The Division of Economic and Workforce Development at Bossier Parish Community College (BPCC), in partnership with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor, celebrates November 12 – 16 as National Apprenticeship Week.
According to the United States Department of Labor’s website, National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is a “national celebration that offers leaders in business, labor, education, and other critical partners a chance to demonstrate their support for apprenticeship. NAW also gives apprenticeship sponsors the opportunity to showcase their programs, facilities, and apprentices in their community. The week-long event highlights the benefits of apprenticeship in preparing a highly-skilled workforce to meet the talent needs of employers across diverse industries.”
Registered apprenticeships have been utilized to meet the needs of America’s skilled workforce for more than 80 years. Apprenticeship training programs are available in 1,500 occupations across 170 industries found in businesses of all sizes and may last from one to five years.
“BPCC has begun steps as a Registered Apprenticeship Program Sponsor with potential in multiple disciplines to address the skills gap in middle-skilled occupations,” says BPCC’s Vice Chancellor for Economic and Workforce Development Dr. Gayle Flowers. “We are committed to providing a wholesome, ethical, and intellectually stimulating environment where students can develop innovative academic and technical skills needed in our regional workforce and embrace this opportunity to create better lives for our students while meeting the workforce needs of the industry.”
Apprenticeship programs are for individuals of all ages who want to earn a salary while learning and gaining skills and knowledge for profitable and productive employment and offer employers the opportunity to strengthen and build their workforce in a tailored, high-quality talent pipeline.
“Apprenticeship programs also provide an opportunity for businesses to leverage the costs of workforce training, using available federal and state resources to develop and deliver training programs to meet their needs,” says BPCC’s Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeships Program Director Beonica Frazier.
By sponsoring an apprenticeship program, employers can:
- build employee loyalty
- reduce the cost of training
- attract more applicants
- improve productivity
Apprenticeship programs keep pace with advancing technologies and innovations in training and human resource development through the collaborative involvement of employers in the educational process. Apprentices in traditional industries such as construction and manufacturing have expanded to include non-traditional apprentices in growing industries, such as health care, information technology, business, hospitality, transportation, and energy.
