Resources and Tools

The Registered Apprenticeship Technical Assistance Center of Excellence is focused on helping key stakeholders build and scale strategic partnerships to put more American workers on high-quality apprenticeship career pathways.

Registered apprenticeship is the proven gold standard in workforce development. Better aligning industry, workforce and education around apprenticeship can help build a stronger, more resilient, and future-ready American workforce.

Utilize the dropdown menu to find resources to better equip your area of expertise in apprenticeship.

Resources

Technical Assistance Guide to Identifying Pre-Apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship Partners
15 Sep 2023

This guide is intended to be a starting point to help state and local workforce professionals understand the key players in the apprenticeship space, what role(s) those partners typically play in supporting registered apprenticeship programs, and how you can play a leadership role in creating registered apprenticeship partnerships that engage those entities.

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 Becoming a Workforce Development Board or Educational Entity Registered Apprenticeship Sponsor
12 Sep 2023

This Center of Excellence Office Hours provides technical assistance for workforce development boards and education entities regarding becoming a Registered Apprenticeship sponsor. Hear how education providers and workforce development boards can help a business start a registered apprenticeship by becoming a sponsor. Additionally, current sponsors in the education and workforce fields share their expertise in becoming a sponsor.

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Rural America's Registered Apprenticeship Promising Practices
04 Sep 2023

The Center of Excellence shows promising practices for rural areas to sponsor registered apprenticeship. Participants hear steps to take in order to align the workforce system, education entities, and local employers in rural areas when considering related instruction, on-the-job learning, mentorship, employing apprentices, and return on investment when sponsoring a registered apprenticeship.

Subject matter experts from the Urban Institute speak about how rural workforce development boards at the state and local level can help a business start a registered apprenticeship and become a sponsor. Also, rural health care and agriculture grantees speak about their experience with program development, challenges faced and gathering stakeholders support for registered apprenticeship in their areas.

COABE
24 Aug 2023

Mapping IET to Pre-Apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship Programs This presentation at COABE's Annual Conference in May 2023 provides Adult Education (AE) leaders and instructors with background on Apprenticeship, findings from the Center's nationwide assessment of adult educators' knowledge of apprenticeship, and tools to help map Integrated Education and Training (IET) programming to pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs, helping create accelerated pathways for adult learners into high-quality career pathways.

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Technical Tips for Becoming a Registered Apprenticeship Sponsor: Creating ​Workforce Development Boards and Educational Institution Sponsorships
02 Aug 2023

This webinar provides technical assistance for workforce development boards regarding becoming a Registered Apprenticeship (RA) sponsor.

Safal Partners and FASTPORT subject matter experts speak about how workforce development boards can help a business start a registered apprenticeship and become a sponsor. Additionally, current sponsors from workforce development share their expertise in becoming a sponsor.

Hear how organizations made the decision to become an RA sponsor, best practices for engaging all stakeholders in the process, and hear about the pros and cons of becoming an RA sponsor.

 

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Putting Your WIOA Plan for Apprenticeship to Work
05 Jun 2023

The Center of Excellence provides insight and opportunities to strengthen your knowledge of registered apprenticeship. This webinar will accelerate the impact you’re making in your state and local boards to help employers and job seekers in your area through providing information about system alignment & partnership and co-enrollment & WIOA.

Speakers include: - Katie Adams, Chief Delivery Officer at Safal Partners - Melissa Aguilar-Southard, Director and Subject Matter Expert at Safal Partners

 

Link to Webinar

Providing Supportive Services and Training Through Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Funds
05 Jun 2023

During this Center of Excellence Office Hours webinar, we discuss National Workforce Registered Apprenticeship Baseline Knowledge Assessment Findings. Linda Angel, the Deputy Executive Director from Workforce Solutions of Central Texas, gives an overview for using WIOA funding for supportive services with their local workforce. Finally, Judy Blanchard, Project Director and Subject Matter Expert at Safal Partners, provides an overview of On-the-Job Training as related to WIOA funding.

 

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Boosting your Apprenticeship IQ
05 Jun 2023

Katie Adams, Chief Delivery Officer, and Melissa Aguilar-Southard, Director and Subject Matter Expert, from Safal Partners presented on behalf of the RA TA Center of Excellence on Strategic Partnerships and System Alignment at the National Association of Workforce Development National Conference. This presentation will strengthen your knowledge of registered apprenticeship by providing some insight, basic apprenticeship information, and actionable next steps to move forward. Katie and Melissa point out four major knowledge gaps from a recent Workforce System Registered Apprenticeship Baseline Knowledge Assessment Report including funding support through co-enrollment and sharing knowledge about registered apprenticeship.

Link to Webinar

Center of Excellence Virtual Forum
27 Apr 2023

The webinar, Industry & Workforce: Effective Engagement to Expand Registered Apprenticeship, is moderated by Megan Baird, Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship (OA). The session features employers and local workforce boards in a frank conversation about what’s working for employers and what improvements can help grow Registered Apprenticeship nationally and at the state level.

 

Presenters
- Michael Card, CEO & Chairman, Combined Transport, Inc. 
- Michelle Heiliger, Director of Human Resources, Sellenriek Construction, Inc 
- Melissa Robbins, CEO, National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) 
- Lakita Green, Manager, Employ Prince George’s, Prince George's County Workforce Development Board 
- Benjamin Rosenberg, Apprenticeship Manager for Arapahoe/Douglas Works!

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Investing in Talent Development: Benefits to Employers of Registered Apprenticeships from the American Apprenticeship Initiative
24 Apr 2023

This Apprenticeship.gov Fact Sheet shows a summary of the findings from the Evaluation of the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) offering insight into the benefits to employers of using registered apprenticeship programs to hire and train workers. There were two main findings: return on investment (ROI) of apprenticeship and net benefits of apprenticeship.

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Build an Adult Education Integrated Education Training as a Pre-Apprenticeship Program
03 Apr 2023

Use this resource to align your Integrated Education and Training (IET) programs with pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship (RA). This resource is aligned to the IET design toolkit, and whether you are developing an IET program with pre-apprenticeship or RA in mind or want to align your current IET programs, this resource will help to support a direct pathway into a pre-apprenticeship and RA.

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Workforce System Registered Apprenticeship Baseline Knowledge Assessment Report
03 Apr 2023

The U.S. Department of Labor Center of Excellence on Strategic Partnerships and System Alignment has published the first-of-its-kind, "Workforce System Registered Apprenticeship Baseline Knowledge Report.” The assessment identifies specific registered apprenticeship-related knowledge gaps in the workforce system which will be used to inform the design of field-relevant technical assistance for the purpose of increased utilization of apprenticeship by the workforce system in serving employers and job seekers nationwide.

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Leveraging Earn-and-Learn Models for Immigrants and Refugees: Creating English Onramps to Apprenticeship Programs
18 Feb 2023

With a national focus on reskilling and upskilling job seekers and incumbent workers for in-demand careers, many organizations are turning to apprenticeship programs to deliver this training. Earn-and-learn models are excellent ways to increase access to careers with family sustaining wages. Unfortunately, many immigrants, refugees, and speakers of other languages are unable to access these programs, simply because English is a barrier. In this webinar, you’ll learn how institutions can offer flexible, blended English onramps to apprenticeship programs. The discussion will center on practical, evidence-based ways of delivering career-specific English language training at scale with a focus on models that can work across sectors and contexts. The presentation will include time for questions so participants can discuss how to adapt these models for their own contexts.

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Assessing and Building Youth Apprenticeship
08 Feb 2023

Katie Adams, Senior Director at Safal Partners, discusses youth apprenticeship for the California Workforce Association. During this webinar, an overview of registered apprenticeship, partnerships, and opportunities for policy guidance is presented.

Link to Webinar

Maximizing Your Workforce Potential: How Apprenticeships Can Benefit Your Company
06 Feb 2023

Center of Excellence partner, FASTPORT, is interviewed on Weld Wednesday with the American Welding Society (AWS).

Industry experts Scott Ellsworth, MBA and Joseph Young discuss the benefits of setting up apprenticeships for your company. They explain how to utilize the resources provided by the AWS to establish effective training programs for your employees.

By building your workforce from the ground up with apprenticeships, you can ensure that all of your employees receive the same training and possess the same skills, leading to a more cohesive and efficient team. This podcast goes into the details of how to get started with apprenticeship programs and discover why the cost and time investment is well worth it.

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