Associated Builders and Contractors - Keystone Chapter (ABC Keystone) was recently awarded a $67,182 PASmart Pre-Apprenticeship Grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry to create the Lancaster-Berks Construction Pre-Apprenticeship Connection (P-A Connection). P-A Connection is a partnership between the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board, Berks Connections/Pretrial Services (BCPS), and ABC Keystone.
Through the P-A Connection partnership, PASmart Grant funds will help promote pre-apprenticeship in the construction trades, provide no-cost education for 20 individuals, and certify additional instructors at partnering organizations. P-A Connection seeks to increase the number of youths, returning citizens, and underemployed individuals in pre-apprenticeship programs in the two-county area and to provide the skilled trade and employability skills necessary to build the workforce pipeline needed to meet the increasing demand in the commercial/industrial construction trades.
A portion of the grant funds will provide opportunities to promote the pre-apprenticeship program through open houses and awareness efforts, and funds will also be used to support Berks Connections/Pretrial Services. Berks Connections/Pretrial Services is an organization focused on improving employment participation of returning citizens through the development of a career pathway in the construction trades and other similar organizations; expanding the number of secondary and postsecondary partnerships; and raising the number of youth pre-apprentices in the construction trades. Increased articulation agreements with area schools, made possible by this grant, will allow additional area youths to more easily access the pre-apprenticeship programs.
ABC Keystone will serve as the registered apprenticeship sponsor and is a registered pre-apprenticeship consortium. The Keystone Apprenticeship and Training Trust oversees the ABC Keystone apprenticeship programs in seven member-determined trades. Trades currently offered include carpentry, construction craft laborer, electrical, heavy equipment operator, plumbing, HVAC, and sheet metal.
Pre-apprenticeship application details for the 20 students to be served by this grant will be finalized in mid-March. To learn more, readers may visit http://www.abckeystone.org or contact stephanie@abckeystone.org.
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