Tag Archives: careers

When an Open House Comes Calling

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By Renee Prewitt

It’s about jobs, good paying jobs, and the community is quickly getting on board with Detroit’s new focus on careers in the skilled trades. Blue collar jobs are sexy again and with all of the construction projects getting underway—building the new Red Wings Stadium and the new international bridge, road repairs, and renovation projects, construction firms are scrambling to find employees who are trained electricians, cement masons, operating engineers, plumbers, etc. Retirees and the building boom have created a large employment hole to fill.

In response, schools like A. Philip Randolph Career Training Center are stepping in, offering young people dual learning opportunities in academics and the skilled trades. They held an open house at Randolph last week; it’s the only DPS school that prepares students for careers in the construction trades industry. Several people came out to talk about the new partnership between business, government, unions and Detroit Public Schools that will push young people into a wide open pipeline of opportunity that leads to lasting, middle income jobs. Here’s what some of them said about “Apprenticeships, the Other Four-Year Degree.”

IMG_5567“With the right preparation, people will be ready to go to the next level.” Don O’Connell, Executive Director, Operating Engineers, Local 324.

“I heard someone say, ‘If I don’t believe I can make a difference, then a difference won’t be made.’ I know all of us can make a difference and help our young people get the training they need.” Marion McGhee, Executive Director, Office of College and Career Readiness.

“We will see the City of Detroit being rebuilt and our students will be a part of that.” Dr. George Pena, Director, Randolph CTC.

“My father always said that opportunity comes with preparation. Those words have never been more true than they are today.” Dannis Mitchell, Diversity manager, Barton Malow.

At Randolph, students gain hands-on experience in construction in collaboration with local businesses, industry leaders and the community. Randolph is also the only DPS Career and Technical Center to offer the new 9th Grade Career Academy program, where high school students can earn a comprehensive high school diploma, an associate’s degree, trade skill certification and a paid internship through extensive coursework. Ask the young person you know what they think about working in construction. To learn more, call 313 240-4377.

The Partnership for Diversity and Opportunity in Transportation (The Partnership) consists of unions, businesses, and non-profit representatives, working collaboratively to enhance economic development within neighborhoods—which are directly impacted by major public works, and transportation construction projects—by creating community benefits, business growth, job training and other opportunities.

MiRoad2Work.org is one of our programs, designed as a “one-stop shop” for information about apprenticeships, apprenticeship readiness services, and business opportunities.

Access for All Program is Putting Detroiters to Work

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1418344534107By Renee Prewitt 

Everyone is talking about it, and it’s really happening. Men and women who have never had the chance to enter the skilled trades—you know, those professions where everyone wears a hard hat and works on a construction site—are going to class and doing what it takes to become an apprentice.

Last week, 14 people graduated from Access for All, a public-private, community-union-management collaborative partnership. This apprenticeship readiness training program is preparing a new generation of workers for the union construction industry and for hundreds of new jobs that are coming Detroit’s way. Most importantly, jobs/apprenticeships are already committed or sponsored by employers before individuals are put through the training. This is AFA’s second graduating class.

“These folks have put in the time, now it’s time to go to work,” said Don O’Connell, executive director, Operating Engineers Local 324 LMEC, to the roomful of family and supporters at the graduation ceremony.

While the nine-week AFA program is non-paid, it prepares graduates to pass the tests required to become paid apprentices in a range of skilled trades, including carpentry, electrical, iron work, cement masonry, operating engineer, and laborer. Openings are available in these trades because of a projected increase in infrastructure, commercial and industrial construction in the City of Detroit, and the retirement of skilled union journeypersons born during the baby boom years. Both of these factors have created unprecedented demand for skilled union construction workers. Access for All is one of many programs that are putting Detroiters to work by providing hands on training in the skilled trades and connecting graduates to real career opportunities.

Graduate Stephen White talked about how each person looked out for the other throughout the program, and how one person inspired him to take one of the program’s requirements—being on time every day—more seriously. “One day, Lyric (Vance) came in on a skateboard,” he said of his classmate. “If she did that, I knew I could get here on time in my car.”

Congratulations to the 2014 AFA graduating class!

Warren Brown, Michael Capers, Schanna Cottrell, Donte Davis, Michelle Grigsby, Phillip Jones, Keith Lawson, Michael Richards, Rico Sandoval, Dorian Small, Theodore Spencer, Lyric Vance, Michel Vargas, and Stephen White.

For more information about the program, call 313-945-5200, Ext 4317.

The Partnership for Diversity and Opportunity in Transportation (The Partnership) consists of unions, businesses, and non-profit representatives, working collaboratively to enhance economic development within neighborhoods—which are directly impacted by major public works, and transportation construction projects—by creating community benefits, business growth, job training and other opportunities.

MiRoad2Work.org is one of The Partnership’s programs, designed as a “one-stop shop” for information about apprenticeships, apprenticeship programs and business opportunities in the transportation sector. The name represents our goal to demystify the apprenticeship process by helping more people find their way into the apprenticeship pipeline, as well as broadening awareness of business opportunities with Michigan Department of Transportation.