The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) works with schools, employers, tech colleges and others to develop a total of 75 youth apprenticeship programs. Two of which are in the agriculture sector and provide a wide variety of pathways for hands-on learning. Apprenticeship Bureau Director David Polk zeroes in on just how well these ag programs are doing.
Wisconsin’s registered apprenticeship system has been around since 1911. DWD’s YA program has been linking employers with high school student workers for over 30 years.
“We currently have two agriculture registered apprenticeship programs,” says Polk. “There is the organic vegetable farmer and the dairy grazer apprenticeship. We also have 11 distinct pathways for youth apprenticeship that range from arborist and animal fundamentals to greenhouse work.”
Currently there are nine registered apprentices in the program. In the agriculture food and natural resources pathway, which houses the youth agriculture programs, the apprenticeship went from a little over 850 students in the 2021 school year to over a thousand for the 2022-2023 school year.
The current occupational pathways in which local employers can offer apprenticeship opportunities to students includes:
- Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources: Arborist and Dairy Grazier.
- Architecture and Construction: Gas Distribution Technician, Heavy Equipment Operator/Operating Engineer, and Utilities Electrical Technician.
- Arts, Audio Visual Technology and Communications: Media Broadcast Technician.
- Health Science: Phlebotomist and Resident Aide.
- Information Technology: IT Broadband Technician.
- Manufacturing: Electro-mechanical/Mechatronics.
- Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics: Airport Operations and Management, Aviation Maintenance Fundamentals, Aviation Airframe and Powerplant Technician, Aviation Avionics Technician.
Polk says they are interested in building the program and continuing to expand the opportunities within the agriculture industry. He says that employers interested should reach out to him if interested in bringing on a registered apprentice in a specific occupational pathway. He and the DWD staff will build it from there.
The DWD has partnerships with all 16 technical colleges and they also assist in recruiting from their agriculture programs. However, Polk says he thinks they would swee more growth if they had more employers on board that are amenable to the apprenticeship process.
He says, “It’s a bit different than normal recruitment because you’re kind of recruiting for someone that you would like to invest in. So that said, I think with more fervent partnership between us both we can help to be another tool in the toolbox to help grow Wisconsin agriculture.”
Employers interested in becoming a youth apprenticeship sponsor can find more info here:
Students interested in becoming a youth apprentice can find more info here:
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