An almost $8 million federal grant awarded jointly to the Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will be used to develop industry-driven strategies for advanced manufacturing apprenticeships and fill current labor needs.
“While we were confident in our application, getting a call from the U.S. Department of Labor informing you of an award of $8 million does jolt a person in a very good way,” said Shannon Munro, vice president of workforce development at Penn College in Williamsport, Pa. “My reaction was gratitude for the recognition of the work that the Workforce Development team at Pennsylvania College of Technology has accomplished with apprenticeship programs over the past several years. We’re excited to get started on this next phase of implementation.”
Penn College, an affiliate of Penn State University, and NJIT, a public polytechnic university, received the funding as part of the Labor Department’s $183.8 million in total grants awarded to 23 academic institutions and consortia nationwide.
“We are extraordinarily pleased to be partnering with Pennsylvania College of Technology to provide on-ramps to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York citizens to high-demand jobs in advanced manufacturing,” said Timothy Franklin, NJIT’s associate vice president for business and economic development and special adviser to the president. “The apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs we will be able to offer through this grant will help employers in biopharma, lightweight metals, plastics and other advanced manufacturing industries meet the rapidly increasing demands associated with new technologies and processes.”
Munro told Pennsylvania Business Report that several registered programs in advanced manufacturing fields will be developed by Penn College and NJIT. They include an apprenticeship program for industrial manufacturing technicians (IMTs) that runs for one and a half years; a four-year mechatronics apprenticeship program; and three-year programs for each of the programs for computer numerical control (CNC) operators, plastics process technicians, light metals machinists and welders, and biological technicians.
Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) also will be developed to meet the business-skill needs of employers in areas such as project management, frontline supervisor, communication, team building, general cybersecurity awareness and Lean Six Sigma, Munro said.
“These skills are just as important as other more technical skills for apprentices in registered programs, who can opt to enroll in the IRAPs, as can people in adjacent occupations not typically using apprenticeships, such as sales, management and support positions,” she said.
Likewise, pre-apprenticeship programs will be designed to scale to meet anticipated labor needs and will increase access “to underrepresented people, particularly veterans, military spouses and transitioning service members,” said Munro.
And women, who are underrepresented in occupations targeted by this application, she said.
The grant funding for Penn College and NJIT was designated by the Labor Department for them to create Modular, Industry-Driven Apprenticeship Strategies (MIDAS), which they’ll use with national organization partners to advance national awareness and interest in the apprenticeship model.
“The apprenticeship model of earning while learning has worked well in many American industries and … we open opportunities for apprenticeships to flourish in new sectors of our economy,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta said in announcing the grants.
Munro explained that MIDAS — which offers highly customizable modules using a shared-tuition model — has specific goals, which are to:
1) Reinvent apprenticeship models by reconfiguring existing, inflexible structures into leading-edge systems that will meet the complex, rapidly changing needs of advanced manufacturing.
2) Retrofit and expand current registered apprenticeships and develop complementary IRAPs that are applicable across advanced manufacturing.
3) Create new modular apprenticeships in specialty advanced manufacturing industries aligned with Penn College and NJIT expertise.
4) Create pre-apprenticeships to increase the number of people entering high-demand occupations.
5) Continuously improve program effectiveness and scalability.
“MIDAS primarily focuses on currently employed workers who may be underemployed and need to up-skill, especially with technical and business skills, to advance in their careers in the advanced manufacturing sector,” said Munro.
She said that MIDAS will mix urban and rural area implementation while continually learning and transferring best practices among the schools.
“Penn College will mentor NJIT in adoption and growth of existing apprenticeship programs, in development of biological and light metals machinist and welding programs, and in implementation of the veterans’ pre-apprenticeship program,” Munro said.
There is significant nationwide demand for such apprenticeships.
“MIDAS-targeted advanced manufacturing occupations are in high demand, providing a wide range of opportunities for workers trained in these areas,” Munro said. “Job growth may appear small for these occupations, but the projected number of job openings tells a different story about the crucial need for workers.”
In fact, during the next decade there are impending retirements that will create critical shortages for advanced manufacturing. “This massive loss of experience and knowledge, which can have a negative impact on quality, cannot be easily compensated for, even with the projected increases in automation,” she added.
Apprenticeship is one tool to assist with the needs of the existing workforce, while also hiring newly graduated individuals with the right skills, said Munro, who added that “our goal is to offer credit pathways to degree programs for apprentices that want to continue their education.”
These efforts aren’t new for Penn College, the grant lead.
“Penn College has been addressing the skills gap for a long time,” said Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour. “In the past few years, we’ve added apprenticeship training as an integral part of this effort.”
Gilmour added that together, Penn College and NJIT anticipate providing training to more than 3,000 apprentices over the next four years.
“This collaboration will extend Penn College’s mission of creating ‘tomorrow makers’ and meeting significant industry demand for skilled workers,” Gilmour said.
Many groups also will be involved in this collaboration.
Munro said that national industry and trade associations, for instance, play a crucial role in MIDAS. Penn College has relationships with the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies and the SPE Foundation for plastics, while NJIT works with the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, as well as Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow.
“These national leaders in their industry sectors, and others, will be involved so that programs adhere to established industry standards,” she said.
Employer coalitions, including the Central Pennsylvania Advanced Manufacturing Partnership and the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Partnership also are essential to the success of MIDAS because members adopt, fund and improve consortium-based apprenticeship programs, said Munro.
And workforce partners, such as the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation, the Pennsylvania Apprenticeship Training Office, and the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will play roles in making MIDAS effective by engaging employers and other partner organizations, recruiting pre-apprentices, and engaging in other activities to achieve the goals of the grant, she said.