Construction Diversity & Inclusion Initiative Graduates First Group of Pre-Apprentices
Ten students have successfully completed the Pre-Apprenticeship Training at Tri-C. Efforts are underway to assist these men to get into apprenticeship programs. Interested contractors have stepped up to help with the process. Organized Labor, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland and Towards Employment provided referrals and/or financial support to launch this pilot effort.
The impetus for this initiative are a series of ground breaking partnerships which include CEA, organized labor, public entities and private sector organizations using the framework of a Construction/Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Committee to set community goals - an effort coordinated by the Commission on Economic Inclusion located at the Greater Cleveland Partnership.
University Hospitals, the Cleveland Clinic, Dominion East Ohio, Geis Companies, MetroHealth Medical Center, the Medical Center Company, the Cleveland School District, Case Western Reserve University, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority all signed community benefits agreements – pledging to set goals for hiring local and minority skilled workers and to support training programs that feed the professional pipeline to the construction trades.
Each of these class members successfully completed both a soft skills program and an 8 week curriculum. In addition to the classroom training held at the state of the art Tri-C Advanced Technology Training Center the students also had a number of “hands-on” opportunities. “I’m excited to be working with each of our graduates to find the right fit in the construction industry” says, Robert Verhoff, Director of Construction Industry Training at Tri-C. This effort is in alignment with the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committees (JATC’s) who are registered with the Ohio State Apprenticeship Council and the US Department of Labor.
A second Pre-Apprenticeship Training (PAT) Cohort begins June 2, 2014. There will be more opportunities for contractors and apprenticeship programs to offer opportunities of construction career paths for future graduates of the program. Referral partners, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, Towards Employment, El Barrio, and the Spanish American Committee, are recruiting people for up to 20 training slots.
For information on this Construction Diversity & Inclusion Initiative, contact person is: Christopher B. Nance, Director, Construction Diversity & Inclusion Program, Commission on Inclusion, Greater Cleveland Partnership. P (216) 592-2383 [email protected]