Washington, D.C. — Building our nation’s human capital is an important strategy to expand economic opportunity and improve mobility for workers. Apprenticeship, an effective worker training strategy that combines on-the-job training with classroom instruction, stands out as a promising way to invest in and grow our human capital and, in turn, boost productivity and wages and accelerate economic growth and competitiveness over the long term.
On Tuesday, February 9, the Center for American Progress will host former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D-KY) for a keynote address on the importance of creating more opportunities for workers and employers to participate in apprenticeship. Under Gov. Beshear’s leadership, the state established two nationally recognized programs to expand apprenticeships: Tech Ready Apprentices for Careers in Kentucky, or TRACK—a youth pre-apprenticeship program that prepares high school youth for college or career after high school—and the Kentucky Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education, or KY FAME, program, which prepares workers for jobs in the manufacturing industry. In conjunction, CAP will release an issue brief focused on state approaches in developing strategies to prepare more workers for employment through apprenticeship.
Despite the benefits that apprenticeship provides for workers and employers, it is frequently overlooked in the United States: In 2015, less than one-half of 1 percent of the nation’s workforce was engaged in an apprenticeship program. At CAP, a panel of leading experts will discuss the barriers to expanding apprenticeship in the United States and consider what policy solutions can be implemented to expand opportunities for workers to get in-demand skills through apprenticeship.
Members of the media can RSVP by clicking here.
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WHO:
Welcoming remarks:
Winnie Stachelberg, Executive Vice President for External Affairs, Center for American Progress
Keynote speaker:
Former Gov. Steve Beshear (D-KY)
Featured speaker:
Cary James, first-year Inside Wireman apprentice, NECA/IBEW Local 26 JATC, Washington, D.C.
Featured panelists:
Jeremy Diebel, Senior Manager, Machining, MTU America Inc.
Ariane Hegewisch, Program Director, Employment and Earnings, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Susan Helper, Carlton Professor of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
Harry Holzer, Professor of Public Policy, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University
Portia Wu, Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
Moderated by:
Angela Hanks, Associate Director for Workforce Development Policy, Center for American Progress
WHEN:
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
10:00 a.m. ET
WHERE:
Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C., 20005
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.
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