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www.HartfordBusiness.com • June 18, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 9 finishing and tool-and-die making, have grown in popularity in Con- necticut, particularly as manufac- turers search for talent. Apprentices typically earn a wage or stipend while in skills-training that can last months or even years. Employers, meantime, gain reliable hands that they can train and, after workers have been certified, offer full- time employment too, Boucher said. The Apprenticeship Connecticut initiative requires the state Depart- ment of Labor to issue by Jan. 1, a re- quest for qualifi- cations to solicit proposals from regional industry partnerships for a workforce pipeline program that serves the needs of manu- facturers and other employers. The partner- ships must include at least one educational institution and a regional work- force develop- ment board. Programs must contain several components, includ- ing: identification of a region's most pressing workforce needs and how the partnership will address them; recruit- ment and outreach strategies; trainee screening and as- sessment criteria; and partnerships with private employers and a commitment by those companies to hire one or more individuals who successfully complete their training, the legis- lation says. Separate train- ing programs, which will run for a minimum of five weeks, will be set up for high schoolers and those 18 years of age or older who aren't enrolled in school. Of the proposed $50 million, no more than 70 percent can be spent on train- ing programs. The rest can be used for support services, including trainee outreach, recruitment and screening. The goal is to get 10,000 individu- als placed into new jobs over the first four years of the program, the legis- lation said. Whether Connecticut's Appren- ticeship Initiative pays a wage or a stipend is among the details that must be hammered out by the state Department of Labor, Boucher said. Broader workforce efforts Boucher and other observers note the Apprentice- ship Connecticut initiative is but the latest in a long chain of state, public and private efforts to equip the least employed and jobless with skills that make them employable. Hartford's workforce board has been collaborating closely with its industry part- ners, to help as many as needed maximize opportunities to fulfill their training-staffing requirements, Boucher said. Among them is the Advanced Manu- facturing Employer Partnership, which is co-convened by Capital Workforce Partners and the Connecticut Cen- ter for Advanced Technologies. Also involved is the Metro- Hartford Alli- ance for Careers in Health Care, which is co- convened by Capital Work- force Partners and the Work- force Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford. Finally, there is also the Capital Workforce Partners Jobs Funnel-Construction Sector. "We think this will meet an urgent need by employers; that it will have a very significant impact,'' Boucher said. PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. AMF Property Management | Enfi eld, CT PDS Engineering & Construction served as Design Builder for the construction of a new three-story offi ce facility for AMF Property Management Corporation, a full service real estate development and management company. Project Features: - Glass atrium - Sitework and concrete - Thermal and moisture protection - Acoustical ceilings and painting Total Project Size: 11,400 SF 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfi eld, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: C PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD Apprenticeships on the rise in CT There are 1,674 employers in Connecticut that sponsor official apprenticeship programs through the state Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship Training, which is up 6 percent since 2013. There are 6,343 apprentices registered in Con- necticut, up 38 percent since 2013, state labor data shows. If the state Bond Commission approves $50 million in apprenticeship funding, the state's labor agency and others would team up to develop an apprentice pipeline. "This started from the employer- demand side. But we saw the workforce- development needs coming from the unemployed, underemployed and youth-talent pipeline.'' Jim Boucher , Chief Strategy Officer, Capital Workforce Partners PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED