Local Labor Entities Win Big DOL "American Apprenticeship" Grants

The Transportation Learning Center in Silver Spring, with its partner the Amalgamated Transit Union, and the Electrical Training Alliance and its local partner IBEW 26 JATC, won $5 million and $4.8 million respectively in grants to boost apprenticeship from the US Department of Labor in a very competitive national bid.
 
President Obama has made it clear that apprenticeships are critical to the strength of our workforce and our economy.  The grant awards were announced last week, and represent the biggest national investment in apprenticeship in history; a total of $175 million was awarded to 46 partnerships around the country.  The grants will help the nation stay on the apprenticeship cutting edge in the skilled trades, an edge sharpened largely thanks to the leadership of the labor movement; and they will also facilitate growth in industries that haven’t traditionally taken advantage of apprenticeships, like health care, finance and IT. Click below to read more...

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The Transportation Learning Center award for the National Public Transportation Partnership for Apprenticeship project will support the implementation of new registered apprenticeships for Signals Maintainers and Transit Coach Operators, as well as for the expansion of existing programs. A total of 1,297 frontline workers will be trained in the public transportation/electro-mechanical industry in metropolitan areas of the US, including the DC area.
 
The National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee award to fund the Pre-Apprenticeship Program (Pre-APP) will increase employment and training opportunities in targeted H-1B industry occupations within the electrical industry including: Electrical Engineers, Civil Engineers, and Network Administrators. The Pre-APP program proposes to serve 1000 apprentices in 5 years (200 each year) from 13 proposed electrical training centers across the United States, including in Maryland, by building a pre-apprenticeship curriculum based on apprenticeship requirements, creating pre-apprenticeship opportunities for underrepresented populations, and increasing skilled workers for the electrical industry.
- Kathleen McKirchy