Region marks National Apprenticeship Week during November

 

By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
[email protected]

A bevy of events were on tap throughout the week of Nov. 13 through 19, 2023, as the region took its place in nationwide festivities celebrating this year’s National Apprenticeship Week.

One prominent regional event was the Apprenticeship Roundtable held midweek on Nov. 15. 

Hosted by Madison County Employment & Training and St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department Workforce Development Group, this morning session brought together educators, businesses, workforce development entities, elected officials and members from the community to discuss the impact of apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships already in place and those that are soon coming. 

Four panel sessions were hosted during the two-hour-plus morning roundtable session. 

The first panelists were Eric “Duff” Wrobbel with Holly’s House of Hope, City of Collinsville Human Resources Director Payton Drury, and Agency for Community Transit Director of Human Resources Debbie Barron. They talked with attendees about how the apprenticeships for those with special needs are working for their respective entities, some of the challenges and “pain points” that became learning moments along the way, and the continuance and expansion of their participation in the program ahead.

Sitting on the panel for the second topical area were Gateway Apprenticeship Hub Program Coordinator Becca Ryan and McKendree University Grant Administrative Coordinator Elizabeth Ketchum. Ryan and Ketchum provided an update on the Gateway hub program timeline. 

In Summer 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded Madison County and the St. Louis region workforce innovation areas an Apprenticeship Building America grant. This four-year, $5.8 million grant funded the launch of the Gateway Apprenticeship Hub. The hub project aims to register at least 750 new apprentices across the region. It represents the first joint initiative between Illinois and Missouri workforce areas, with a goal of at least 70 percent participation among underserved and underrepresented communities.

“There are currently three focuses for the Hub,” noted Ryan. “They are healthcare, bioscience and education.”

“And we are happy to share that we have the first classroom teacher registered apprenticeship program in the state of Illinois,” said Ketchum. This education apprenticeship program is in elementary education and is delivered online through McKendree University. 

Ketchum further explained that it is a four-semester format as a paraprofessional pathway. Upon completion, a participant will have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and be qualified to teach grades 1 through 6. A special education endorsement is also available and McKendree has reduced its tuition for this pathway program.

Ketchum further noted that McKendree partners with school districts throughout the region, with five districts currently participating. 

Ryan and Ketchum then shared next steps and further developments on tap for the Hub and its programs. Current Hub programs now include medical assisting, CNA, classroom and daycare teaching, certified dietary management and laboratory technician. 

Current Gateway Apprenticeship Hub partners include BioSTL, BJC, UMSL, SIUE, SWIC, Lewis & Clark Community College, Collinsville Area Vocational Center (CAVC), McKendree University, Washington University MGI, Special School District of STL, MC Mental Health Board, YWCA of Metro St. Louis, and the area high schools.

Next up and in progress for the Hub are:

• Pre-apprenticeship opportunities, including SIUE alternative digital credentials for lab tech, SWIC and CAVC for CNA, and high school direct support professional pathways.
• Registered apprenticeship programs including SIUE laboratory technician, Stillwater Senior Living CNA, SWIC and Chestnut Health Systems medical assisting, direct support professional, peer support specialist, and child & family support specialist.
• Additional partnerships with SSM Health, HSHS, Millipore Sigma, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jefferson College, William M. BeDell Achievement & Resource Center and Cedarhurst Senior Living.

The third panel discussion took a deeper dive into the good, the bad, the issues and successes of apprenticeship programs. Panelists included Mac Medical Training Director John Barger and West Star Aviation Vice President of Human Resources Katie Johnson.

Barger first drafted the apprenticeship program for TIG welding at Mac Medical. He said that future developments at Mac Medical include a facility expansion for an on-site training center and their competency-based certificate program. He also enthusiastically shared that their first two apprentices were graduating the next day.

Johnson noted that the recent launch of the West Star Aviation Academy on Nov. 1 had produced over 50 applications for enrollment in their new program just during the first week of the application cycle being open. Johnson also added that they have taken what was formerly a three-year on-the-job training program and narrowed it down to seven-and-a-half months with the launch of their Academy program.

Madison County Employment & Training Director Tony Fuhrmann and St. Clair County Workforce Development Program Coordinator Lee Reese rounded out the morning with a brief panel discussion of what would be happening throughout the rest of the week and highlights from what’s happening across the region.

At the end of National Apprenticeship Week, another key event to take place was hosted at Soulcial Kitchen in Swansea. 

 

 

Fuhrmann and St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants & Economic Development Departments Executive Director Rick Stubblefield were joined by Aon Vice President of Government and Public Affairs Daniel Serota, who also chairs the Apprenticeship Committee for the State of Illinois, in first welcoming a sizable gathering of more than 20 business, industry and community leaders to highlight one of their most innovative programs now being replicated throughout the country. 

Retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. John Michel created Soulcial Kitchen, as well as the Currency of Caring program he has also launched, to advance his mission of fighting against food insecurity in the Metro East. Featuring food trucks in this model, Michel created and launched the first food truck apprenticeship training center on site and is now looking to create a regional network of food trucks.

State Representatives Jay Hoffman and Katie Stuart were also in attendance, helping present proclamations signed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker that were given to various attendees representing key roles in the success of the apprenticeship programs across the region.

Participants then made their way to Gateway Center in Collinsville to celebrate the successes of students with disabilities who have participated in, and completed, apprenticeship programs with the City of Collinsville, West Star Aviation, and the Agency for Community Transit (ACT). 

On Wednesday evening, Nov. 15, a proclamation in observance of National Apprenticeship Week was approved by the Madison County Board. And on Thursday morning, Nov. 16, Fuhrmann spoke about all that is happening with apprenticeships in the Metro East at a breakfast in Granite City hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Southwestern Madison County.

The inaugural group of Apprenticeship Ambassadors was also announced by Apprenticeship Illinois during this national observance week. This 11-member group will share individual experiences as apprentices with businesses, industry, educators, and community leaders, as well as with new possible apprentices. Millenia Wells, an apprentice at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, will represent the southwest Illinois region. 

 

 

This story also appears in the December 2023 print edition of the Illinois Business Journal.