More and more students are turning away from college and toward apprenticeships.
Today, the nation’s colleges and universities enroll about 15 million undergraduate students, while companies employ about 800,000 apprentices. But federal data shows that in the past decade college enrollment has declined by about 15%, while the number of apprentices has increased by more than 50%.
Apprenticeship programs are increasing in both number and variety, Robert Lerman, a labor economist at the Urban Institute, recently told The Wall Street Journal. He said about 40% of the nation’s apprenticeships are now outside of the construction trades, where most traditionally have been.
Registered apprenticeship programs enable employers to build a trained workforce while offering workers paid work experience, classroom instruction and a nationally-recognized certificate for that occupation.
It’s a model that’s well suited to the Mountain State workforce, said Dave Lavender, who coordinates workforce training and apprenticeships at the West Virginia Department of Labor. According to Lavender, West Virginia ranks 5th in the nation for registered apprenticeships per capita, with more than 5,000 apprentices earning while working.
While many West Virginia apprentices are in skilled trades, there are also many apprenticeships in emerging sectors of the economy, from information technology to clean energy. West Virginia was the second state in the nation to implement a teaching apprenticeship called Grow Your Own.
Apprenticeships work well in West Virginia, Lavender said, because of the strong work ethic typically displayed by the state’s workers, and the inclusive nature of the career pathway.
“Diversity and inclusion are baked in,” he said. “You can come on board and we will pay you while we’re teaching you how to do a job.”
Fostering apprenticeships
The Robert C. Byrd Institute at Marshall University has a long history of fostering apprenticeships, not just in West Virginia but in a lengthening list of states.
Since 2016, Apprenticeship Works, the National Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeship initiative at RCBI, has assisted manufacturers in 21 states coast to coast, including West Virginia. The initiative helps companies develop and implement customized apprenticeship programs in 20 high-demand advanced manufacturing occupations.
In January, RCBI was awarded $4.5 million in federal funding to bolster and expand its national advanced manufacturing apprenticeship partnership.
The $4.5 million in new funding was made possible through a congressional spending request secured by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. It covers the direct cost to employers of establishing apprentices through RCBI.
RCBI Deputy Director Derek Scarbro said the additional funding will help more manufacturers overcome critical workforce challenges. “Thanks to the strong support of Senators Capito and Manchin, who have taken time to learn firsthand about the impacts of RCBI’s innovative workforce initiatives, we will continue to expand our nationwide advanced manufacturing apprenticeship program to meet the needs of manufacturers, including companies large and small here in West Virginia.”
Apprenticeship Works began in 2016 after the U.S. Department of Labor heralded RCBI’s hybrid apprenticeship model as one that should be replicated nationwide. The DOL, in turn, provided funding to launch the initiative.
The DOL-registered apprenticeships combine standardized, industry-endorsed online technical instruction with in-person training. This approach ensures quality, affordable training that can be scaled across multiple company locations. It also enables companies to develop apprenticeships that meet their specific needs at a pace that suits them, while providing apprentices with opportunities for career advancement and the ability to earn a college degree.
To encourage underrepresented groups to consider careers in advanced manufacturing, Apprenticeship Works also focuses on recruiting women, military veterans and disadvantage youth through a related pre-apprenticeship program.
Since 2016, Apprenticeship Works has delivered skill sets, training and credentials to more than 750 apprentices and 470 pre-apprentices.
West Virginia companies and organizations that have participated in Apprenticeship Works include AHF Products of Beverly, Alcon in Huntington, Europtec in Clarksburg, Gestamp in South Charleston, the Green Bank Observatory in Green Bank, Kanawha Manufacturing in Charleston, Level 1 Fasteners in Huntington and Weyerhaeuser in Buckhannon and Sutton, along with others.
To learn more about Apprenticeship Works, visit RCBI’s website at www.rcbi.org/apprenticeships or contact Carol Howerton, senior strategic advisor for workforce development, at carol.howerton@rcbi.org or by calling 304-781-1690.
Coalfield Development and carpenters union now partners
Coalfield Development Corp., a Wayne County based nonprofit, and Carpenters Local 439, a unit of the national Carpenter’s Union, are now working together as partners in the training of apprentice carpenters.
“Coalfield Development is a great organization doing great things for the community,” said Carpenters Council Representative Jeremy Jeffers. “We are honored to partner with them to provide training and good-paying jobs with benefits for their team.”
Approximately 40 employees at Coalfield Development have joined the union, according to Brandon Dennison, founder and CEO of Coalfield Development.
Dennison enthusiastically welcomed the new partnership. “Our organization exists to diversify the region’s economy and create pathways to good-paying careers for people who face barriers to employment. This partnership with the carpenters is something we’ve been working (on) for a long time,” Dennison said.
“I’m so happy these discussions have culminated with a formal agreement and with the opportunity for our workers to become union workers. The new Appalachian economy can’t just be about any kind of jobs; it needs to be about good-paying jobs with benefits. This new agreement ensures we’ll do our part to that end.”
Coalfield Development is now a part of the West Virginia Joint Apprenticeship Program, which combines on-the-job training and related classroom instruction. Workers in the program learn both the practical and theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupation.
Importantly, the apprentices earn wages as they learn, receiving pay increases as they advance through the program. Additionally, there are fringe benefits, such as vacation, health and pension plans.
“I think it’s particularly important to strengthen unions here in West Virginia,” Dennison said. “Our state has been at the vanguard of historic organizing efforts for generations. From the Mine Wars, to teachers, to factories, to hospitals, our people have fought hard for the respect, dignity and justice unions offer working people. We’re proud to play our part in this proud tradition.”
Solar Holler, IBEW working together
Solar Holler, a Huntington-based installer of residential and commercial systems, started out small but didn’t stay that way long. Since its founding in 2014, the fledgling company has evolved into a thriving business installing residential and residential solar panels throughout West Virginia and parts of Ohio and Kentucky.
That kind of growth necessitates skilled workers. To help fill that need, Solar Holler launched the first solar training and apprenticeship program in the state. Since then, the company and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have signed an agreement that makes them official partners in that program.
Under that agreement, said James Gillette, business manager for IBEW Local317, the union “won’t just be representing Solar Holler’s workers on the job, we’ll also be giving them the training they’ll need to keep current in this growing industry.”
Solar Holler’s founder and CEO Dan Conant agreed that partnering with the IBEW fits with his company’s mission to support workers, granting them access to such things as paid health care while they work and defined benefit pensions in retirement.
“We believe that health care is a human right, that the people wearing boots are the ones who bring our systems to life, and that our company has a responsibility to honor and care for those who make the magic happen,” Conant said.
He also noted with pride that Solar Holler was the first solar firm in West Virginia to become what’s known as a “benefit corporation,” which he said legally commits his company to keep its workers, its Appalachian communities and the environment on an equal footing with profits.