SST 11 Podcast

Eric Neal:
Welcome to the State Support Team 11 podcast. I am your host, Eric Neal. Today we are joined by Jessica Weithman, pre-apprenticeship coordinator at the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio. Welcome, Jessica. How are you today?

Jessica Weithman:
I'm doing well, thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Eric Neal:
It's great to have you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the work you do at the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio?

Jessica Weithman:
Yeah. I've been a high school counselor for the last 10 years, and I really enjoyed a lot of the social emotional things I helped students and families work through, I liked the graduation and academic planning. But what I really tended to gravitate towards and really enjoyed was helping students on their career pathway stuff, or thinking about the careers that they could get into after they graduated, how their strengths could align with that career. In the last few years in education, I was a career pathways coordinator, which really focused on career development and work-based learning. It was in that space that I really started to learn a lot about apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships. When the opportunity came open for my current role as a pre-apprentice coordinator for the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio, I took it. It's really because I see the true benefit and value in the pathway and the strategy for developing our future workforce.
My current position comes from the Apprenticeship Expansion Grant, where the primary goals are to enhance the ability of local workforce board areas to serve as hubs for pre-apprenticeship. We're one of six around the state of Ohio, but we're the hub for Area 11. We are the central Ohio pre-apprentice hub, which is operated by myself and my colleague, Kelly Wallace, in partnership with the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio. So, in addition to creating the hubs, we are strengthening relationships within the community, with employers and educational institutions to create ongoing sustainable pre-apprenticeship programs and the true pathway for pre-apprenticeship into registered apprenticeship programs.

Eric Neal:
That's great. Can you tell me more about the hub and how it provides funding to create and start up programs?

Jessica Weithman:
Yeah. The hub, which again is just myself and Kelly, we provide consultation services to organizations who might be exploring how apprenticeship and pre-apprentice could fit into their business or school. We will help them connect the pre-apprentice program to a registered apprenticeship program. But the most appealing thing, or what people mostly want to tap into is that funding strain. Those funds really cover the startup costs for their program. Funding could cover books and educational materials, it could cover uniforms, tools, equipment, tuition, wages, stipends.
Even if, for example, a school identified a teacher who was willing to provide or facilitate the related instruction for the pre-apprenticeship and they needed maybe some additional education for themselves, we could help fund or cover the cost of that education for them, or even just if there's a cost associated with curriculum or instruction design, or for businesses and schools if they want to access funding for marketing materials for the program. There's a lot of different ways that we can use the funding, but the main goal, or one of the primary goals is really strengthening the matriculation of the pre-apprentice to the registered apprenticeship program.
One way we're being creative and using the funding to do that is for incentive bonuses. So, if you have a pre-apprentice who wants to enroll into the registered apprenticeship program, there's that incentive bonus there to do that. But ultimately, it's about creating those ongoing sustainable pre-apprentice programs, and the pathway to the RAP, the registered apprenticeship program.

Eric Neal:
It sounds like there's a lot that goes into this. What are some of the distinctions between just a company sponsored apprenticeship program and a registered apprenticeship program?

Jessica Weithman:
This is always an important distinction to make because there are a lot of apprenticeship programs marketed to job seekers and to students. Some of them are very, very good, don't get me wrong, they have great models, but some are actually more of an internship, a mentorship, maybe a co-op than a true registered apprenticeship. The biggest distinction that needs to be clear is that a registered apprenticeship program is a proven model of apprenticeship that's validated by the US Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency, which in our case in Ohio is Apprentice Ohio. With that validation, when an apprentice completes their program, they'll earn a nationally recognized portable credential in that particular trade.
Some other distinctions that need to be made as that, day one of an apprenticeship, they're employed. That person is employed at the company. They're earning a wage while they're learning in training. A registered apprenticeship program requires at minimum 2,000 hours of OJT, which is approximately a year. So, for every 2,000 hours of OJT, there's a required 144 hours of classroom instruction. If the apprenticeship model was 4,000 hours of OJT, then it would require 288 hours of related instruction and so on. Those are minimum requirements for them to be a registered apprenticeship program. Have to be at least 16. Some cases they legally have to be 18, but at least 16. Another Hallmark for an apprenticeship program is scheduled scaled wage increases for the apprentice. That's a distinction to be made.
When businesses are creating the operating plan, or schools, when they're creating this operating plan, there's a commitment to the policies and practices that address the selection process and qualifications for the applicant and safety. It's in that formalization or that formalized validated learning model and all those requirements and the compliance and monitoring of the apprentices and the program that are the key differences in those two.

Eric Neal:
Yeah. It sounds like it's very structured and lots of things are put in place to make sure that they're being well trained and they're being paid.

Jessica Weithman:
Yes.

Eric Neal:
What are some of the other benefits of a registered apprenticeship program?

Jessica Weithman:
For businesses, both pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship allow for the recruiting and developing of a very highly skilled workforce, and it's establishing a pipeline for that skilled talent. Apprenticeship's also been proven to increase employee retention, minimize the liabilities with the appropriate trading that it comes with. Also I read somewhere recently that it was an estimated average of, I think it was a 26% ROI for implementing apprenticeships as a workforce development strategy. So, it's a nice return. I mentioned some of the benefits for the apprentice, earn while you learn, not going into debt while you're learning or without pay while you're training, and that formalized training plan.
Apprentices are always with a highly skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced mentor, and then that portable national recognized credential is another benefit to the apprentice. But apprenticeship in general, it is all about the teacher learner relationship that happens in that flow of work. So, it's not just about getting advice or some direction or putting someone through a week long orientation, not that any of those are bad, necessarily, but apprenticeship is about growing the skills and techniques in others. It's transferring that knowledge and those skills to an apprentice as they move towards independence within the function of their jobs. So, yeah, I would say those are some of the real benefits to registered apprenticeship programs.

Eric Neal:
Yeah. I do a lot of work with Universal Design for Learning, and something that you hear a lot about in that field is the jagged learning profile that every student learns and is successful in different ways. Not every student is cut out for the traditional four year college, the sit in classes, write papers type of experience, and some people that are just as talented or just as intelligent that just like to do things in a different way. It sounds like this is such a great opportunity to be able to find the right fit for you. It's just so exciting that these things are out there for people in a way that they weren't way back in the old days when I was in school.

Jessica Weithman:
Right, yeah. You're absolutely right about just that college track isn't for everyone. This is a great alternative to that. I think historically when you think about apprenticeships, they've really lived in that construction trades space for a really, really long time, and it's definitely growing beyond that now into lots of all other career clusters or industry sector. That's exciting to see the growth in that way. Yeah.

Eric Neal:
Oh, yeah. Definitely. A lot of these jobs are very high paying jobs.

Jessica Weithman:
Definitely.

Eric Neal:
Yeah. Wonderful. What does a typical pre-apprentice program look like?

Jessica Weithman:
There are different models for both registered apprenticeship and pre-apprentice programs. They can be designed for both youth and adult, but generally, a recognized pre-apprentice, it can be a little bit more exploratory in nature or a little bit broader scope of competency. So, for example, a pre-apprentice program may be designed to explore different skilled trades. Within that, they might be exploring or being exposed to electrical, plumbing, HVAC, versus a specific occupation in electrical or plumbing or HVAC. That's the biggest difference between pre-apprentice and registered apprenticeship, is that the apprenticeship program is always occupation specific, doesn't always have to be in the pre-apprenticeship side, though it can, but generally it's a little broader.
But pre-apprenticeships still have both the classroom or lab element, and they should always have a work-based learning component as well. That pre-apprentice is immersed and engaged at the work site and practicing the skills that they're learning in the classroom, but there's no minimum OJT or related instruction associated with the pre-apprenticeship program like it is with the RAP. You have to be 16, unless lawfully they have to be 18. The experiences could be unpaid, but ideally paid. The recognized pre-apprenticeship has to be linked to a registered apprenticeship program for it to be recognized by DOL or by a state agency.
But how that looks day to day can really vary. Coursework could be delivered by a teacher in the school district, or it could be done by the employer, it could be done at school or at the employer site. The work-based learning could be half a day, one day, one day off, one day on kind of rotation, or just during the summer. I mean, it really depends on just what works best for the employer and the educational institute, which is where their partnership is so critical, because in designing this, it really needs to work for everybody. It can look a lot of different ways, and that's the nice thing about it. It really can fit their organization's needs.

Eric Neal:
I think that's great, because it feels like it gives these students an opportunity to try something out and find out if that's really right for them before they go too far down a path. A lot of times you register for college, maybe, and you think, "I want to do this one thing," and then it's like, "Well, I've already put all this work in, I don't really want to switch." Or if you were done with school and going into an apprenticeship program, you might think, "Well, I've invested so much time already into this," this seems like a really good opportunity for you to figure out if this is the right path for you.

Jessica Weithman:
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I think the hands on piece really does it. It's not just this theoretical thing that they're learning in the classroom, but to actually experience it, practice it, it gives them a real taste for that career, and if it's something that fits with who they are and what they want to do. Yeah.

Eric Neal:
Yeah, absolutely. We recently celebrated National Apprenticeship Week. Can you give an example of a state recognized pre-apprenticeship?

Jessica Weithman:
Yeah. Currently in Columbus, we are in my little area. I think we have up to 25 programs now and 13 participating in school districts, so we're growing, it's expanding. But one that kind of comes to mind, and I actually highlighted them during National Apprenticeship Week, is COTA. The Central Ohio Transit Authority, Columbus' Public Transit System, they're in partnership with several career tech centers in central Ohio. Primarily this cohort's out of Fort Hayes, but they offer a pre-apprentice to registered apprenticeship program for vehicle maintenance. This is a senior year program with paid work-based learning opportunities. They have classroom training, hands on learning and lab experiences, they have an experience mentor with them, which ultimately is preparing them to enter into their registered apprenticeship program for automotive or collision technicians.
They're on a one week, on one week off rotation. But COTA designed this program really wanting to develop skills through training opportunities and providing that pathway to graduation into the apprenticeship program, and they've done a great job laying out exactly who's responsible for what, and really in this great partnership with their schools. For example, COTA's committed to things like providing a safe work environment and giving the school attendance records and evaluating the student performance, paying the student, paying them for their working hours, and then the school is responsible for the related instruction piece and having some quarterly observations of the student on site and letters of recommendation for the participants in the program.
They've really, really done a lot of things right. I think one of the biggest keys to their success is the commitment and efforts in the organizations and building that strong partnership, but dedicating a team of leaders in the respective organizations to really spearhead the work. I mean, it's paying off. They're doing a lot of really great things, and they're looking to expand and grow into other occupations too. So, it's a really good model when we're thinking about pre-apprentice programs.

Eric Neal:
Sounds like an exciting opportunity. What is something a business or school should think about or consider when exploring a apprenticeship or pre-apprentice program?

Jessica Weithman:
Schools spend a lot of time educating kids, obviously, and a pre-apprentice program is just a great tool to make that education relevant in the world of work. These programs are more than just career exploration, which that's part of it. It's valuable, it's necessary. But these programs are showing to reduce dropout rates and help fulfill graduation requirements with the 12 point industry credential. They're developing technical skills, they're creating a work history and gaining work experience for their resumes. There are opportunities that allowed for paid employment, and hopefully that pre-apprentice program is leading into full-time employment or into the RAP, ideally.
Those are just some benefits I think schools should consider. I mentioned benefits already for the businesses to implement an apprenticeship program, but I think in general they should just consider the fact that they spend so much time around ensuring the quality behind their products and their services, so the training of their workforce should be given the same amount of time and attention and dedication to quality. In my opinion, an apprenticeship program is the highest quality of training standards out there. So, something to consider. I think they also too need to just consider creating the space within their organizations to build these programs, and not just physically, but just the time and energy and manpower it does take to really examine maybe your current process of doing things and what the ultimate goals are, and developing their future workforce.
All those things just take space to work on them and a really dedicated team of the willing to create and manage the programs. I mentioned just the best practice of having those strong partnerships with one another. They really need good communication, trust, accountability of all parties involved, make sure that the apprentices and pre-apprentices can succeed in the programs. I'd say probably lastly, the schools and businesses that are thinking about starting down this path in pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship, it just doesn't happen overnight. It just takes time to develop, but it's nothing that they have to do alone at all. There's so much support locally, regionally, statewide that could be accessed, like the Central Ohio Pre-apprentice Hub, for example. I think if they just start small and build from there, they can really create some really powerful, successful programs for students and job seekers. Yeah.

Eric Neal:
Yeah, I think that's great. It's a commitment, but there those supports out there. I think, like you've mentioned, so many benefits that just make it worth it for everyone involved.

Jessica Weithman:
Yeah.

Eric Neal:
Definitely. Well, we're coming to the end of the episode. If people would like to know more about you and the work that you do, where should they go?

Jessica Weithman:
If someone's interested in contacting us or wanting more information, they can visit wdbco, Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio, wdbco.org, and under the projects and special initiatives section at the top is the Central Ohio Pre-apprenticeship Hub landing page. If someone's interested in filling out an interest form, giving us some ideas of what they're maybe interested in doing, we could reach out to them if they are interested in accessing the funding for pre-apprentice. There's also an application on there as well as our resources and personal contact information if they want to email or call us.

Eric Neal:
Well, that's great. Well, I just want to say thank you again for joining us, Jessica. It's been a real pleasure.

Jessica Weithman:
Thank you. It's been fun. I appreciate you having me on.

Eric Neal:
Absolutely. Well, that wraps up this episode of the State Support Team 11 podcast. If you'd like to know more about us and the work that we do here at SST 11, go to our website, sst11.org. Give us a call at (614) 753-4694 or hit us up on Twitter. We're at SST Region 11. If you'd like to get ahold of me, I'm at eric.neal@escco.org. Until next time, I'm Eric Neal. Thanks for listening.