The labor market is upside down.

Mountjoy Enterprises is a beverage co-packer based in Petaluma, California. Like many manufacturers, they face soaring labor costs. At the same time, thousands of early-career software developers and engineers are out of work.

Automation is the answer, but most small factories can’t afford consultants—or to wait a year for deployment.

So we launched a different kind of internship.

We called our production jobs ‘Automation Engineer Internships’—and we offered them to displaced tech workers and engineering students. Minimum wage, on the factory floor. But with a twist: every intern gets to help design and build real automation systems.

They’re not just clocking in—they’re building the future.

Interns learn hands-on mechatronics, automation, and controls. They install their own solutions—saving us real labor time—and some are even designing tools and devices they could sell to other small factories.

We help them refine and market those products, and we plan to sell them through our website as a way for sympathetic tech supporters to back the program.

It’s working. Let’s scale it.

We’ve already seen strong results—on both sides. Interns love it. They’re learning fast, getting exposure to real engineering problems, and contributing in meaningful ways. For our part, we enjoy working with resourceful and curious minds.

Now we want to formalize the program, offer stipends, grow the mentoring network, and scale to more companies.

We’re seeking early funding partners.

We’re looking for funders who believe in workforce reinvention, hands-on education, and making advanced manufacturing more accessible.

With your help, BuildShift can become a model for the post-tech economy—where software talent meets real-world skills, and small businesses finally get affordable automation.

Join us.

Who do you know who would be like to hear about our urgent project? Please spread the word!