This is your weekly AAI grantee community update with upcoming events and new resources.
Upcoming NGA Events: (Please note that further details and information about other events can be found on the CoP calendar)
- Wednesday, August 1 from 3-4:00pm ET: Industry Engagement Webinar: Stories from the Field on Adjusting to Meet Employer Needs. During this webinar highlighting the work of the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA), Houston Community College, and the Florida State College at Jacksonville, we will hear about actionable strategies to improve industry engagement across sectors. These AAI grantees will talk about how they have adjusted their partnership model with businesses as a result of a better understanding of their needs and challenges. As a result of these adjustments, the employer partners moved from interest to action. These grantee stories will be shared through an interactive interview style and webinar participants are welcome to actively participate and ask their own questions.
- August 2018: Industry-Specific Peer-to-Peer Group Calls
These calls will provide grantees and their partners an opportunity to talk with their peers about employer engagement challenges within specific industries:- Information Technology – Wed, Aug 8 from 3:30-4:30pm ET
- Advanced Manufacturing – Wed, Aug 15 from 3-4:00pm ET
- Health Care – Wed, Aug 22 from 3-4:00pm ET
- Wed, Sept 19 from 3-4:00pm ET: Webinar on Growing Your Apprenticeship Program: Branding and Marketing for Success. This webinar will focus on how grantees can brand and market their apprenticeship programs to potential students and their parents, as well as to employers and education partners. We will highlight several grantees’ communication strategies, including ways to maximize social media’s potential in recruiting candidate pools.
New US-DOL Resources:
- National Apprenticeship Week (NAW): Mark your calendars for the week of November 12-18, as we will celebrate the fourth annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW). Check out the NAW flyer for more information, as well as the 2017 NAW Report to inspire ideas for your activities in 2018.
- High School Apprenticeship Toolkit: The US-DOL has just released a wealth of resources for secondary and postsecondary institutions, workforce development practitioners, school counselors, teachers, parents, and more. Check out their new webpage that includes a fact sheet on high school apprenticeship, an implementation guide, case studies, and other resources.
- New Apprenticeship Grant Funding: The US-DOL has just announced $150 million in grants to support sector-based approaches to expand apprenticeships on a national scale in key industry sectors. The Department will award up to $150 million in H-1B funds to approximately 15 to 30 apprenticeship programs, with awards ranging from $1 million to $12 million. The grant size will depend on the size of the targeted industry sector and the proposed scale of the apprenticeship projects.
Apprenticeship in the News:
- City Colleges sets ‘extraordinary’ goal to put thousands of graduates into apprenticeships, internships (Chicago Tribune): Chicago’s community college system has pledged to provide at least half of students who complete its programs with internships, apprenticeships or other work-based learning opportunities, an ambitious goal meant to improve career opportunities and provide businesses with a ready talent pool.
- Swift Transportation Announces U.S. Military Apprenticeship Program (Tuscon.com): Swift Transportation Co., LLC (“Swift” or “Swift Transportation”), a subsidiary of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX), announces the approval of the U.S. Military Apprenticeship Program nationwide. The national program was approved by the U.S. Department of Labor to assist military veterans as they transition to a civilian occupation. Over the course of a year, the apprentice will undergo specialized training to be prepared for a career in the transportation industry.
