Promoting Technology Apprenticeship Consortia

In recent years manufacturing and industry in the United States have changed remarkably. Low-skill, labor intensive jobs have moved overseas while processes have become highly technical and automated. Workers who lost jobs in manufacturing find they do not have the technical skills needed to qualify for new jobs in modern industry. High school graduates also will need additional technical education to compete for good jobs in the current economy. Apprenticeship, which was for centuries the primary method of technical training, is re-emerging in the United States as a means to meet the needs of modern industry. This project at Gaston College in North Carolina will build on a successful apprenticeship program created in partnership with a local industry and will provide a model for the creation and support of apprenticeship consortia in which industries partner with each other, the community college, the public school system, and local economic development agencies to provide highly skilled advanced technology workers. The knowledge obtained from the project will allow other colleges to adapt the model to the needs of their own local industries and will promote the creation of similar consortia. Through this program, students will work and receive specific on-the-job training while concurrently taking technical college courses related to their job. The company will pay the wages of the students and also pay for their tuition and books. Upon completion, students will receive an academic certificate from the college, will be certified as a Journeyworker in a U.S. Department of Labor recognized job title, and will have secure employment with the company. The company will have an employee whose education and training is tailored to their specific needs. 

The goal of this project is to promote the creation of local consortia of industries with similar needs. The primary advantage will be a pool of students that will allow the college to offer and schedule classes as well as purchase laboratory equipment that will meet the needs of employers. Each consortium will belong to the industry members; but the college will provides advice, support, and coordination for the academic portion of the program. This project will allow the college to create services and activities that will promote the formation and growth of apprenticeship consortia for Chemical Operators and Industrial Mechanics, the two college programs already in place. A Success Coach will provide assistance to apprentices in the academic portion of their program. A consultant will assist the companies with development and maintenance of apprenticeship programs and will facilitate communications between the companies and the college. Marketing materials will be created to promote advanced manufacturing and apprenticeships. Partners will include the industries in the consortia, Lincoln County and Gaston County Public Schools, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, which administers apprenticeship programs in the state, and Economic Development entities in both counties. A comprehensive evaluation will determine the components needed for these apprenticeship programs to succeed.