In 1997, SW Design School, LLC started as VLC Technical Training offering web and graphic design tutoring services to Union Leaders in the State of Michigan. While training staff on how to maintain their websites, the founding partners got an idea to expand these opportunities for all interested in learning the industry.
With the right training and coaching, business owners would be able to save money creating their own marketing materials. Over the next years, SW Design School, LLC, grew to become a leader and innovator in teaching entrepreneurial, web, and graphic design courses to business owners or those inspiring to become business owners.
In 2011, the organization became an ONLINE ONLY trade school offering web and graphic design training throughout the nation. While the brick-and-mortar building is a thing of the past for SW Design School, LLC, the quality of the education has enhanced tremendously.
In 2015, SW Design School, LLC became a low-profit limited liability company; SW Design School, L3C. The purpose was to fulfill our mission of becoming partners with a non-profit organization with a goal of social enterprise enhancement to low-income families, at-risk youth, students in the K-12th grade, ex-offenders, and currently incarcerated inmates. We offer the same one-on-one attention to our students with Internet access but from the comfort of their own home or business. We provide native apps to inmates currently under the care of the Department of Corrections. Our graphic design services are now offered to clients at a more feasible cost than when we were a “marketing firm”. We utilize our graduates to create campaigns for our clients under the instructions of an experienced designer.
Between 2018 and 2019, SW Design School became a State-Approved apprenticeship program in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Michigan. We relocated our headquarters to DC in 2019 while maintaining our location in Michigan.
Currently, we’ve partnered with the Department of Defense SkillBridge program to provide Transitioning Service Members, throughout the United States, training in computer programming and graphic design. We are honored to employ military servicemen/women in our apprenticeship programs with our employment partners.
In 2020, SW Design School LLC is a National Apprenticeship Program that certifies Computer Programmers and Graphic Designers nationwide. We are a CSP (Career Service Provider) to the Army with an MOA to operate our STEM Instructor Training on any Army installation base.