The author considers workforce development as a private investment vehicle corporations, small businesses, and government officials deploy to influence the preparation of job ready graduates from HBCUs and recruit them to their corps. With both significant investment support and the branding and recruiting boost of affiliation with reputable companies, HBCUs seek these partnerships aggressively. Using Scott’s (1990) “hidden transcript” and Burton’s (2023) “archival war” as modes of analysis, the author advocates for HBCU fundraising executives and institutional leaders to evaluate these alliances carefully, especially considering that some companies with records of discriminating against Black employees and with negative reputations in Black communities invest in HBCUs with unsavory motivations, the result of which can cause dire institutional and reputational harm.