprentices in his program.
