Department of Labor recognizes Crowder College as Apprenticeship Sponsor

(From Crowder College)

Crowder College received approval from the Department of Labor that recognizes the institution as an official Apprenticeship Sponsor.

The College currently has two apprenticeship programs; Carpentry apprenticeship with Branco Enterprises, Inc. and an Electrical apprenticeship with Bill’s Electric, Inc. Prior to being recognized as an official apprenticeship sponsor Crowder became a member of the Registered Apprenticeship-College Consortium (RACC) in November 2015. RACC is a network of colleges and registered apprenticeship programs working together to provide college-to-career opportunities.

Crowder began working with Branco’s Carpentry Apprenticeship program in August 2016 with Bill’s Electric starting this fall at the Joplin Advanced Training & Technology Center. The BEI program was made possible through an Apprenticeship USA Grant through the Missouri Workforce Development.

Registered Apprenticeship is a proven and structured “earn and learn” model that pairs paid on-the-job with related technical classroom instruction in a number of career fields. Apprenticeship programs are available in 1500 occupations over 170 industries found in businesses of all sizes and last from 1-5 years.

To achieve the status of a Registered Apprenticeship Sponsor with the Department of Labor is very gratifying. A number of our employees and business partners have worked hard the last three years to get us to this point. Apprenticeships are a wonderful opportunity for working adults to advance their skills and education without giving up employment. The advantage for employers is the ability to invest in and develop their own workforce. I am proud that Crowder College is able to add registered apprenticeships to our menu of educational options.