0:02

Liz Kennedy: All right. Well, welcome to cruising hockey. I'm

0:05

Liz Kennedy. And I'm here with Isabel De Luca, one of the

0:08

reporters here at The Gazette. And I'm so excited. Have you,

0:10

Isabella. Nice to have you here. Yeah. Thanks so much, Liz.

0:14

Thanks for joining us. Today we're going to talk about a

0:16

story that you recently wrote that might be interest to job

0:20

seekers in the area. Can you tell us a little bit about that

0:23

story? Izabela Zaluska: Yeah, so I'm just kind of over the last year

0:28

of reporting, and I've had a chance to write about a lot of

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different projects funded by American rescue plan dollars.

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And one of the more recent projects that I wrote about is a

0:37

partnership between Iowa City and the University of Iowa labor

0:41

center. They're getting funding over the next couple of years, I

0:45

think next four to five years or so to actively recruit year

0:49

round for their pre apprenticeship program. And it's

0:52

a way to just kind of continuing to boost the skilled trades

0:56

workforce, getting people interested in in the trades, as

1:00

well as helping them you know, pursue that career and giving

1:05

them the resources to be successful. Liz Kennedy: I was like I was when I read your story. I was

1:11

like, wow, I didn't know there was a labor center, like, what

1:13

is that? What is the Iowa labor center?

1:17

Unknown: Yeah, so it has a really long history, I think

1:20

they just recently celebrated their 70th or 75th anniversary.

1:26

So they really focus on educating about different

1:31

trades, helping, you know, helping recruit and get people

1:36

in the door, and really also building connections with the

1:39

apprenticeship programs in the area. So in Iowa City and Cedar

1:44

Rapids area. That's kind of what I focused on with this story.

1:48

And I think they do a lot more than that. They also have

1:52

different classes and seminars. I know another thing that the

1:56

labor center director does is she has a kind of like a group

2:03

for women in the trades. So we're just sort of a another

2:07

community and another support network for for women

2:10

specifically. Liz Kennedy: Well, that's really interesting. So there, it looks

2:14

like there were 20 graduates in this program. Can you tell us a

2:17

little bit about what a pre apprenticeship is? Because

2:20

that's basically what they're certified with, right?

2:23

Unknown: Oh, yeah. So the pre apprenticeship program is a five

2:27

week class, it's typically held in the fall. And it's a way the

2:33

program actively recruits for it as well. Typically, they try to

2:37

actively recruit people who are underrepresented in the trades.

2:41

So women, people of color are veterans. And through these five

2:45

weeks, the participants go through learning about different

2:49

trades. They also get certified certified and OSHA, CPR and

2:54

first aid. So once they do move on to that apprenticeship part,

2:58

they already have some those certifications that are

3:01

important. In the pre apprenticeship program, they

3:04

also learn financial literacy interviewing skills. So it's

3:08

almost like a, you know, a course to prepare them to then

3:13

qualify for and complete a skilled trades apprenticeship.

3:18

Liz Kennedy: What was your kind of reaction? Did you get to talk

3:21

with some of the graduates? Unknown: Yeah, I did. And I also got a chance to speak with

3:27

someone who did the program a couple years ago, and is now a

3:31

mentor to people in the pre apprenticeship program. And what

3:35

was really awesome getting a chance to be at the graduation

3:38

was seeing just the, all the different people, you know,

3:43

people were younger, maybe soon to graduate high school, some

3:47

people were older, there was a mom who did the class with her

3:51

son. So really just a huge variety of people who are

3:57

interested in the trades, and maybe without this program

4:00

wouldn't have, you know, it would have maybe been a little

4:04

bit harder for them to pursue that career, even though they

4:08

that's what they were interested in. One of the participants, she

4:12

said that she's always had an interest in, you know, the

4:15

trades and moving forward in that way, but just wasn't really

4:19

sure how to do that. And the pre apprenticeship program helped

4:22

her, you know, move forward in that.

4:25

Liz Kennedy: Yeah, it does feel like a lot of times that there

4:30

is difficulty for people to get started with some of these kind

4:34

of big because you think like a plumbing apprenticeship. That's

4:38

a really long commitment. And I wouldn't even know anyone that

4:42

could sponsor me to get involved with that and and really getting

4:45

a foot in the door can be kind of difficult for people.

4:50

Unknown: Yeah, and that's something that I had a chance to

4:53

talk about with the labor Center Director Robin Clark Bennett,

4:56

about just you know, it's a program that has the information

5:01

that's there. But it's also really great way to connect the

5:05

participants to the directors and the the ones who run these

5:11

apprenticeship programs in the area too. Because like with any

5:15

career, it definitely helps to maybe know someone or just have

5:18

someone as a mentor to get started, but then what the pre

5:24

apprenticeship program does as well is it follows up with the

5:28

participants, even when they're in the the, in the

5:32

apprenticeship, continuing to support them and seeing if

5:35

there's anything that they might need or any, you know,

5:39

challenges that they might be facing. One of the participants

5:44

who I spoke with Justin, he shared with me, he's in his

5:48

second year of a carpentry apprentice, apprenticeship. And

5:53

he spoke about just some of the language barriers and cultural

5:57

differences that he experienced in his apprenticeship and just

6:03

kind of working through it, and now he's really happy to be a

6:06

mentor for other people in the pre apprenticeship program to

6:09

kind of help them go through and support them, if they're maybe

6:14

experiencing some of the same things that he did and kind of

6:18

help them through that. Liz Kennedy: Yeah, it's not the is that that case management you

6:23

were talking about? Unknown: Yeah. So kind of, so he's just someone who went

6:29

through the program and is now a medical. But yeah, they they

6:33

also follow up and just kind of make sure that, you know, once

6:37

you're in the door, that you're also, you know, have the support

6:40

that you need. Liz Kennedy: And it kind of seemed was there like an

6:43

industry that it was sort of focused on? I mean, you talked

6:46

about construction, but were there other programs that were

6:49

represented, that they kind of got to get a taste for in the

6:52

program? Yeah, Unknown: I'm not sure. The full list, but I think it's like 15

6:58

or 16 of the trades, they get an exposure to. So I would imagine

7:03

it's the, you know, kind of the ones that you think about first

7:06

carpentry electrician, plumbing, but then also maybe some of the

7:11

other ones that people aren't as familiar with, but there's still

7:14

a need for to continue growing the workforce and also

7:19

diversifying the workforce too. Liz Kennedy: Right? Yeah. Well, why was last last time on

7:25

careers and coffee, we were talking with Aaron Murphy about,

7:28

you know, this lack of population growth that we

7:30

haven't seen it in Iowa. And, you know, we're seeing a lot of

7:35

diverse applicants that come, you know, just different people

7:38

from all walks of life that come in, if we can get them kind of

7:40

filtered into some of these doors that are career pathways

7:45

that could be really good for Iowa to have some growth there.

7:50

Unknown: Yeah, I think something that was mentioned in that

7:52

graduation was that in the Iowa City Cedar Rapids area in the

7:57

next decade or so there's going to be about 5000, carpenters are

8:01

retiring. So that's going to be a pretty big gap to fill. Which

8:07

is another reason why this program is so important, because

8:10

it's helping. Like I said before, just like not only with

8:14

the workforce, but just getting different people and helping to

8:18

diversify, diversify that workforce to which is really

8:22

important. Liz Kennedy: Hmm, wow, that's a big number. Yeah. So was there

8:27

like a cost for these candidates to go through this? Or did was

8:33

it like a course where they had to pay tuition or?

8:37

Unknown: So actually, no, it's free of cost of the

8:39

participants, which is another I think, really great thing and

8:42

removes that barrier. So the program is funded by grant

8:46

dollars. And which is another reason why this ARPA investment

8:52

is so important, because they for the next few years or so

8:57

they don't have to rely on grant funding, which can sometimes be

9:01

a little bit inconsistent, just kind of not knowing maybe where

9:04

that funding is coming from. Knowing that they're going to

9:07

have this funding for the next few years, they can actively

9:10

recruit year round, and really promote the program even more,

9:15

because they know they're going to be able to continue holding

9:19

the five week course. Liz Kennedy: Well, if if there's someone that's interested in

9:24

maybe participating in this, how do they contact the recruiters?

9:29

Unknown: Yeah, I think so probably the easiest way would

9:31

be to look at the Labor Senator on Facebook as well as on their

9:36

website. And there's a pre apprenticeship program kind of

9:40

tab on their website that has all a lot of information about

9:44

the program different links and resources. And then that seems

9:49

like the best place to to kind of keep an eye out when that

9:51

next application period will open. I'm not typically sure

9:56

when the center starts accepting application But the program does

10:02

begin in the fall. So I would imagine some time next year more

10:07

information about that next cohort will be available. All

10:11

right, Liz Kennedy: well, we'll be sure to put those links in the show

10:13

notes for today. But thanks so much for joining us today,

10:16

Isabel and talking about your story is a really important look

10:19

at kind of some of the good news that's happening in our market

10:23

as far as getting people into trades and helping them along

10:26

through the process. So it was kind of a bright spot on our on

10:30

our site. I'll include a link to your story. And thank you so

10:33

much for joining us for careers and coffee. Unknown: Oh, definitely. Thank you so much, Liz. I really

10:37

appreciated talking with you. And thanks for giving me the

10:40

chance to talk more about the story. Liz Kennedy: Awesome. All right. Well, you guys. We'll see you

10:45

next time. Bye bye.