We recently connected with Ben Bower and have shared our conversation below.
Ben, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
My company Training Solutions International has a very unique backstory that forms the basis for the mission of the company. Training Solutions International (TSI for short) is actually a spinoff of a non-profit organization called the Central Aid Agency. The Central Aid Agency (C.A.A. for short) provides disaster response and other emergency services, their specialty is providing trained responders to primarily governmental entities when additional resources are needed during large incidents. I serve as both the Executive Director for the Central Aid Agency, as well as the Company Manager and Chief Instructor for Training Solutions International, so I run both entities.
In order to ensure that C.A.A. personnel were properly trained, we began to develop a very robust training unit and pursue instructor certifications in a range of disciplines. We quickly realized this could also be a potential source of revenue for the agency by offering training services to other entities and the public. In 2015 the C.A.A. Board of Directors authorized me the spin off of the training unit into its own separate company that was called Training Solutions International. The mission of TSI is to provide high quality training services with a focus on emergency response and management, and occupational training. TSI also certifies instructors and maintains training records for the C.A.A. Additionally, 10% of profits made by TSI are donated back to the C.A.A. to provide a source of additional funding.
This relationship to our nonprofit parent and the related mission is central to the purpose of our company and helps establish our unique company identity.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
From an early age I’ve known that I wanted to do something to help people, this has been a central focus of my life and also an important aspect of my faith. When I was a senior in high school I had to make a decision about what I wanted my future to be, I explored the military but ended up taking my own path due to the discovery of a disqualifying medical condition. I founded the nonprofit Central Aid Agency in 2008 when I was 18 years old, the goal of the agency being to help people and do disaster response. That was the first step in my journey that would eventually lead me to where I am today. Shortly after in 2009 I joined our local government Search And Rescue team so that I could gain practical experience and knowledge to bring back to the Central Aid Agency. I still participate with Search And Rescue to this day, and Central Aid Agency now also works closely with them during large scale emergencies.
Between 2012 and 2015 the next big steps of the journey took place. In 2012 I started working part-time at a college Department of Public Safety. This gave me additional experience and insights into the world of security and I had opportunities to get more experience in emergency management by managing two Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs together. 2015 is when Training Solutions International was created by the Central Aid Agency Board of Directors as a separate affiliated company focused on providing high quality training services. In 2015 I also completed many of my remaining instructor certifications that I would need to help kickstart TSI, and I became a volunteer reserve police officer. Which I continue to do to this day.
From 2015 to the present I have been slowly and steadily developing both the Central Aid Agency and Training Solutions International simultaneously, since doing so has been my primary goal all along. As these entities have developed and became more self-sustaining, I was able to go to work part time for Training Solutions International. As of 2023 I will actually be leaving my other part time work and be going to work full time for Training Solutions International. My role within the Central Aid Agency is still volunteer, but we are transitioning to offering paid services in addition to volunteer work; so that will hopefully provide opportunities for employment for myself and others within the agency in the near future.
Throughout the entire journey doing things right, with honesty and integrity has been paramount to the entire endeavor. In fact one of the core values of the Central Aid Agency is excellence, and that has carried over to Training Solutions International as well. So many times I have personally witnessed other companies and instructors cut corners, and as a result their students suffer from the lack of quality instruction. Because of this, one of our hallmarks is quality. We don’t cut corners and we go out of our way to ensure the product we offer is one of quality, no matter what we are doing. The other piece that is important to mention here is communication and customer service. One of the things that personally drives me crazy is when I reach out to a company with a question or issue, only to never hear back from them. I don’t want to be like that, and have made specific effort to have a high level of responsiveness and customer service. We want our customers to walk away with solid foundation of knowledge and a quality product; but we also want them to know that if they ever have issues at any point in the process they can reach out to us and we will work with them to resolve it.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
I very much dislike debt and have gone to great lengths to avoid or minimize it in my life. So when it came to getting the business started I had the same mindset. I know that it is typical to get business loans in the beginning to get a businesses going, but I was really resistant to that. Instead I pinched every penny and got help from friends and family; that coupled with a few “right place, right time” moments allowed me to get the business going and remain completely debt free.
Although I was able to stay debt free, it definitely has not been an easy process. My wife and I have had to make many sacrifices to be able to afford everything, I also have not been able to afford things like internal staff positions and outsourced business services that many other companies can. So instead I’ve had to do a lot of things myself to make ends meet, but in the end it paid off and the business has been growing steadily since. I still have to be careful about where and how I spend money, but it is paying off.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
One of the things that really helped build the reputation of Training Solutions International within our market is the fact that I and the other instructors all have real world practical experience in the subjects that we teach. All instructors must have at least 2 years of practical experience to be eligible to become instructors with TSI. The fact that many of us have also served with first responder and emergency response organizations within the local community (and continue to do so) just adds to our credibility and experience. Because of this many people already know us, so we get most of our references from word of mouth. This also helps keep us fresh as instructors, and helps keep our training relevant and up to date. It’s very common for training to become stagnant or outdated when instructors don’t have the ability to stay up to speed with current trends and best practices. That gives us an edge over our competitors in the market.
Contact Info:
- Website: TSI: https://www.trainingsolutionsinternational.com/#/ C.A.A.: https://www.centralaidagency.org/#/
- Instagram: TSI: https://www.instagram.com/training_solutions_intl/ C.A.A.: https://www.instagram.com/central_aid_agency/
- Facebook: TSI: https://www.facebook.com/TrainingSolutionsInternational/ C.A.A.: https://www.facebook.com/CentralAidAgency
- Youtube: TSI: https://www.youtube.com/c/TrainingSolutionsInternational C.A.A.: https://www.youtube.com/user/CentralAidAgency
Image Credits
All images copyright Training Solutions International.