Dive Brief:
- U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez brought $200,000 to Wisconsin and encouraging words about a career in the trades to Milwaukee Area Technical College students, the Journal Sentinel reported.
- The $200,000 grant is in addition to $11 million in Wisconsin federal apprenticeship program funds the state has received since 2014, which is part of a nationwide $90 million Congressional apprenticeship grant, and a $3 million American Apprenticeship grant Milwaukee shares with St. Louis and Detroit, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal.
- Students from MATC will take their apprenticeships at the new $524 million Milwaukee Bucks arena, where stadium officials have promised that at least 40% of construction workers will be local, and 50% of permanent workers will be from the most economically deprived city areas.
Dive Insight:
The Department of Labor also announced on Thursday that, as part of the $90 million in apprenticeship funding, it is releasing $10.4 million in grants to be divvied up among all 50 states, the Virgin Islands and Washington, DC.
The Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board and the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership/Big Step building industry group will administer Milwaukee's cut of the $3 million American Apprenticeship grant, and the apprenticeships will concentrate on construction, manufacturing, health care, information technology and financial services.
The lack of skilled labor has been the focal point of a serious conversation in the construction industry ever since increased activity after the Great Recession was at risk of colliding with the impending retirement of existing skilled workers. In fact, in a September Associated General Contractors of America survey, 86% of contractors surveyed nationwide said they were concerned about how they would continue to find enough qualified craft workers and salaried personnel going forward.
This has led to groups like the AGC to develop their own construction industry workforce development programs, which include increased outreach to younger workers in high school and technical schools like MATC. And the staff members in those schools are constantly fighting, on their students' behalf, the misconceptions and stigma associated with a career in the construction trades.
Mandy Mayberry, communications and marketing director for Autry Technology Center in Enid, OK, told Construction Dive in January that she believes getting young people to understand the earning potential and future career opportunities open to them without racking up student debt is critical if the industry hopes to see a shift of younger workers choosing the trades.