CalMatters, a nonprofit news organization that covers state government, hosted its inaugural Ideas Festival June 5 and 6 in Sacramento.
Among the agenda items was a panel discussion titled “Work Pathways in Today’s Economy,” which included Adele Burnes, deputy chief of the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards; Cesar Lara, director of Workforce and Economic Development, California Labor Federation and Megan Nazareno, senior program and data manager, Construction Trades Workforce Initiative.
The labor experts agreed that students in high school and college should have better access to good-paying apprenticeship programs, especially to fill the need for a more diverse workforce.
Apprenticeships provide career pathways benefiting both employers in specific industries and future workers in those industries.
“We have a lot of opportunity in California,” Lara said. “But we have to make sure we have a workforce pipeline that’s well-prepared and ready to go.”
Santago Canyon College has been proactive in that effort and is No. 2 among California’s 116 community colleges in the number of apprenticeships offered.
Responding to a demand for skilled professionals in the water industry, SCC applied for, and was recently awarded, a $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, which will fund apprenticeships for students pursuing careers in the industry.
The grant was written by Sarah Santoyo, assistant vice chancellor of Educational Services in the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Resource Development Department.
“(Apprenticeships) are remarkable because when you look at our students, most are part-time because they’re working,” Santoyo said. “It takes forever to finish, or sometimes they don’t because life happens. So, with the apprenticeship model, why I think there’s such gravitation to it is because you don’t have those things in competition. You’re hired in an apprenticeship program. The day you start, you’re hired.”
The district determines its goals and where gaps might exist and then relays that information to Santoyo, who then searches for funding opportunities that align with the district’s requirements.
“And then once we do that, then we also do an assessment of those opportunities and then help them strategize on how to develop a project that’s going to get funded, that can be implemented and tracked on achieving results.”
A report published by the Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research, a leading source of market research for California Community Colleges, found that the water industry faces an increasing demand for skilled workers in the coming years.
The demand stems from the projected retirement of one-third of its workforce, a need for a younger, more racially diverse male and female workers and other factors.
“Meanwhile, technological advancements in this field have opened doors to bold new prospects in the areas of analysis, treatment, and testing,” the report stated.
When applying for the grant, the proposal had to lay out a plan showing how SCC would use the $1.75 million apprenticeship grant to not only meet the increasing demand for workers in the water industry but also to answer the industry’s call for a more diverse workforce in terms of race and gender, Santoyo said.
Through targeted outreach, SCC will market its apprenticeships to demographic groups that match the needs of the industry.
For the wastewater apprenticeship program, SCC will focus on young people who are likely to be invested in the environment and interested in careers that contribute to the well-being of the environment, Santoyo said.
“We know that we need a future workforce that is not just technically trained but who have the kind of commitment to use resources wisely,” she said.
SCC will market its wastewater apprenticeships to local high schools and to current SCC students, Santoyo said.
The college is also planning to partner with the Orange County Conservation Corps, a nonprofit organization serving “young, at-risk adults through employment, training and educational programs that build self-sufficiency and benefit the community through conservation-driven projects.”
The college currently offers associate’s degrees, certificates of proficiency and certificates of achievements in its Water and Wastewater Technology Department for programs that include wastewater/environmental sanitation, water distribution, water utility management, water equipment operation, and maintenance and tater Treatment.
Those who obtain the proper degree or certificate could find careers in water supply irrigation systems, sewage treatment facilities, heavy and civil engineering construction, waste management and state and local agencies.
The college currently offers 10 apprenticeships that serve more than 5,000 students in fields that include carpentry, mechanics, surveying, cosmetology and construction.
The majority of SCC’s current apprenticeship programs run from two to five years.
