Andrew John Kutches, 19 – Operational Business
Kutches Construction Co.
San Francisco, California

"If you ask me about the challenges and things I have been through, I would tell you there never was really much of a time when I wasn’t in and out of trouble."

Andrew Kutches has always been good at working with his hands, but when he was younger, he wasn’t good at staying out of trouble. “I have done things to survive that I am not proud of,” he says. As a result Andrew ended up at Log Cabin Ranch, a therapeutic facility run by the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department. There he took a NFTE class taught by Turning Heads.

“I learned about the importance of a business plan to help you focus and manage a business idea that you have,” Andrew says. After leaving Log Cabin Ranch he went into a pre-apprenticeship program to learn carpentry. He completed the program, joined the carpenters’ union, and became an apprentice with a union construction firm. “I recently learned that out of the 35 that went to the pre-apprenticeship, I am one of only three who are still working,” he says.

Andrew recently has launched his construction business by working on weekends, repairing fences, building wooden decks, finishing concrete foundations and doing some finish work. “One of the advantages I have in the construction field is that I’m fluent in both English and Spanish,” he says. “Foremen, supervisors and co-workers rely on me to translate.”

Andrew is currently attending City College. He plans to finish his apprenticeship and get a contractor’s license so he can expand his business.