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Xavier Wise, of Sidney, works on industrial electrical devices as part of his apprenticeship with
Mama Rosa’s and Edison State.
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Edison State Receives Federal Funding to Expand Registered Apprenticeships
Edison State Community College was selected as one of 56 individual
community colleges across the nation to receive the Expanding Community
College Apprenticeships (ECCA) grant. The ECCA initiative is led by the
American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) with funding from the
U.S. Department of Labor.
The purpose of the ECCA initiative is to provide direct support to
community colleges to effectively expand registered apprenticeship
opportunities across the country. The ECCA project will be conducted
for over three years and will train 16,000 apprentices.
Edison State was selected to receive $140,000 in grant funding based on
its success in increasing apprentice participants, along with creating
new sector partnerships for registered apprenticeship opportunities.
Edison State has a proven track record in providing relevant career and
technical education in support of registered apprenticeship initiatives
serving the unique labor market needs and target industries of Miami,
Darke, Shelby, and Preble Counties.
Since its inception in April 2017, Edison State’s Registered
Apprenticeship program has become a proven model to address the skills
gap, providing continuous talent for employers. Edison State has been
able to create awareness, on campus and in the region, about the
benefits of registered apprenticeship programs.
Edison State currently works with regional employers including Brethren
Retirement Community, Derby Fabricating Solutions, Mama Rosa’s,
Logoplaste, Ply Gem Industries, Reliable Castings, Spectracam, Stolle
Machinery, Stillwater Technologies, and Raymath to coordinate
registered apprenticeship positions. Recently, Edison State partnered
with the City of Troy Fire Department to offer a Registered Apprentice
program for Firefighters and Paramedics.
Edison State’s Registered Apprenticeship program received recognition
from Apprentice Ohio for creating apprenticeship opportunities for
veterans. Edison State’s Director of Apprenticeships and Work-Based
Learning was relentless in her efforts to secure this option for Ohio
veterans. This idea has allowed community colleges to verify veterans’
educational benefits for on-the-job training hours.
Dr. Doreen Larson, President of Edison State, serves as the Chair of
the Edison State ECCA Leadership team. In spring of 2019, Dr. Larson
was named to the AACC Advisory Board on Community College
Apprenticeships. The role of the Advisory Board on Community College
Apprenticeships is to identify, validate, and promote highly successful
apprenticeship models and work-based learning programs that can be
rapidly ramped up into full apprenticeship programs across multiple
sectors and regions which already exist in the community college
sector. The task force may be asked to serve as incubators for testing
models, programs, and metrics.
With this grant, Edison State aims to increase the number and locations
of apprenticeship embedded work experiences throughout the region;
provide a simplified college-based point of entry process for employers
to engage in registered apprenticeship programs to offer highly
reliable and effective talent pipelines to industry partners; and
expand apprenticeship opportunities for non-traditional and
underrepresented student populations including veterans, individuals
with disabilities, incumbent workers, second chance individuals, and
adult learners.
These objectives will be reached by increased marketing efforts,
increased employer-student engagement opportunities, tuition assistance
through scholarships, equipment enhancements to align coursework
associated with apprenticeships, providing training for staff and
faculty regarding apprenticeship programs and opportunities, provide
the opportunity for staff to gain insight regarding employer needs and
occupations relating to the program, and recruitment of
underrepresented student populations and in geographic areas of high
unemployment.
The State of Ohio recognizes Edison State Community College as a
Registered Apprenticeship Sponsor. For more information regarding the
registered apprenticeship program at Edison State, contact Brandi
Olberding, Director of Apprenticeships and Work-Based Learning, at
937-381-1533 or bolbdering@edisonohio.edu.
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