South Carolina puts its support behind apprenticeships

Shannon Brennan works at Cummins Turbo Technologies after completing an apprenticeship that included courses at Trident Technical College in South Carolina. (Image from a video by the What Works Media Project)

As a high school student dual enrolled at Trident Technical College in South Carolina, Shannon Brennan served as a youth apprentice at Cummins Turbo Technologies for four hours a day.

When she completed the program in 2016, Shannon was offered a full-time job at Cummins, according to a video produced by the What Works Media Project. By age 20, she was promoted to a job programming robots as a manufacturing engineering technician, bought her own house and is now working on completing an associate degree at Trident with Cummins covering her education costs. She earns more money than her mother, who has two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree.

Shannon’s experience is just one of many success stories brought about by Apprenticeship Carolina (AC), a program of the South Carolina Technical College System. AC assists employers in creating demand-driven paid apprentice programs that are registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, and it also helps companies and colleges develop customized training programs.

Apprenticeships must include 144 hours of job-related education, which is usually delivered by one of South Carolina’s 16 technical colleges. When apprentices complete the training, they receive a portable and nationally recognized credential. Participating companies are eligible for a tax credit of $1,000 a year per apprentice for up to four years.

A recent report released by AC documents “phenomenal growth” since the program started in 2007. The number of participating companies has grown from 90 in 2007 to 965 in 2017, and the number of apprentices has soared from 777 to nearly 29,000 during that period.

The expansion of apprenticeship programs beyond traditional fields – such as the building trades – to healthcare, information technology, advanced manufacturing, tourism and other areas has led to a large increase in the number of female and minority apprentices, the report finds. Nationally, only 6 percent of apprentices are female and 21 percent are minorities. In South Carolina, those rates are 29 percent and 34 percent, respectively.

The number of youth apprenticeship programs in the state – where dual-enrolled high school students work part time while taking college courses – has increased from five companies in 2012 to more than 189.

The success of the program has caught the attention of national lawmakers. Last month, AC was featured at education and workforce innovation forum and showcase held by the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

A secure future for youths

During the last 10 years, Trident Tech has partnered with about 75 companies to provide training to apprentices, says Mitchell Harp, dean of apprenticeship programs. Trident also provides training to about 56 dual-enrolled high school students in youth apprenticeship programs in such areas as manufacturing, information technology, culinary arts and healthcare.

That effort started in 2014, when IFA, a German company in North Charleston that makes drive shafts for cars, contacted Trident for help in starting an apprenticeship program like those popular in Germany.

The youth apprenticeship program starts in the 11th grade. Students go to high school in the morning, take courses at Trident Tech in the afternoon and work five to 15 hours a week after school or on weekends. They work full-time during the summer before their senior year.

Each new cohort of youth apprentices is welcomed to the program with an annual “Signing Day” at Trident. The latest ceremony recognized 57 apprentices hired by 38 companies. Since the program started, about 275 youth apprentices have taken courses at Trident, with the tuition covered by grants and donations from philanthropists.

When students complete the program, they have a high school diploma, 30 college credits, a nationally recognized credential and two years of work experience.

Trident doesn’t keep track of how many adult apprenticeships are at the college, as they’re mixed in with the rest of the student population. Harp estimates there are about 100 adult apprentices currently at Trident and about 1,000 have been through training at the college since 2007. Many of them work at a Robert Bosch auto parts manufacturing plant.

Adult applicants for paid apprenticeships have to meet academic requirements and are screened by employers. If they are accepted, the company pays for their training at Trident and provides mentors for them at the workplace.

The biggest factor in a successful apprenticeship program is having mediators to connect students with employers, Harp says. It’s also been a plus that Trident has a very supportive president.

Customized instruction

Apprenticeships fit into one of the strategic goals of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College (OC Tech): providing work-based learning experiences, particularly in advanced manufacturing, to meet the state’s demand for skilled technicians, says President Walt Tobin.

Tobin says he serves as a “cheerleader,” talking to CEOs about the benefits to their companies, such as tax credits and the creation of a pipeline of skilled workers.

Tobin acknowledges he had a misconception about apprenticeships when he first heard about the concept. Rather than “taking someone off the street who wants to be a machinist and putting him into a training program,” he found the people attracted to apprenticeships are more likely to be incumbent workers who want a better job with their company.

Apprentice Cory Smith received training at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in South Carolina. (Photo: OC Tech)

OC Tech provides training in mechatronics, machine tool technology, supervisor skills training and industrial electronics training to apprentices for Husqvarna, a Swedish company with a local plant that makes lawnmowers. The company assigns an employee to the apprentices to help them get through the training. Five apprentices at Husqvarna graduated in December.

The college also trains apprentices in mechatronics and machine tool technology for Koyo Bearings, a manufacturer of ball bearings, and Allied Air, which makes air conditioners, and apprentices in emergency medical technology who work as paramedics for the Calhoun County government.

The college already had these workforce training programs in place but modified the curriculum to provide individualized instruction to accommodate students’ work schedules. The apprentices work full-time while taking courses at night and online. Students who complete certificates earn credits toward an associate degree.

About 65 percent of the tuition for these students comes from the state’s lottery receipts. To be eligible for those funds, a student must be a high school graduate, take at least six credits and enroll in a certificate or degree program. Some companies also help pay for apprentices’ training costs.

One of the requirements of the apprenticeship program is that students get a wage boost as they learn more, Tobin says, but there is no guarantee of a job, and students aren’t required to work for the company when they finish their training.

Tobin says the apprenticeship program helps address multiple needs.

“Students understand the expectations of a work environment and learn soft skills, such as the need to come to work on time. Employers create a pipeline to the jobs most in demand. And the college helps the employer fill in-demand positions,” he says.

About the Author

Ellie Ashford
is associate editor of Community College Daily.
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