Job Corps expands pre-apprenticeship opportunities in Alaska

In light of National Apprenticeship Week, the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced an initiative to expand pre-apprenticeship opportunities for Job Corps students while connecting them to registered apprenticeship programs.

This will allow Job Corps campuses across the country, including Alaska, to emphasize pre-apprenticeship programs in green energy, health care, information technology and other high-growth industry sectors, according to a recent press release.

Job Corps was founded in 1964 and serves as the nation’s largest job training and education program. The program provides students from 16 to 24 years of age with vocational training and academic experiences to increase opportunities toward gainful employment and career pathways.

Job Corps currently offers over 300 pre-apprenticeship programs in the construction, advanced manufacturing, renewable resources and energy, transportation, and automotive and machine repair industries.

“Pre-apprenticeship programs prepare students with a set of skills and strategies needed to enter and succeed in a Registered Apprenticeship program or industry-relevant job,” Job Corps National Director Rachel Torres stated in the press release. “Through this initiative, Job Corps students will spend approximately one year in a pre-apprenticeship program. With the general education, enhanced social skills and hands-on job training they receive, these students will have more career pathways from which to choose.”

The Alaska Job Corps Center in Palmer is participating in National Apprenticeship Week. The facility offers construction, technology, and electrical pre-apprenticeship training for building. They also offer career skills training areas including programs in advanced manufacturing, health care, homeland security, hospitality, and renewable resources and energy.

For more information about Alaska Job Corps, visit alaska.jobcorps.gov.