$6.5 Million in PAsmart Apprenticeship Grants to Expand Job Training Across Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, PA – Building on Governor Tom Wolf’s plan to expand job training for Pennsylvanians, Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Jerry Oleksiak today announced more than $6.5 million in PAsmartOpens In A New Window Registered Apprenticeship Grants to increase opportunities for workers to “earn while they learn.” The governor launched PAsmart in 2018 to increase STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and computer science education, registered apprenticeships and job training opportunities to prepare workers with the skills that growing businesses need.

“Apprenticeship programs are a great way for workers to advance their skills with on-the-job training while earning a paycheck,” said L&I Secretary Jerry Oleksiak. “PAsmart was created as part of a broad strategy to increase job training for workers and strengthen our state’s workforce. Through these competitive grants, Pennsylvania is training and retraining workers and creating a more productive, diverse, and skilled labor force that our growing industries want.”

The $6.5 million in PAsmart Apprenticeship Grants is part of $40 million the governor secured this year, which includes $20 million to support apprenticeships, Next Generation Industry Partnerships and career and technical education. PAsmart also provides $20 million to expand science and technology education in schools.

Registered apprenticeship programs combine classroom education to learn about concepts, terminology, procedures, safety requirements, and basic tools with on-the-job training to get hands-on experience. The number of new apprentices in Pennsylvania annually has tripled to more than 4,700 since the Wolf administration launched the Apprenticeship and Training Office (ATO) in 2016.

Funds from the PAsmart grants will invest $1.6 million toward supporting registered apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship through Ambassador Networks, more than $2.9 million to build a diverse talent pipeline and expand non-traditional registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, and $2 million to build diversity within the construction and building trades.

The following are the PAsmart Registered Apprenticeship Grants awarded. To view full details, visit PAsmart Regional Grants.

ABC of Eastern PA (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia – $319,988)
The activities funded by this grant will create a diverse pipeline that will include at least 15 construction companies, who will hire 30 apprentices out of a pool of 60 pre-apprentices who will enter the state’s ATO Registered programs, sponsored by ABC, after completing a Construction Industry Boot Camp (with 100 participants).

Arcadia University (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia – $212,500)
Expand our existing program by building a diverse pipeline of Registered Apprentices from non-traditional populations that include women, people of color, and those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. As a part of this grant we will partner with at least four early childhood businesses in our area and recruit 15 registered apprentices.

Berks Connections/Pretrial Services (Berks – $331,291)
R3 Prep for Adults will enhance Rebuilding Reentrants & Reading (R3) a registered pre-apprenticeship program in the construction trades that serves individuals with criminal justice system involvement.

Catalyst Connection (Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland – $190,375)
This project will add 15 apprentices to our industrial manufacturing technician (IMT) apprenticeship program, with recruitment from minority and disadvantaged communities.  We plan to partner with Hazelwood, Aliquippa, Homewood, Clairton, Garfield, and other similar neighborhoods.

Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, and Union – $250,000)
CPWDC proposes to develop a CNC apprenticeship eco-system in established partnership with a consortium of five local businesses and six school districts/career & technology centers. A CNC pre-apprenticeship program will be certified and implemented enrolling 59 non-traditional secondary students from 19 districts in Central PA during the grant period.

Community College of Allegheny County (Allegheny and Washington – $212,500)
The goal of CCAC’s PAsmart Growing RA grant application is to enhance and expand the RA system in Western Pennsylvania by leveraging apprenticeships CCAC currently has registered and is in the process of registering.

District 1199C Training (Statewide – $500,000)
The ECE Apprenticeship Ambassador Network will lead to comprehensive, sustainable funding, including wage increases; effective data systems that inform next steps; continued collaboration for collective impact; recognition of apprenticeship as a pathway to career advancement.

Finishing Trades Institute of the Mid-Atlantic Region (Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Philadelphia – $191,578)
The Finishing Trades Institute of the Mid-Atlantic Region is seeking funds to certify pre-apprentices and apprentices in trade related applications used in the construction industry. The plan is to train 180 pre-apprentices and 120 apprentices during the course of the grant.

JEVS Human Services (Allegheny, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Philadelphia – $212,500)
JEVS proposes to build capacity as an apprenticeship intermediary. Together with our partners, we will expand our apprenticeship models in information technology (IT), health care, and manufacturing to improve services to regional employers.

Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. (Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, and Washington – $242,880)
JA Careers in Skilled Trades will explore the educational and occupational pathways to obtain careers in the skilled trades, builder trades and manufacturing.  We propose to develop three levels of JA Careers in Skilled Trades curriculum to be implemented in grades three – five, six – eight, and nine – 12 as these are the years when students begin to think about their career path as purely academic, vocational, or a combination.

Keystone College (Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming – $173,841)
Keystone College proposes a registered early childhood apprenticeship program as a new initiative to serve 15 apprentices. The proposal will expand the pipeline by enrolling a minimum of 25 apprentices to work in an early childhood program in 2020 through 2022.

Keystone Development Partnership (Statewide – $350,000)
Keystone Development Partnership (KDP) will expand the registered apprenticeship (RA) Navigator apprenticeship for workforce development intermediaries. KDP will start a new cohort in the Southeast PA region and enroll apprentices in Western and Central PA to expand the program across the commonwealth in 2020.

Lehigh Carbon Community College (Carbon, Lehigh, and Schuylkill – $200,000)
Lehigh Carbon Community College will build upon our existing pre-apprenticeship programming in production technology and expand capacity to create a pipeline of individuals ready for entry into the growing number of mechatronic apprenticeships in our region.

The Manufacturer’s Association (Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, York – $250,000)
The purpose of this project is to establish a registered apprenticeship ecosystem in South Central PA through expansion of employer participation, increasing the number of journey workers, apprentices and pre-apprentice, increasing participation of non-traditional populations and the alignment of resources to support economic growth.

Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology (Huntingdon, Junita, Lycoming, and Mifflin – $319,988)
The Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology (The Academy) proposes to develop a significant talent pipeline of diverse employees with a commercial driver’s license to support the building and construction industry.  The school is committed to utilizing the funds from this grant to cover the costs of training for a minimum of seventy-five (75) apprentices and pre-apprentices in the program.

NuPaths, LLC (Statewide – $212,416)
Build Distance Learning Training programs for:  SOC Analyst (Cyber Security career path) program, Network Technician (Tech Support pathway) program. Deliver pre-apprenticeship training to 30 students (15 per program), in a blended (hybrid) format.

Pennsylvania College of Technology (Statewide – $212,500)
Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT) to expand and diversify registered apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs in advanced manufacturing (AM) and health care sectors statewide.

The Philadelphia Academies, Inc.  (Philadelphia – $198,329)
This project represents an expansion of a recently registered pre-apprenticeship program (at Parkway West High School in Philadelphia) in a non-traditional industry (Early Childhood Education) that establishes a pipeline to a RA program training at least thirty (30) pre-apprentices from non-traditional populations (women, minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged individuals).

Philadelphia Works on behalf of Apprenticeship PHL (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Philadelphia, and Montgomery – $350,000)
The Southeast Pennsylvania Region Registered Apprenticeship Ambassador Network plans to continue operations and expand through the availability of registered apprenticeship program funding for apprentices in the Apprenticeship Navigator Registered Apprenticeship program and the running of a second cohort of this program. 

Pittsburgh Chapter, German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington, and Westmoreland – $250,000)
Address skills gaps in the southwestern Pennsylvania advanced manufacturing workforce through the dual apprenticeship program.

Rhoads Industries (Philadelphia – $194,273)
Philadelphia Works, Rhoads Industries and Derbyshire Machine and Tool Co.  propose developing an innovative entry level pre-apprenticeship career pipeline to address the recruitment and talent development needs of small and medium sized manufacturing firms in the defense industrial base in the Philadelphia region.

Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board (Beaver – $400,000)                                  
The primary goal of the ecosystem is building diversity within the construction and building trades. SCWDB is a part of an area-wide effort on apprenticeships with a number of partners who are leaders in apprenticeship-development. Keystone Development Partnership, along with local joint apprenticeship training centers, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), the Beaver County Career & Technical Center, Community College of Allegheny County, and the Beaver County and Pittsburgh Building and Construction Trades Councils, work to strengthen apprenticeship opportunities.

Thomas P. Miller and Associates (Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, and Warren – $400,000)
The NWPA Registered Apprenticeship Ambassador Network is committed to increase registered apprenticeships that will combat the socio-economic issues that plague the NW region.

TranZed Apprenticeships (Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York – $212,500)
The initiative aims to place 20 RA’s recruited from pre-apprentice partner organizations with diverse-IT PA employer-partners, all while continuing outreach to attract and work alongside new employer- and programmatic-partners.

The Wistar Institute (Philadelphia – $212,499)
The Expansion, Curriculum Evolution and Enhancement During Biomedical Technician Training (ExCEED BTT) program will enhance training and increase opportunities for Pennsylvania community college students to participate in paid pre-apprenticeship experiences, which will put them on career path for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries.

For more information about pursuing an education and career in Pennsylvania at any stage of life, visit PAsmart