Industrial Manufacturing Technician apprenticeships
GLASGOW, Ky. (May 15, 2017) — Span Tech, a conveyor manufacturer in Glasgow, and Barren County School District, announced the creation of a new youth apprenticeship program beginning this fall.
The collaboration will allow area high school students to begin an Industrial Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship at Span Tech in their junior year of high school. While curriculum for the apprenticeship is still being designed, the partnership will consists of classroom instruction from the Barren County Area Technology Center with on-the-job training at Span Tech.
“Apprenticeships are the oldest and most successful form of on-the-job training in the world,” said Bud LayneLayne, CEO and founder of Span Tech. “This is why I’m confident a ‘grow your own’ approach through apprenticeships is a great opportunity to strengthen Span Tech’s workforce as we work tirelessly to deliver word class products and services. Not only will Span Tech benefit from this program, but in time, we hope that all area employers will buy into this model and benefit by keeping our best and brightest students employed right here in Barren County.”
Youth apprenticeships in Kentucky are created through a partnership between Tech Ready Apprentices for Careers in Kentucky (TRACK) within the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education and the Kentucky Labor Cabinet.
Following graduation from high school, apprentices will pursue post-secondary apprenticeship training. Employers like Span Tech are able to tailor the program for their specific needs and to select the Career and Technical Education courses and students for their apprenticeship pathway. This creates a competitive recruiting environment insuring that employers benefit by gaining future employees that have a good foundation and an interest in that occupation while apprentices earn a nationally-recognized industry certificate at the completion of the program.
TRACK has proven to be successful in the areas of manufacturing, skilled trades and early childhood education with over 75 students completing a youth apprenticeship program since its inception in 2014. TRACK also has plans to expand in all areas of Career and Technical Education, including information technology, business, healthcare and culinary trades.
“Education and workforce development have always been related, but not always on the same page,” said Bo Matthews, superintendent at Barren County School District. “Our educational product has not always closely aligned with the immediate needs of industry. Apprenticeship programs will help align education and industry training to produce highly skilled employees that meet the demands of employers.”
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