MTWC hosted this webinar on December 8, 2016. What follows is the transcript of that webinar. The full webinar recording may also be viewed at the link below. Additionally, the slides are available for download.
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Transcript
ADAMS: Hello and welcome to our webinar on accelerating apprenticeship in the transportation sector. This is Teresa Adams speaking. I’m Director of the Midwest Transportation Workforce Center at the University of Wisconsin. For this first webinar on apprenticeship, we have over 100 registrants representing community-based and regional workforce development organizations, state workforce investment boards, state and department of labor apprenticeship directors, economic development organizations, state departments of transportation, industry representatives from trucking and rail, and educators with participants representing high school, community, technical colleges including tribal colleges and four-year universities. I want to extend a special welcome to members of the MTWC advisory board and those who participated in our regional summit last year. For those who are not familiar with the MTWC, we are one of five centers funded by the Federal Highway Administration to facilitate innovation and strategic partnership approaches to transportation workforce development. The five centers work together as the National Network for the Transportation Workforce. MTWC has partnered with Harper College to develop this webinar series. Harper College is recognized pioneer in developing best practices for community colleges as the sponsor of Registered Apprenticeships. We have Dr. Rebecca Lake, the Dean of Workforce & Economic Development joining us today. She will say a few words later.
Today’s webinar is an introduction to Registered Apprenticeships. The purpose is to educate the audience about the benefits and opportunities for apprenticeship programs and then connect you with the experts, resources, and community of practice for apprenticeship programs in the transportation sector.
Or second and third webinars will get into more detail. In February we’ll focus on community colleges and how they can become Registered Apprenticeship sponsors. In March, our third webinar focuses on the role of industry and best practices for partnering with industry.
The agenda for today’s webinar. We’ll hear from four apprenticeship program experts. First you’ll hear about initiatives at the department of labor including the TransPORTS and FASTPORT grants for intermediaries to expand and advance apprenticeship in the transportation & logistics centers of excellence. We’ll have time for questions and then we’ll give you a brief overview of what to expect in webinar number two. As a reminder please enter your questions in the chat area. We’ll try to get to all the questions but even if we don’t get to all the questions, there will be a follow-up teleconference on Monday.
So without further delay it is my pleasure to welcome Bill Kraus from the U.S. Department of Labor as our speaker. Bill is the point of contact for accelerating apprenticeship in the TD&L sector. He is also the Director for the Office of Apprenticeship for the state of Georgia.
KRAUS: Good afternoon everyone. It is an absolute pleasure to be here. Teresa, thank you for inviting us. Rebecca, I want to thank you for being such a pioneer in getting technical, community and neighborhood colleges to understand apprenticeship and move forward with the sponsorship of programs. You lead by example and we thank you for that.
LAKE: You’re welcome.
KRAUS: Today we are going to cover a lot of ground in 20 minutes. There are some areas that we won’t be discussing in great depth. I invite everyone to write their questions or come to the session on Monday and we’ll answer individual questions. I work closely with the Department of Transportation, Department of Commerce in every sector you can imagine. I am an intermodal guy. In addition, I do bring about 20 years in the Navy as a Supply and Transportation Officer with me. I understand the most important person in this picture is the consumer and the producer and we need to be able to serve that train of workforce for tomorrow. We are looking at workforce shortages. We are looking at growth and at attrition. So, apprenticeship can be your answer. How familiar are you with Registered Apprenticeship? What is it? It’s a time-proven system that goes way back to the guilds when you had a mentor and a junior learning. It’s not just about construction. It’s about all occupations. We cover a lot of transportation occupations. We do have occupations like violin maker, and baker, and able-bodied seamen and xylophone repair. We cover a lot of areas. There are 1,000 occupations that we work with. We are expanding out. I know there are a lot of folks on the call who are in the high school and technical college area. You are primed for this. We are looking at this transitional program from high school to college to work. It’s not either or anymore, it’s both.
What is Registered Apprenticeship? We always talk about it but this really sums it up nicely. You have to have the employer. Someone has to pay. Someone has to be employed, you have to be able to support your family on your paycheck. What are you going to be doing? You are going to be working for an employer while you are learning. What does it include? Structured, on the job learning. Every occupation has a curriculum. Industry standard. It can be customized, make it able for the individual apprentice to become expert in that occupation. What we do is also going to school. You need to know why you are doing something, not just how to do it. And that is the theoretical piece that many of the participants on this call are involved in. It’s learning why you are doing something. How did you get there? So, it’s very important that we know why and we know how. And what happens as the employer – two years, three years, whatever the program may be – your wages increase commensurate with your abilities. Your employer is going to pay you more because your productivity is going up and your knowledge of the industry is going up. This is a great way to achieve stackable credentials. It’s not just the OSHA 10 card or the CPR card. It’s the school becoming accredited as a Registered Apprenticeship sponsor. This means you meet the requirements of being a participant in the Registered Apprenticeship system. Additionally, we credential the apprentice as he or she completes the program. Makes it so their diploma that says they are a truck driver or diesel mechanic has tremendous value in the industry. That means you met the requirements to be called that occupation and there’s no question about the standardization and excellence of the degree.
Who are the key role players? The employer. Without the employer there is no program. The employer is paying the wages and provides the on the job learning piece. Sponsors. In the State of Georgia, I have eight of my technical colleges now who are Registered Apprenticeship sponsors. FASTPORT–you’ll hear from Dave later on–is a Registered Apprenticeship sponsor. TransPORT is going to be a Registered Apprenticeship sponsor. There are many ways you can do this. You can use the intermediaries, you can use the employers, you can use not for profits, you can use technical colleges. And one of the questions was, Can the Transportation Department in my state do it? Yes they can. Government can sponsor programs also. And everybody comes together in a supportive nature. When we talk about a Registered Apprenticeship we talk about the connection between the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. We look at the Workforce Development Boards. We look at out of school youth funding. We look at abilities to use some funding to take individuals who have barriers to employment and overcome those. This is a great way to bring everything together.
There it is, that’s what happens when you finish your credentialing, you get a certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor signed by the Secretary stating that you are an expert in this occupation. Is it portable? Yes. Is it national? Yes. Is it industry recognized? Yes. Because industry has helped set the standards of the excellence that has to be achieved.
There are more than a thousand occupations. In transportation there are many many occupations. It’s not just the person who is driving a truck. It is also people who are working on the rail systems. It’s people who are working on the ports. It’s aerospace. It’s the supportive services around those occupations. The link that you have there is a listing of the occupations. We have about 2,000 work processes which define what you have to learn.
Are we expanding? Boy are we expanding. Since 2013 we have jumped to over 500 thousand apprentices. Our goal is to go to 750 thousand. We are well on our way. We are doing well. When we started going into this, the Secretary did travel around the world and learned how things are happening in the U.K., Germany, and Switzerland. These countries have used, and continue to use, registered apprenticeship as a way to to train their workforce to move forward. These are really good programs that do great work. So, we’ve copied some of their programs.
For the first time ever, we have actually put money behind these programs. We a quarter of a billion dollars of dedicated funds for Registered Apprenticeship. There is money out there in the AAI grants.
In addition, there is $90 million that has been put out there for programs such as the expansion program, the diversity program, the industry partnerships and so on. We’re lucky we have two of the contractors on the phone call today and they’re going to go through a little bit with you how we all work together. We’re not just saying do it, we’re investing in it and we’re augmenting the cost.
Another point I want to touch on briefly is the Registered Apprenticeship College Consortium. Many of the schools that are on this call are part of this. What does that mean? Well there are about 300 registered so far and almost 1000 training centers and national organizations. We basically come together to talk about what do we do? How do we make things work? How do we work with education? How do we do the college and career centers? There are a lot of pieces and the RACC is very good at putting that together. Laura Ginsberg is doing a lot of this work. In addition, Amy Firestone, who will be on the Monday call, is our resident expert and will answer any questions that you have regarding the role of the education community in Registered Apprenticeship.
Another piece that is important is you have to find resources that can be used. Yes there are apprenticeship grants out there. However, it’s Pell Grants. These programs can be used to augment and supplement the cost of Registered Apprenticeship. And this works very well. Also in each state there may be different programs that may be available such as tax break programs. Our goal as a consortium is to help identify where this money is and how it can be used.
Who wins? Its win-win-win-win. The apprentice wins because they get their associates degree or their diploma or their certification. The educational institution wins because they become closer to their community. They also increase their enrollment. Businesses, employers, unions increase effort to bring quality people in. State and federal government benefit because we’re in this period of growth. If you read the papers you’ll see there’s going to be an investment in infrastructure. This will increase productivity. Will increase the use of technology.
What does that mean? More transportation needs. Better rails, roads, highways, and airports.
We have so many resources out there. This is just a piece of it. We’ll share this with Teresa and Maria. These are online also. Feel free to use them, customize them, make them relevant to your employers.
Moving forward we’re going to look at these resources. We’re going to try to put together some materials that will cover the different types of incentive programs that are out there. I would encourage you to contact your state director. There are a lot of great state directors out there and they will be able to assist you with this process. Join the RACC. Talk to us. Use the power and expertise of FASTPORT, of TRANSPORT. Barabara and Dave bring lots of years into this enterprise, into transportation. They’ve seen almost everything and their goal is to help develop programs in your area. They can do it in many ways. They can do it through consortia. They can do it through individual employers. They can do it through self sponsorship. There are a lot of great things happening. One thing that I never thought I would being a federal employee. Is that this program has increased flexibility. This is being driven by employers. They are hungry for talented individuals who can be trained in the occupation that they need whether it be sea, land, or rail. There is so much growth happening at the same time that we are having tremendous attrition. Our numbers are going to be really big, important. We need to move quickly to make sure we meet the needs of the economy as it grows.
I am very proud to introduce a friend and colleague of mine, Baraba Murray for the program TransPORTs.
MURRAY: Good afternoon. This is Barbara Murray, I’m the subject matter expert, or better known as the director of the TransPORTs program. TransPORTs is a national collaborative of experts in apprenticeship whose work is increasing more the partnerships we have, creating new partnerships with employers and colleges all with the goal to increase the number of Registered Apprenticeship programs and the number of transportation apprentices nationwide.
TransPORTs is the collaboration of many, many years of experience. I teach people who are based out of Louisiana but we are serving nationally. And the Department of Labor shoes us as one of the intermediaries to work directly in developing RA programs and expanding the number of apprentices in the transportation industry.
The approach that we use is muli-modal. All modes including air, rail, waterways, roads. Ways of looking at logistics and how we work with that in expanding apprenticeship.
Looking at the national scope, TransPORTs has partners in each of these areas. They are all pointing towards Louisiana. What is happening nationally in transportation and logistics. Myself and Alan Walker who will be canvasing across the nation working in each of those areas. We have various consortia.
The process we’re working with is taking it from a regional approach and having the employers work together in groups identifying who needs to be there, identifying champions, and what the employer needs. And then we identify the education providers, the actual national programs we’re looking at so it makes it simpler for small employers to also take apprentices.
We’re now setting up and over the next two months on two-day workshops. One day the apprenticeship workshop with a focus group on the other day. What those needs are and then rank what those occupational pieces are that we are focusing on now and what else is out there and being sure we can make it simplest for the employer and the apprentice.
Our program development is sponsorship that we’re working with the Department of Labor and the funding that we have. We’re able to incentivize companies and help out where before there was a problem. These are some of the options we are able to offer. Consortium meetings. We’ll gather those leaders together so we can craft best practices. We’ll take the best of everybody. We’ll develop it further and then work with those other areas that have also been funded in this initiative.
There is our contact information. Myself, I’ve worked with this for almost 20 years in building new apprenticeship programs regionally and I’ve been working with this nationally. Walker is my colleague who has many years of actually he is a journeyman himself and he will be helping with canvasing the country. Now I’d like to introduce Dave Harrison.
HARRISON: Hello and thank you very much. I’ve been in transportation for 20 years. I’ve designed the program in the initial national apprenticeship pilot program for J.B. Hunt TransPORT. Then FASTPORT was awarded the contract to expand nationally in the transportation sector and I got asked to join that effort and my principal role is to expand apprenticeship, build apprenticeships where there are none, and then help those either develop self-perpetuating programs and help them find funding as well. That’s my mission in life and it’s a five-year mission. We’re boldly going where no man has gone before.
If you are an employer or you have a connection with an employer that seeks to have an apprenticeship but doesn’t have one, or has one and wants to expand it in the transportation sector. Currently, we have a national standard for truck driver in place. In a matter of days that employer can be an apprenticeship provider for truck drivers. We will have one for brokerage finished by the end of this month. We will have one for diesel mechanic and some technical related fields to include trailer tech and some other nuanced elements within that sector to follow. Eventually, there will be Management Trainee as well all for the transportation industry.
Anyone who has some ideas or a severe need for another position, please get in contact with me and we will build a standard for it. We will make that happen. So essentially if an employer wants to become and apprenticeship provider that can do it in a matter of days. And as we finish the standards for the other positions, it will be just that easy as well.
The flexibility that Bill referred to is designed not to change the business model for businesses. So, if one carrier want to join in and their particular set of hours is different, the system that we have built in allows for that kind of flexibility. So we can plug and play this in the matter of days. Along with that, if someone is trying to build a program from scratch from a training outline and they have not been training drivers. I did that with J.B. Hunt. That was my role and function as well as building the military program. So, that is part of the deal. We are here to help not only the expansion of apprenticeship. But those who have never done it before, we can walk them through some of the pitfalls and past those obstacles that we all hit when we do that.
Also, if you are training provider or school of any type along those lines (truck driver or diesel mechanic), contact me and we will put you on the training provider list so we can pair you both with the consortium and with the employers. We already have six commitments or the expanding ones in this program right now and we’re not going to be slowing down.
KRAUS: Before I turn it back to Teresa, I just want to mention is that, while this program may seem new to a lot of folks it has been around for a lot of years. One thing that is new is the flexibility and that we can have a no wrong door approach to Registered Apprenticeship. The individuals you work with whether it be Dave, or Barabara, or me, or it could be Charlie in Massachusettes. You will get great service and we will walk you through the process and we will help you make the decision. Just remember, this meets the needs of the employer. They drive the process and then we fill in the schooling behind it. In addition, lastly, this is very big in the veterans community. Veterans will be able to access the GI Bill benefits as they go through the program and they will have a living allowance as they go through the program. We stand by ready to help wherever we can. I do encourage you to join us on Monday if you are able to. Teresa thank you for the opportunity.
<h4>QUESTIONS</h4>
ADAMS: Thank you Bill, Baraba, and Dave. At this time I would like to move into questions. When participants registered for the webinar we asked you to send in some questions. We’ll start with that list and then we do encourage you to type in additional questions in the Chat box. I’ll direct questions to you Bill and you can pass them off to Barbara and Dave as you see fit.
First question: What can I do as a school counselor to help guide my students through an apprenticeship process?
KRAUS: School counselors are probably the busiest people in the school system and covering a whole array of programs. What I will say is you need to expose them to the world of work. Use ONED.org, it really explains the occupations beautifully. You need to learn about the occupation. If there are things in your neighborhood or your community and you want to learn more about an opportunity, call one of us. We’ll share what we have on the occupation including the wages. These are highly paid, highly skilled jobs and we want to get the young men and young women into these occupations.
ADAMS: Second question asks Are union apprenticeships getting on board with workforce investment boards?
KRAUS: Our program has both union and non-union programs. There is a requirement under the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act that there is an apprenticeship provider on each local Workforce Investment Board. Are they accessing the benefits of it? Yes, they are. In my state of Georgia I have one of my unions doing a pre-apprenticeship program being financed by the workforce development board. In additional there are programs and other opportunities to improve the quality of your workforce by access the Workforce Investment Board funding.
ADAMS: Can a state department of transportation be a registered apprenticeship sponsor.
KRAUS: The answer is yes. Any entity can actually be a sponsor. When I was in New York, we actually had the New York State Police be sponsors. They supply both on the job learning and the related technical instruction.
MURRAY: I want to add to that. Also, people don’t think about government. The Coast Guard has a Registered Apprenticeship program. The Navy. Also the Naval Facilities program, the Navy Yard. It’s not just a select group of occupations or only like trades. If you look at the ports, all those different occupations everything from the IT analyst to the electrician, those could all be different companies that are the intermediaries or the employers. Some are going to be union, some are going to be non-union.
KRAUS: And many of them are actually civil servants.
ADAMS: Question number 4. In the field of supply chain, the area is so broad, from manufacturing, to distribution centers, to the modes of transportation, to the customer types, we need assistance in identifying job titles for apprentices who would work in this area.
MURRAY: Yes it is broad, but for everything they do, you don’t have a different title. For example, we’ve been working with recently a logistics technician, which is a career pathway that begins with some skills and opportunities we are laying out now for the first certificate. That can move up to journeyman and offer industry credentials. So a person has a pathway through there. When you look at some of those, we are honing that in now to get a process for having employers nationally tell us what they need. At ports for example, and tell us what are those occupations and what they are referred to and this is why we are setting up national standards so it’s not so complex.
KRAUS: And, Dave has mentioned before, the intermodal nature of his business. Trucks these days now days have chasses and they have boxes and they move from rail, to ship, to road. Dave do you want to comment on that?
HARRISON: Yes, everything is integrated now. We’ve got everything from docks and driver programs that fit within this model. You’ve got truck drivers involved, you’ve got maintenance techs. It’s so integrated across the board that we can plug and play almost any occupation even if it’s not on the list. That’s how flexible this is. If you’ve got a need, we can make it happen.
KRAUS: To answer your question, we do have a listing of what goes under traditional transportation. I have provided that to Maria so she can send it out. In addition, we have a thousand occupations. So, if you can think it, we can do it.
ADAMS: This one is: How can I gain employer buy-in more easily to start more apprenticeships in my region?
KRAUS: We run into this every day in my state of Georgia. We are a southern state and not very accustomed to registered apprenticeship. The employer buy-in is achieved through success and also, through me. I have employers calling me every single day that “I need skilled talent” and they are not able to find it. I think that the technical college systems in addition to the government out there and the associations have a credible piece in this. They can explain to them, we can help train the individuals. One we have the curriculum. Two there is a wage progression. Three is credentialing. Four there are important services. Five, there may be some financial assistance. Six, retention of individuals who complete apprenticeship programs is around 90 percent. So, you are not going to lose people constantly. It’s quality. It’s efficiency. It’s the right person you are training based on what your company’s needs are and on with your company culture.
ADAMS: A follow up. Who are the big players in terms of companies that are committing to transportation apprenticeship?
KRAUS: I’ll turn that to Dave and then to Barbara.
HARRISON: Immediately, on the trucking front J.B. Hunt, Warner, Rider, Melton, USATrucks, UPS. That’s just the ones that are actively working on one right now. Another four or five who are not confirmed yet. By the end of the month, there will be six more at least that are national employers.
MURRAY: Yes, I’ll take it from more broadly than just names. Many in maritime, you’ve got the ship building and towing and the different companies that deal with moving ships on the water. We’re also looking at aviation that move cargo in and out there or work with some of the larger rail companies. What we’re using would be how do we bring these companies. The different employers share with other employers so the smaller ones that work, that are mediaries on the ports, there are multitudes of them. There’s another host of skills for that. We’re working with four direct national companies across the United States and that are seeded at several different ports. They are looking at means for getting apprentices that have the skills everywhere from auto tech to body parts and we’re working with what’s already out there to help shape and get their programs started. So there’s an easier way to get the skills that they need.
KRAUS: We have companies like Kroger and Mohawk Industries. Companies that are delving into this now because the workforce is shrinking and the needs are increasing. On our website there is a page that has all the logos, you’ll recognize a few, I’m sure.
ADAMS: What does my organization need to do to ensure a successful apprenticeship experience for summer intern?
KRAUS: Well, there are some verbiage issues here. A Summer Intern is someone who is there for a defined period of time. Usually, an intership is for a finite period of time and does not include wages, in many cases. What we are proposing is making that part of the ongoing continuum of apprenticeship where you may have a youth program like what you have now and use that as a way of having the employer vet the individual for employment. So, it’s not like you’re just here to learn how to use the photocopier, but you are going to be learning the fundamentals of the registered apprenticeship program for a particular occupation. So very much like you do at your school, Teresa, and Rebecca does. The experience you gain there is never lost. That time that you spent there will be subtracted from a full registered apprenticeship program. In my state, you have college and career academy where you’re going to high school, you’re getting college credits, you’re doing your gen ed, you have a job, and you are getting a paycheck. The best model is where you learn the job and the expectation is you get a position there.
ADAMS: How can apprenticeship help individuals who are returning citizens (rather than “Prior offenders”)?
KRAUS: This has come up twice today in different discussions I have had. There are individuals who are incarcerated currently who are in apprenticeship programs. When they come out there is a program called the federal bonding program that encourages employers to hire individuals who have served their time. Many of these programs are for plumbers, electricians, maintenance workers, and so on. A lot depends on the industry itself. There are certain occupations within certain venues that may cause an obstacle. What I say to do is, when you are working with the employer, talk to them about what they are looking for. If the individual has to work at a nuclear power plant, there may be some obstacles. But then again it can be individualized and the nature of the infraction can be important. I think Dave, you could probably talk about this n the trucking industry a little bit.
HARRISON: Also the issue is that if that transportation company has government contracts, there’s a catch 22 sometimes. It’s difficult to give you one pat answer across the transportation industry because it depends on whether the company has certain government contracts. Plus, there is an insurance issue that falls within that that some companies just can’t do it financially. You have to approach each one with the employer. There is not one answer. The real secret is the employers needs to define what they are looking for and encourage the proposed apprentice to be very honest on there forms. These are national databases.
ADAMS: If my company wants to register our program, with the Department of Labor, do we have to employ a journeyworker to be the instructor for the apprentice? We do not have journeyworkers on staff only senior-level staff who could instruct the apprentice.
KRAUS: OK I’ll give you the regulatory piece of this first. The word “journeyworker” is very much defined in the regulation. A journeyworker is a person who has achieved a level of expertise by being in the occupation for number of years and has the proper training and experience. So the definition of a journey worker is very important here. Let’s say you have a trucking company, chances are you have truckers who are there. Now, the word journeyworker does not necessarily mean that you went through a registered apprenticeship program. I’m going to separate the two pieces. Who’s going to do the on-the-job learning experience, Who’s going to teach “Dave” to drive is going to be another driver. Who’s going to do the schooling piece, you could actually have a certain individual do the schooling. This is where the technical and community colleges will come in. That’s a great source for this training. So you don’t necessarily have to employ the instructor.
HARRISON: There is some latitude here. For example, in the trucking industry, you don’t have a journeyman per se that went through the process. The industry uses either accepted methodologies, where they train that trainer and that person becomes the “journeyman” for lack of a better word. That really comes from an older expression. So if you have highly qualified people who are now providing training, I would say that if you engage one of us and want to take a look at it, I highly suspect that that’s going to be a journeyman as the accepted term for that.
KRAUS: I completely agree. The journeyworker is determined by the employer based on the individual’s skills and the experience.
ADAMS:I think the question was really about the qualifications of the mentor for the apprenticeship. And, you’re saying that that doesn’t necessarily have to be a journeyworker.
KRAUS: Correct. It has to be a person with the skills and experience to be able to teach the apprentice. And that determination is made by the employer.
ADAMS: One more before we close out here: Can the State Department of Transportation be the recipient of federal apprenticeship funds. Either expansion grants or AAI grant funds?
KRAUS: When you deal with AAI money (and these were granted already). The state of Georgia Department of Economic Development did receive an AAI grant. But it was not to apprentice employees but was was to work with employers to do that. The question is can I use federal monies for my own apprenticeship program, the answer is no. But, if you are working with a company, you can have money go toward that. You can be a recipient of the money to be used for registered apprenticeship, no to take care of your own employees.
ADAMS: So, what if the employee was an apprentice?
KRAUS: The apprentice would be paid as they would normally be paid by the employer. You probably would be able to access some type of funding from the technical community colleges to help pay for the schooling.
ADAMS: I think that’s all the time we have. Again I want to thank the speakers today. And just some closing information. Thank you Bill, Barabara, and Dave, again. So the Midwest Transportation Workforce Center has a list of useful apprenticeship program resources. So we invite you to visit and join the MTWC Google Community of Practice. For example, I want to point out this recent benefit and cost report that really should be required reading for anyone interested in getting involved in registered apprenticeship. It does a great job of explaining the business return on investment. In addition, there is a list of apprenticeship resources that you can download. And, we do want to stay connected, so before I introduce Dr. Lake to talk about webinar two, on behalf of MTWC, I want to thank our speakers and everyone for joining us.
ADAMS: As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Lake is the Dean of Workforce and Economic Development at Harper College. Dr. Lake can you give us a brief introduction to what we can expect for webinar number two.
LAKE: I have to say as I listened very intensely to my colleagues and this has been one of the best seminars that I’ve heard on the web for a very long time. We even had time to answer questions so kudos to everyone there. This is my opportunity to say please join us for our next webinar on Feburary 9th. As you have heard through these speakers today, is one of the things that community and technical colleges across the united states — and there are over 1000 of us. We are working with our partners in the state and understanding that companies need to have the go ahead and look at how and in what ways we can become registered apprenticeship sponsors and how we can work with those companies that already have their own programs but how we can help provide the training for those programs.
LAKE: So, just for your information before we leave. Harper has been in tech grants for the state of Illinois in industrial maintenance and for advanced manufacturing but we also did receive one of the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grants. And that is to grow the registered apprenticeship program throughout the country. Community Colleges want to know: How do you make the decision to do that? How do you get involved? How does the institution itself become the program sponsor? It gives us a lot of leeway to do lots of things.
LAKE: Just for your information, one of the things we wanted to share with you is we already have four registered apprenticeship programs. We’re looking at many of those other kinds of programs like banking and sales. So, there are many other kinds of programs that you may have besides just looking at advanced manufacturing. So, please know that you are invited to join us in February for the next webinar. We are looking forward to hearing your questions and answering those.
ADAMS: Thank you Rebecca and thanks for giving us that heads up. I want to thank everybody. We threw out a lot of contacts and references. You can get all of those details by downloading the presentation and other materials. Thank you for joining us and this concludes our webinar.