Apprenticeships Help Shape Colorado’s Workforce
Since the inception of Emily Griffith Technical College 106 years ago, apprenticeships have been a cornerstone of the institute’s mission, which is building Colorado’s workforce.
The idea is to earn while you learn. Apprenticeships offer on-the-job training and course work for those looking to gain skills while getting paid. Emily Griffith offers more than a dozen Registered Apprenticeship Programs in various industries, including plumbing.
In Emily Griffith Foundation’s sixth podcast episode of Back to Work Colorado, we highlight Sarah Harkssen, an Emily Griffith plumbing apprenticeship graduate who is now a plumbing apprenticeship instructor.
Sarah took the traditional route of post-secondary education and got a bachelor's degree in wildlife studies, as she wanted to become a veterinarian.
“Before I was a plumber, I had always wanted to work with animals,” she says. But by the time she graduated, she realized that, “I didn’t want to do that for a few reasons, one of them being that I didn’t want to be in debt for the rest of my life.”
She did work with animals for a bit, helping with wildlife rehab and working at an animal shelter. But, ironically, while she was in college she had worked a maintenance job at the dorm she lived in. “I really loved that job,” she says.
Instead of going to veterinary school, she thought long and hard about what was next.
“And then I kinda re-evaluated my life, I kept thinking about when I had done maintenance in college. I just really wanted to go back to that. I loved working with my hands,” she says.
Sarah's favorite thing to do in the maintenance world was plumbing. “So I decided to become a plumber!”
She decided to join a plumbing union, and they connected her with Emily Griffith Technical College for a paid apprenticeship. Sarah liked that she would graduate with no debt and still make money while getting her plumbing certificate.
“When you are in an apprenticeship, you are getting on the job training for the job you will have,” she highlights, adding that with a traditional four-year college, students get tools needed for that field, but they don’t necessarily get hands-on experience.
Also, there’s no guarantee they’ll get a well-paying job with benefits after graduation, she says.
“But when you join an apprenticeship you know what you’re getting into, you know what to expect by the end, you can plan for your future… like financially and plan for retirement and you have it all laid out before you,” Sarah says.
Plumbing is one of more than a dozen apprenticeships at Emily Griffith Technical College, including nurse assisting.
Apprenticeship offerings are becoming more diverse as employers look for efficient ways to fill their talent pipeline. In fact, Governor Jared Polis signed a law into place two years ago, solidifying the state’s commitment to apprenticeships. The law essentially creates a board that will increase access to earn-and-learn programs, helping feed the workforce.
HealthONE, which has six hospitals throughout the Denver Metro area, started apprenticeship programs with Licensed Practical Nurses from Emily Griffith last spring.
The hospitals train and hire LPNs, says Nicole Hill of HealthONE.
“We’re incredibly proud to work with Emily Griffith to support our workforce development,” she says.
And that’s just what apprenticeships do — they help shape the entire state’s workforce. In Colorado and nationally, companies are seeking different ways to recruit and hire talent. As a result over the past couple of years, Emily Griffith’s apprenticeship programs have grown.
Much like HealthONE, Schomp Automotive has also developed an apprenticeship through the college. Jim Lane is the program manager for technical apprenticeships and recruiting at Schomp.
“My job is kind of split into two with the ultimate goal of eventually, obviously, to increase the labor pool for us, and to bring folks on as technicians,” he says.
Which is good, because there’s a labor shortage in the automotive tech world, he adds.
Both Jim and Nicole work closely with Emily Griffith to ensure success.
Kelsey Glass is the Dean of Apprenticeships at Emily Griffith Technical College. She recently won the Apprenticeship Champion Award from the The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Kelsey works hard to ensure Emily Griffith apprenticeship opportunities are available throughout the state.
“These are across the state of Colorado. So we really are supporting these programs and apprentices in the Denver-Metro area, Southern Colorado and also the Western slope,” she says.
Kelsey loves that apprenticeship students not only get paid, but they also get raises.
“And so as an apprentice improves and gains additional skills and
experience, they get guaranteed wage increases from their employer,” she adds.
Employers agree to that stipulation when they sign on to be an apprentice partner with Emily Griffith, Kelsey says.
So what kind of wages do apprenticeships offer? Well the least amount is minimum wage, which the state of Colorado just increased to over $13 an hour and $17 an hour in the Denver Metro area.
“But really, in our trades programs, someone can go from earning that minimum wage to going into well over $20, $25 dollars an hour,” she highlights.
She says it’s also important to remember that apprenticeships do have a small tuition but more often than not, the employer will cover those costs.
“A highlight of an apprenticeship is you can make it through, get college credit if you are in an Emily Griffith Technical College apprenticeship… and you are getting paid the whole way through and walking away without the burden of debt,” she says.
Although most apprenticeship students don’t necessarily pay tuition, they do incur other costs in order to meet their program requirements. Thanks to scholarships like the COSI Back to Work grant, many Emily Griffith apprenticeship students can get non-tuition cash stipends and wraparound services to help them succeed.