To commemorate National Apprenticeship Week in November, the City’s Department of Workforce Development hosted a Mayoral Proclamation on Nov. 13, 2023. Councilman Abe McGull presented the proclamation to a group of City employees and partner organizations at the Missouri Job Center.
City staff also gave an update on the early successes of the Apprenticeship Building America grant, a $3 million grant awarded to the department in July 2022 from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant aims to bolster enrollment into existing registered apprenticeships in a 10-country region and create new apprenticeship opportunities in a wide variety of career paths.
The Workforce Development Department reports that early numbers indicate exceeding the pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship enrollment goals by 162%. As of Oct. 31, 2023, 169 individuals were enrolled into registered apprenticeships and 64 into pre-apprenticeships. In addition, the department assisted in the creation of more than 12 new apprenticeship programs and four pre-apprenticeship programs as well as expanding 25 existing programs.
In 2024, the focus of the grant is expanding the registered apprenticeship programs. The department is looking to partner with organizations who already provide hands-on training and skills development or internship programs that can be easily transferred into a registered apprenticeship.
“Our second goal is to improve our information technology sector apprenticeship opportunities. Just under 10% of our applicants are interested in IT-related careers, and we’re doing our best to refer them to traditional education and employment, but we are showing strong demand for these programs in our community,” said Haley Jones-Sides, grant coordinator.
In addition to IT, apprenticeships can be created in health care, public safety, education, manufacturing, construction, renewable energy and transportation/logistics.
The program is available to residents in Greene, Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties. If you are interested in applying for a Registered Apprenticeship, visit springfieldmo.gov/apprenticeships.