Chattanooga Launches Quantum Workforce Pre-Apprenticeship Program

Insider Brief

• The Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative and BuildWithin launched the United States’ first quantum pre-apprenticeship program for working professionals.
• The 12-week paid program focuses on practical quantum workforce development for professionals in sectors such as IT, logistics, healthcare, and energy.
• The initiative is built on the U.S. Department of Labor apprenticeship framework and aims to serve as a replicable national workforce model.

PRESS RELEASE — The Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative (CQC) and BuildWithin today launched the nation’s first quantum pre-apprenticeship: a paid, 12-week program built on the U.S. Department of Labor’s apprenticeship framework and designed to prepare early and mid-career professionals to lead quantum adoption inside their companies as the technology moves from research labs into commercial use.

The program runs from June 29 through September 18, 2026, and will include 10 participants in the inaugural cohort, each of whom will receive a $2,500 stipend upon completion. BuildWithin, a U.S. Department of Labor National Apprenticeship Program Sponsor, will deliver the pre-apprenticeship curriculum through its workforce technology platform. The program is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, awarded to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Research Institute, which is leading this work and supporting this program in partnership with CQC. 

“This is an important step in translating quantum from something people hear about into something professionals can engage with directly,” said Charlie Brock, CEO of the Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative (CQC). “Innovation often starts with people already inside organizations who are curious about what’s next. We’re activating those intrapreneurs and giving them a structured pathway to bring quantum back to their teams.”

The launch arrives at an inflection point for the U.S. quantum economy. As investments accelerate and commercial systems come online, regions across the country are racing to build the workforce required to capture economic value from the technology, and to do so without the multi-year delay that slowed cloud adoption. Gartner estimated insufficient cloud skills pushed enterprise migration back by two years or more, and the same pattern is now constraining AI.

“Quantum has the potential to define Chattanooga’s economic future and partnerships are key to its success,” said Tim Kelly, Mayor of Chattanooga. “A pre-apprenticeship that’s accessible to working Chattanoogans across a variety of technical fields is another step in preparing our workforce for what’s coming.”

”At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, we translate research into opportunity for our students, our industry partners, and our community,” said Chancellor Lori Mann Bruce. “Through the UT Chattanooga Quantum Center, we are advancing quantum research and have the national and international partnerships that align our students with the career opportunities of the quantum future. Programs like this pre-apprenticeship expand access, strengthen our workforce, and position Chattanooga to shape what comes next.” 

A Different Kind of Quantum Workforce

Unlike many post-secondary quantum programs aimed at physicists and Ph.D. researchers, the pre-apprenticeship is designed for working professionals with a technical baseline: IT specialists, analysts, and operations leaders across varying sectors such as logistics, healthcare, energy, and technology. The program does not require advanced degrees in physics or mathematics and emphasizes practical application within participants’ existing roles.

“Helping local professionals prepare for future economic opportunity as Chattanooga positions itself as a hub for the emerging quantum technology industry is part of EPB’s mission to serve our community,” said EPB President and CEO-elect Janet Rehberg. “Quantum technology is no longer theoretical. Companies are already using quantum to create growth opportunities. We’re working to help people in our area benefit as quantum advances and creates new jobs.”

Delivered primarily online through the BuildWithin platform, the curriculum combines asynchronous coursework with live support, industry speakers, and a capstone project. Participants will progress from foundational quantum concepts to hands-on exposure with tools and content informed by IonQ, IBM, D-Wave, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and other open-source resources.

A group of Quantum Learning Guides will host rotating office hours, and each participant will be paired with a mentor to help connect coursework to real-world organizational challenges. As a capstone, participants will develop a proposed quantum use case for their current employer.

A Replicable National Model

The program is intentionally structured on the U.S. Department of Labor’s apprenticeship framework, the same federal system that has trained American workers across more than 1,000 occupations for nearly a century. By anchoring quantum workforce development in that infrastructure, the partnership creates a pathway other states and regions can adopt without standing up new programs from scratch.

“Every wave of transformative technology scales through workers who solve problems where they sit. Cloud did. AI is. Quantum will too,” said Philip Minardi, Co-Founder of BuildWithin. “We built this program with CQC so Chattanooga’s mid-career professionals can become their company’s quantum expert through a structured, proven pre-apprenticeship pathway.”

Chattanooga has emerged as an early hub for quantum activity, with assets including a commercially available quantum network, an on-site quantum computer coming online this month, partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and growing university and industry collaboration. The pre-apprenticeship adds another workforce layer to that ecosystem.

“This pre-apprenticeship opportunity continues our community’s connected efforts to build jobs and trainings into those jobs at the same time,” said Andrew Hudson, Director of Workforce Development Strategy at the City of Chattanooga. “Quantum will provide next generation technology, and through programs like this, continued access to economic mobility for Chattanoogans.” 

Applications for the inaugural Quantum Ready Cohort are now open, with participant selection in June. Apply HERE through the One Chattanooga Works platform. CQC also welcomes interest from individuals interested in serving as Quantum Learning Guides or mentors.