More Idahoans than ever before are using Registered Apprenticeship as a path to advance their job opportunities. For women in the workforce, apprenticeships like those managed by Idaho Health Care Association (IHCA) have proven beneficial in transforming their careers and filling gaps in Idaho’s labor market.
Tag Archives: apprenticeship
8th Grade Career Explorations curriculum now teaches Idaho students about apprenticeship
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Jan. 11, 2023
Media Contact: Jolene.Montoya@idla.k12.id.us
Idaho students will be able to take the updated 8th Grade Career Explorations course containing a brand-new apprenticeship lesson starting this spring.
The Idaho Digital Learning Alliance and the Idaho Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Idaho team have created a new online lesson to meet the needs of the state’s students, businesses and industry sectors. The new class is the first collaboration of its kind between government, businesses and educators in promoting the occupational success of Idaho’s youth.
Idaho’s First Lady reads new children’s book to kick off Apprenticeship Week
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Nov. 17, 2022
Media Contact: Gina.Robison@labor.idaho.gov
Teresa Little at reading event
“Booper Dreams Big: An Almost True Story of Apprenticeship,” is a new Idaho children’s book released today as part of National Apprenticeship Week in Idaho (Nov. 14-20).
Idaho’s First Lady Teresa Little read the new children’s book to a class of third graders at Owyhee Elementary in Nampa as an early kick-off of National Apprenticeship Week. Continue reading
Apprenticeship collaboration connects Idaho health clinics with talent
Mariah Aripa holds her dental assisting apprenticeship completion certificate. Photo courtesy of ICHCA.
Idaho’s labor market has been tight since the pandemic, particularly for specialized industries like health care.
Health clinics already face a heavy administrative burden and managing and paying for training is a big obstacle that gets in the way of staffing and talent recruitment. The Idaho Community Health Centers Association is trying to solve this problem through apprenticeship training and funding coordination. Continue reading
Idaho Apprenticeship Program Allows Quality Electric to Train Women for Highly Skilled, Good-Paying Jobs
Karelyn Kruger, 45, is in her second year of a five-year training program as an electrical apprentice for Quality Electric in Boise. She’s creating a second career after working in retail and raising two children.
“I’m older than the average student,” she says with a wry grin. “I’m too old to go into debt and go back to college, so it seemed like a great opportunity to learn a trade, and they’d pay for my education while providing on-the-job training.”
Kruger had to pass an aptitude test, math test and have a GED or high school education to get into the Southwest Idaho Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) program. Once you pass those tests, “you’re guaranteed a job” while you work under the supervision of an experienced journeyman electrician, she says.
Apprenticeship Profile: Idaho Forest Group creates new careers for its employees.
Billie Jo Spencer, a filer bencher apprentice at the Moyie Springs sawmill near Bonners Ferry for Idaho Forest Group (IFG), has been moving up the pay scale by increasing her job skills through IFG and Idaho Department of Labor apprenticeship programs.
Billie Jo Spencer
The Moyie Springs mill produces about 200 million board feet of dimension lumber products per year. It requires a skilled work force to keep the mill running smoothly and efficiently, IFG officials say.
Spencer started working for IFG 12 years ago, driving a fork lift. She completed the Filer-Fitter apprenticeship a couple years ago, and she’s working on her second apprenticeship as a saw filer.
“I’m always learning something,” she says. “I’m putting teeth in the saws and welding the shoulders.”
There are three levels of being a filer bencher, Spencer says. She’s on level one right now, and hopes to continue to move up to the higher levels. IFG mills are highly automated for efficiency. At the Moyie mill, raw logs are rough-cut by special machinery as they enter the mill on a conveyer belt. Farther down the line, the large blocks of wood are sawed into stud lumber in 8- and 9-foot- long sections. Continue reading
Machine Operator Apprenticeship Opens Doors for Four Magic Valley Students
Program leads to full-time jobs with livable wages
Sabastian Juarez and three classmates – Tanner Pratt, Jonathon Lizardi and Andres Gutierrez – have taken control of their futures and are ready for full-time careers with solid livable wages.
The four high school students recently completed a multi-year registered apprenticeship for machine operators that included 150 hours of early-morning classroom work and 2,000 hours of on-the-job training.
Sabastian Juarez at work at High Desert Milk in Burley. Photo courtesy High Desert Milk.
Juarez is now 21 years old with a full-time job at High Desert Milk in Burley, making $25 an hour as an assistant shift supervisor.
“Sabastian, he’s phenomenal,” said Tory Bailey, human resources manager at High Desert Milk and classroom instructor for the machine operator apprenticeship. “He can run anything in the plant. He’s very driven and a quick-learner.”
The Idaho Department of Labor spent five years building the machine operator apprenticeship from scratch at the request of local manufacturing companies like McCain Foods, High Desert Milk and Fabri-Kal.
Governor Little Proclaims Apprenticeship Month 2021
On Nov. 15, 2021, Idaho Gov. Brad Little held a press conference at the Boys and Girls Club of Ada County in Garden City to sign a proclamation declaring November as Idaho Apprenticeship Month, coinciding with National Apprenticeship Week, which is Nov. 15-21. Read the proclamation here.
Gov. Brad Little signs the proclamation designating Nov. 15-18 National Apprenticeship Week in Idaho.
Additionally, the mayors of Caldwell, Idaho Falls, Nampa, Meridian and Pocatello have proclaimed Nov. 15-21 as Apprenticeship Week in their municipalities.
The 7th annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) taking place Nov. 15 – 21, 2021, is a nationwide celebration where industry, labor, equity, workforce, education and government leaders host events to showcase the successes and value of Registered Apprenticeship for re-building our economy and supporting underserved communities. NAW is an opportunity to highlight how Registered Apprenticeship, a proven and industry-driven training model, provides a critical talent pipeline that can help address some of our nation’s pressing workforce challenges such as responding to critical supply chain demands and supporting a clean energy workforce, modernizing our cybersecurity response, addressing public health issues and rebuilding our country’s infrastructure.
For more information about statewide activities, visit the Apprenticeship.gov website.
To learn more about Registered Apprenticeship in Idaho, visit apprenticeshipidaho.gov
National Apprenticeship Week Set for Nov. 15-21
Idaho business and labor leaders, educational institutions, state agencies and workforce centers will spend National Apprenticeship Week 2021 coming up with new strategies and creative ideas for tapping apprenticeships as a way to meet the talent needs of employers.
First observed in November 2015, National Apprenticeship Week celebrates the role of apprenticeship in helping workers earn while they learn and grow the economy.
Nationally, 221,000 people enrolled in one of 26,000 active registered apprenticeship programs in fiscal year 2020. Nearly 3,143 of the active programs were new. The total number of workers enrolled in reached 636,000 with more than 82,000 apprentices graduating from the system.
Idaho Receives $4.25 Million Federal Grant to Expand, Diversify Registered Apprenticeships
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: July 2, 2021
Media Contacts: Darlene Carnopis, darlene.carnopis@labor.idaho.gov or Gina Robison, gina.robison@labor.idaho.gov
Idaho is one of 15 states to receive a U.S Department of Labor grant to expand its Apprenticeship Idaho program. The $4.25 million grant will be administered by the Idaho Department of Labor.
“Idaho employers have one thing in common – they tell me they need a pipeline of skilled workers with industry-specific training and hands-on experience,” Governor Brad Little said. “By participating in a Registered Apprenticeship program, these same employers can create a customized talent pipeline with extensive education and training in one of more than 1,200 occupations.”