A new round of state funding is going to help increase electrical worker apprenticeships in the Lehigh Valley. WDIY’s Sarit Laschinsky has more.
Gov. Tom Wolf recently announced that $296,396 has been awarded to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 375 Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund in Allentown.
The funding comes from the state’s Pre-Apprentice and Apprenticeship Grant Program, according to a release.
IBEW Local 375’s program curriculum will focus on:
- Telecommunications wiring and fiber optics, to improve broadband access to rural and underserved areas of the state
- Solar power
- Programmatic logic controls
- Power quality and power grid updates
- Safe job practices
- The National Electrical Code
Wolf said the funding will help the union increase the number of apprentices trained through the program by nearly 15 percent per year, for the next three years, for a total of around 30 apprentices.
After they complete the program, the focus will then shift to placing the new apprentices within a network of over 300 employers in the Lehigh Valley which have partnered with the program.
Founded in 1914, Local 375 is a labor union representing working men and women employed in electrical trade construction, public works departments, cable TV and communications, power generation and other related industries.
Wolf said during his time as governor, 88 pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs have been supported, and nearly $14 million invested, through the state grant program, which is administered by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
(Original air-date: 12/23/22)
