Urban policymakers should make a strong investment in funding apprenticeship programs that help those from their most underserved communities enter into career fields with strong earnings and growth. By providing strong hands on training in high wage/high growth fields, such as tech or entrepreneurship, policymakers can help residents who may not have received adequate educational preparation build key job skills and find stable employment.
Furthermore, in a political environment where big initiatives can often be hard to implement, apprenticeship programs have long had bipartisan support. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that over 91% of all apprentices retain employment upon completion of their apprenticeship.
Here in the District of Columbia, we have committed to increasing the number of registered apprenticeships through our Apprenticeship DC initiative. In September of this year, we awarded approximately $400,000 in grants to local businesses and community-based organizations that target the IT, construction, and infrastructure industries.
Apprenticeship DC promotes both pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship work-based learning models. Over the next year, we will work with local business owners and community advocates to build upon this effort and target resources to maximize the number of apprenticeships available for our communities.
Through this initiative and the D.C. Infrastructure Academy, we hope to prove to
Washingtonians that we are committed to ensuring that all District residents are able to participate in District’s growing economy.
As officials and policymakers in other urban areas deal with their own economic gaps, I hope that they will take a look at what we have done here in the District with our apprenticeship programs and embrace this model as a strong workforce development tool.
(Odie Donald II is director of the DC Department of Employment Services.)
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