Apprenticeships

The Advance Michigan Center for Apprenticeship Innovation (AMCAI) is a $4 million American Apprenticeship Initiative grant recipient tasked with expanding regional apprenticeship through statewide innovation. AMCAI covers 37 counties throughout lower Michigan and promotes the overall goal of expanding and enhancing Department of Labor (DOL) Registered Apprenticeships.

Led by the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA) and Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan, AMCAI is comprised of nine community colleges—Henry Ford College, Jackson College, Lansing Community College, Mid-Michigan Community College, Monroe County Community College, Oakland Community College, Schoolcraft College, and St. Clair County Community College—along with many local and regional corporate and workforce and economic development partners. This partnership of community colleges and other community partners represent AMCAI, which will focus on establishing and expanding apprenticeship programs responsive to the evolving technical needs in high-demand automotive and transportation sectors, along with expanding into non-traditional apprenticeship occupations like in healthcare and information technology. AMCAI will serve 853 individuals, both new and incumbent workers, by October 2020, with 28% of participants being of underrepresented populations.

Drawing from innovation of past and current projects such as the DOL TAACCCCT funded Multi-State Advanced Manufacturing Consortium (M-SAMC) and the Michigan Advanced Technician Training Program (MAT2), AMCAI will continue to expand and enhance workforce education and apprenticeship.

The center has identified the following goals and objectives to attain this overall vision of expanding apprenticeship through regional and statewide innovation

• Regional coordination and partnership with apprenticeship stakeholders
• Agile content: flexible, the accelerated curriculum in high-demand occupational areas
• Responsiveness to supply and demand: up-skill current and future workers to meet demand
• Demonstrable value and clear return on investment for employers
• Improved capacity for flexible apprenticeship models that provide incentives to employers and apprentices to undertake an apprenticeship
• Career pathways, including credentialed training and articulation, to promote apprentice advancement and program completion
• Dissemination and adoption of exemplary practices, including competency-based apprenticeships and apprenticeship intermediaries
• Regional support: technical assistance and administrative coordination

For more information

Visit AMCAI’s apprenticeship website at MIapprenticeship.org.