The U.S. Department of Labor has recently awarded new grants to promote apprenticeship as a workforce strategy. Congratulations to Santa Clarita’s College of the Canyons (COC), a friend and partner of AMS, for being awarded a grant to continue its groundbreaking work.
Several years ago COC and AMS Fulfillment began working to design a program in response to the employment needs of the company, which are Logistics and Warehousing. The program started in January 2017 and has been ongoing. It is recognized as achieving several “firsts” as follows: 1) The first company in the Santa Clarita Valley to partner with a Community College to create an apprenticeship program; 2) The first company in the State of California to offer an apprenticeship program specializing in warehousing and shipping; and 3) The first company in the United States to apply for a registered apprenticeship with the Department of Labor in the area of warehousing and shipping.
Regarding apprenticeship expansion, a July 2019 Department of Labor press release quoted U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta as follows: “The apprenticeship model of earning while learning has worked well in many American industries, and today we open opportunities for apprenticeships to flourish in new sectors of our economy. With 7.4 million open jobs and job creators searching for skilled job seekers, apprenticeship expansion will continue to close the skills gap and strengthen the greatest workforce in the world – the American workforce.”
Please enjoy a recent article in SCV News on the selection of SCV’s College of the Canyons to collaborate in the new program.