This is your monthly AAI grantee community update with upcoming events and new resources.
Upcoming NGA Events:
- AAI Learning Network Call: December 1, 3-4 P.M. EST: https://zoom.us/j/94532209241
- This is a monthly opportunity for NGA Center to share updates with the AAI cohort, and for the cohort to share current challenges and successes. This month we will also discuss National Apprenticeship Week activities, so please come prepared to discuss them.
Apprenticeship Resources:
- The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) is excited to release Registered Apprenticeship Reimagined to share the many successes and promising practices that you all learned over the five year period of AAI. This report includes strategies and examples of best practices that led to measurable results and attainment of grantees’ AAI project goals.
- Through research and grantee feedback, NGA Center developed a success factor frameworkfor reimagining registered apprenticeship for new industry sectors and populations:
- Prioritize sustainability from inception, creating partnerships and resource ecosystems that help their programs thrive in the long term.
- Use partnerships to incorporate a variety of perspectives and resources that can support programmatic success.
- Establish simplified processes to help employer partners engage in registered apprenticeship.
- Provide flexibility based on employer feedback, industry demand and apprentice needs
- Governors and state and federal policymakers are encouraged to reference this report when deciding which types of organizations, programs or apprenticeship-building activities to support. Please share this resource with your networks.
- Through research and grantee feedback, NGA Center developed a success factor frameworkfor reimagining registered apprenticeship for new industry sectors and populations:
- National Apprenticeship Week, which ran from November 8-14, was a huge success. This year there were over 800 events and proclamations around the country, 659 events took place across all 50 U.S. states, D.C., and one U.S. territory, and 171 proclamations were made, including 91 industry, 41 local and county, 38 gubernatorial, and 1 presidential proclamation.
- Expanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Tech Apprenticeships: As part of the Apprenticeship Expansion and Modernization Fund project, the Urban Institute and its partners are supporting employers nationwide in expanding registered apprenticeships in tech positions. Register here to join on December 15, 1-2:30 P.M. EST.
- Expanding Opportunity: Apprenticeships for Individuals with Disabilities: Please find resources, transcript, powerpoint, recording, and more information on how to design and run an apprenticeship program that is welcoming to individuals with disabilities here.
- Department of Labor (DOL) COVID Guidance: COVID guidance for apprenticeship grants and contracts, including for the AAI cohort, is now published on DOL’s COVID webpage.
Apprenticeship in the News
- Governor Hogan Announces Maryland Awarded Over $6 Million to Continue Expanding Apprenticeships (maryland.gov): Governor Larry Hogan announced during National Apprenticeship Week that the Maryland Department of Labor has received a $6,012,924 award from US DOL for a State Apprenticeship Expansion Grant.
- First Ever Veterans Registered Apprenticeship Program Launched (Sand Mountain Reporter): The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship (AOA) and Redstone Arsenal recently partnered together to provide the first ever registered apprenticeship program for veterans.
- With 4,000-Plus Tech Jobs Unfilled, KC Tech Council Launches New Apprenticeship Program (com): KC Tech Council has teamed up with national nonprofit Apprenti to build tech apprenticeship program.
- Apprenticeship Program Launched for Students at Dollywood (com): A new program is offering students several job apprenticeships at Dollywood in the partnership between Dollywood, Walters State Community College, and the TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development.
- Tech Impact Launches Delaware’s First IT Technology Support Apprenticeship Program (PR News Wire): Tech Impact’s Tech Hire Delaware program, in partnership with the Delaware IT Industry Council and Apprenti, announced the launch of Delaware’s first registered IT technology support apprenticeship program.
- Texas Workforce Commission Approves IT Apprenticeship Program (com): The Texas Workforce Commission approved a new IT registered apprenticeship program.
- Maher and CompTIA to Build Pathways to Tech Careers for Diverse Talent through U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Award (Globe News Wire): Maher & Maher was recently awarded a five-year industry intermediary contract by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship in order to expand access to apprenticeship in the field of information technology.
- Aon Invests $30 Million to Create 10,000 Apprenticeship Nationwide by 2030 (Insurance Journal): Global insurance broker Aon is expanding its corporate apprenticeship program with an investment of $30M over the next five years.
- NTC to Offer New Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program (com): Northcentral Technical College will sooner offer a pilot program that will allow students to train as medical assistants.
- State Approves Miller Fabrication Solutions’ Apprenticeship Program (com): The PA Department of Labor and Industry recently approved Miller Fabrication Solutions’ apprenticeship program, in the welding and machining trades, which will begin next year.
- Olive Pickle Joins Apprenticeship Program (Mount Olive Tribune): The Mt. Olive Pickle Company signed on as a founding partner of the Industrial Maintenance apprenticeship consortium at Wayne Community College, joined by Goldsboro businesses Franklin Bakery and SPA Transformer Solutions, and Bridgestone America’s Wilson Tire Plant.
- IBM Announces New Collar Apprenticeship Accelerator for IBM Z (PR News Wire): IBM announced an expansion of the company’s IBM Z skills initiatives to include a new nationwide IT infrastructure apprenticeship accelerator program.
- Howard Community College Introduces Electrical Apprenticeship (com): Howard Community College, in partnership with Independent Electrical Contractors Chesapeake, introduced a new four-year electrical apprenticeship program to provide a career pathway.
- Workforce Opportunity Services Announces Launch of Apprenticeship Program Focusing on Information Technology (PR News Wire): Workforce Opportunity Services – a leading non-profit organization connecting individuals from underserved populations with transformative career opportunities – recently announced the launch of its results oriented WOS Apprenticeship Program.
- M&T Bank Launches Local Tech Apprenticeship Program (Buffalo Rising): M&T Bank, in collaboration with IBM, Franklin Apprenticeship, and the Urban Institute, has launched a Z Development Program initiative that is considered “a first-of-its-kind IT infrastructure apprenticeship program for employers across the country.”
- Congressmen Kim, Norcross Introduce Bill to Advance Next-Generation Apprenticeship Programs (Insider NJ): Congressman Andy Kim and Congressman Donald Norcross introduced HR 8762, the Fast Track Advanced Apprenticeships Now Act, a bill that would cut bureaucratic red tape to allow apprenticeship programs for emerging occupations to be approved faster.
- FIU, First Four-Year Research University in the State of Florida, to Offer Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program (fiu.edu): The Florida Department of Education has approved Florida International University’s Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program, which will combine technical skills, industry credentials, and on-the-job training to prepare learners to work in cybersecurity.
- New Partnership to Increase Tech Apprenticeships in Milwaukee (com): The MKE Tech Hub Coalition has partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards and Apprenti, to increase the number of technology apprenticeships offered in the greater Milwaukee area.
- How are US Apprenticeship Programs Surviving During COVID-19? (com): As in-person learning became difficult to maintain through the COVID-19 pandemic, and many program models moved to online learning, federal data shows that apprenticeships are growing on the national stage, with more than 12,000 apprenticeship programs created during the preceding five-year period.
- Arkansas Governor Talks Expansion of Arkansas Apprenticeship Programs (com): In recognition of National Apprenticeship Week, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson discusses the progress made in expanding registered apprenticeship program throughout Arkansas.
