Each November for the past decade, officials at the U.S. Department of Labor have promoted National Apprenticeship Week (Nov. 17-23) to encourage employers to hire students for apprenticeships.

Last year, Canadian Valley Technology Center began forming partnerships with area businesses who agreed to provide paid apprenticeships for several CV Tech students.

Caden Prater, 22, of Yukon, is one of two student apprentices currently working at Security Solutions, of Mustang. Prater works Monday through Wednesday there and goes to class the other two days in at CV Tech’s Precision Machining program at the El Reno Campus.

“I ended up working full-time last summer there,” he said. “I can pretty much work any machine in the shop except the CNCs.”

Security Solutions is among a handful of area employers who now hire CV Tech students as apprentices. The business supplies customers nationwide with locks and keys, electronic access, monitored alarms and video systems. Prater said he earns $15 per hour and works up to 36 hours per week.

A network of over 150,000 employers in more than 1,000 occupations exists. Labor Department data shows 91 percent of apprenticeship graduates retain employment.

Help Wanted
The number of job openings nationwide is roughly 7.4 million, according to a summary released in late October by the Labor Department.

Mike Rowe (of TV show Dirty Jobs fame) works tirelessly to explain why so many jobs in the U.S. remain unfilled. On his foundation website, mikeroweworks.org, Rowe blames the American culture’s apathy toward skilled labor.

“Our society didn’t, and still doesn’t, have a trained workforce standing by or willing to fill the positions that actually exist,” Rowe stated on the website.

A recent Oklahoma Works report entitled “Oklahoma’s Top 100 Critical Occupations List”
indicates only a handful of the highest-demand jobs available statewide today require a college degree. In fact, among the top 20 occupations-in-need, just five require a bachelor’s degree.

Oklahoma Works is a partnership between multiple state agencies whose vision is to align resources, education, training and job opportunities to build the state’s workforce.

Highlighting the list of Oklahoma’s high-demand careers are heavy truck drivers, maintenance and repair workers, construction, medical assistants, light truck drivers, sales, practical nurses, medical secretaries, welders and electricians. CV Tech offers training for each of these.

Wholesale change could result from businesses driving more apprenticeships with a “grow your own” mentality of tailoring a student’s skillset to an employer’s needs, said Dr. Don Wilson, CV Tech’s Apprenticeship Coordinator.

Employers interested in beginning an apprenticeship program must first register with the Labor Department at www.apprenticeship.gov/employers/express-interest. Employers may also call Wilson for more information at (405) 262-2629.