Tracy Osborne Clay, registered apprenticeship program coordinator from the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, recently visited Carl D. Perkins Job Corps to train several staff from the Perkins Job Corps and other Job Corps centers in Kentucky, Kentucky Outreach/Career Transition staff from Lexington and Louisville offices, and Horizons Youth Services corporate staff. As part of the training, Clay informed Job Corps staff about what the apprenticeship programs offer employers and students. Clay explained that apprenticeships allow employers to design their own training program tailored to the company’s needs; apprentices earn while they learn; and the program offers an innovative employee training model that combines at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job training with 144 additional hours per year of related technical instruction.

Kentucky currently has several apprenticeships in the following industries: Early Childhood Education, Manufacturing, Telecommunications, Information Technology/Networking, Health Care, Construction, Public Utilities, Service and Retail Industries. Apprentices who complete the program are highly skilled workers who receive a certificate from the federal Department of Labor.

Perkins wants to thank the KY Labor Cabinet for all of their support assisting the Job Corps centers on learning more about apprenticeship programs.