TELL CITY, IN – On Dec. 16, the first three students in the newly formed U.S. Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Program with Commonwealth Rolled Products in Lewisport, KY, graduated with an interdisciplinary technical certificate from Ivy Tech Community College. The program included a mix of courses, selected by the employer, to give the students the skills the employer wanted them to have.
Graduates include: Brian McBride, Chris Meadows, and Mike Owens, all employees at Commonwealth Rolled Products.
Commonwealth Rolled Products and Ivy Tech were able to develop this program through grant funding provided by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Building America program.
Ivy Tech Community College is providing the related training required by the U.S. Department of Labor for registered apprenticeship programs. Each program is supported with an interdisciplinary industrial workforce technical certificate which is customized to the specific needs of a company. Commonwealth’s training was developed through a collaboration with the Ivy+ Career Link team, the School of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering and Applied Science, and Katie King, site director of Ivy Tech’s Tell City location.
Evansville campus Chancellor Daniela Vidal urges any company interested in partnering to develop an apprenticeship program to reach out. “Giving employers the ability to skill up their workforce, and provide meaningful training and skills to their employees, is one of the things Ivy Tech does best.” Employers may partner with Ivy Tech by contacting Ivy+ Career Link at 812-492-0269.
The Apprenticeship Building America grant program is designed to expand and modernize registered apprenticeship by increasing the number of programs and apprentices, diversifying the industries that use registered apprenticeships and improving the access to and performance of registered apprenticeship programs for underrepresented and underserved communities.
