2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

The U.S. Department of Labor America’s Promise and American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grants ended this year by exceeding all performance outcome targets and earning recognition as one of the strongest workforce collaboratives in the nation for both grants. Since January 2017, the America’s Promise Catalyst partners served 932 participants against a target goal of 905. Of the 932 served, 853 are un-and-underemployed individuals and 79 are incumbent workers. Of the 853 un-and-underemployed participants served, 717 have completed training and received a credential and 414 have entered unsubsidized employment, again these outcomes exceed 100% or our grant goals.

The Advance Michigan Center for Apprenticeship Innovation (AMCAI) completed activities for the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grant through a six-month extension ending on March 31, 2021. The AAI grant partners served 997 registered apprentices, 308 pre-apprentices in seven pre-apprenticeship programs and served more than 2,255 participants candidates over the course of the grant period in some capacity, including support to the United Auto Workers by scheduling Related Technical Instruction (RTI) for UAW apprentices, career counseling and preparation for apprenticeship, and educating high school career and technical education students and job seekers on all aspects of registered apprenticeship as a career.

The AAI grant engaged 124 program sponsors and the development of the SEMCA WIN Intermediary Standards Holding program which has now served 26 employers and 61 total apprentices, with 17 employers hiring 33 apprentices in the AAI grant and creating a sustained intermediary support to include additional employers and 28 new apprentices since AAI ended in March 2021. The 124 program sponsors also included two additional intermediaries, the Jackson Area Manufacturing Association (JAMA) which is an association of 63 employers and participated in the AAI grant with 13 registered apprentices, and the Northwest Network which had eight employers supporting eight registered apprentices.

The AMCAI website www.miapprenticeship.org was updated and includes a link to the Rapidskills Generator, Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator, and Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Planning policies, powerpoint, video, and other such tools for apprenticeship employers to use to achieve their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. An apprenticeship resource tracking software (ART) was developed as an apprenticeship app tracker which can track Related Technical Instruction (RTI), On-the-Job Training (OJT) and auto generate a report on apprenticeship activity which supports the Intermediary Standards Holding program that WIN offers to employers by managing all of the paperwork and reporting for apprentices.

The AAI grant and has created long-term sustainability by compiling several apprenticeship resources for the Southeast Michigan region as well as working to expand apprenticeship awareness across Michigan. More detail related to the apprenticeship resources on miapprenticeship.org website includes information and the link to Rapidskillsgenerator.org site which is an online repository holding 540 occupational frameworks for developing Appendix A Work Process Schedules, the Return-on-Investment Calculator (ROI) which shows wage data and helps show employers the financial benefits of hiring apprentices, a video developed for sharing information about apprenticeship today, Apprenticeship Resource Tracking (ART) software and marketing materials. The ART software was developed to enable intermediary standards support for apprenticeship employers. The AMCAI Toolkit also includes sample Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)/Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) guidelines and sample templates for Intermediaries and sponsors that do not have the necessary resources for hiring and complying with DOL Registered Apprenticeship.