MCALLEN, Texas - The executive director of the South Texas Manufacturers Association has given an overview of apprenticeship programs in the Rio Grande Valley.
Mike Willis was a keynote speaker at South Texas College’s 2nd Annual Apprenticeship Summit.
“The apprenticeship program is a proven model that has been used for many years, as Dr. Solis pointed out. In our region, the construction industry continues to use it widely. In Texas and elsewhere, electricians and plumbers are actually required to complete an apprenticeship to even take the state licensing exam,” Willis said.
“In the manufacturing industry, apprenticeship was widely used in the past but some structural changes like outsourcing to smaller and more specialized manufacturing firms, and, of course, the offshoring that's been taking place over the last 20 yeas has made it more challenging but not impossible to support apprenticeship programs.”
The “Dr. Solis” Willis was referring to was Ricardo Solis, president of STC.
Willis said that in 2002 his organization started working on apprenticeships with STC, Texas Southmost College, Texas State Technical College, VIDA and McAllen Economic Development Corporation. “We formed a regional partnership to create, develop and support manufacturing apprenticeship programs across the Valley.”
Willis said STC secured a Department of Labor grant to support the creation of DOL registered, STMA sponsored, apprenticeship programs for industrial machinery mechanics, tool and die makers, and plastic process technicians. He said the grant helped produce highly skilled workers for the manufacturing industry.
“The strategy was to have our organization create regional standards for all the manufacturers in the region,” Willis said.
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