ValleyBuild, along with its partners in workforce, the building trades and educational institutions, is observing National Apprenticeship Week with a spotlight on the value and importance of an apprenticeship career path.
This is the 10th anniversary of the National Apprenticeship Week initiative, celebrated this year from Nov. 17 through 23. The week-long observance is designed to showcase the life-changing potential of registered apprenticeships – a path to good-paying careers, especially in the building and construction trades.
“Men and women throughout our communities are transforming their lives – and their family’s lives – through the power of apprenticeship in the trades,” said Chuck Riojas, financial secretary/treasurer of the Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, a key partner in ValleyBuild.
“National Apprenticeship Week allows us to celebrate those individuals along with ValleyBuild, our highly successful Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) Apprenticeship Readiness training that is the gold standard for these types of programs. ValleyBuild graduates are a growing part of the skilled workforce we need to build current and future construction projects in the region and beyond.”
ValleyBuild is a mainly state grant-funded partnership operating in a 14-county region within the Central Valley. ValleyBuild unites workforce development boards, building trades councils and other partners to recruit and train men and women for construction-related jobs.
Regional Events Promote Apprenticeship Training Opportunities
Several events are planned in Fresno and Kern counties in coordination with National Apprenticeship Week Nov. 17 through 23.
The Kern, Inyo, Mono Counties Building and Construction Trades Council will hold two events in partnership with the Kern High School District and the Kern Community College District. The annual Women in Trades workshop on Nov. 20 invites high school girls to explore the various building trades and hear from a panel of apprentices and journeymen.
On Nov. 21, the trades and partners host an apprenticeship event open to area high school students. Both events typically draw several hundred students.
Alissa Reed, executive secretary of the Trades Council, said scheduling the events during National Apprenticeship Week made sense because they share the goal of promoting apprenticeship opportunities.
“The high school events are all about making them (students) aware of options,” she said. “What we typically find is that if people don’t know someone in a union trade, they’re not aware of the potential of the career and the training available in apprenticeship programs.”
In Fresno, the National Apprenticeship Week event is a Trade & CTE (Career and Technical Education) Expo on Nov. 22 at Fresno City College’s new West Campus, 600 E. Church Ave. The expo is open to the public and runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“The whole goal of the event is to showcase what we offer here in the Valley – specifically construction, in our case,” said Beatriz Lopez, senior project coordinator with ValleyBuild and the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board, a leading partner in the program. “We want to make sure we allow the public to explore what it’s like to be in this industry.”
The expo will include information tables hosted by individual building trades, the Workforce Connection, State Center Community College District and Fresno City College, and a panel with current apprentices. Hundreds of MC3 graduates also will be given the chance to learn about receiving college credit for completing past training programs.
Sponsors of the event include ValleyBuild, Fresno City College, ValleyBuild NOW (Non-traditional Occupations for Women) and the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board.
