Manufacturers see hope in Trump Administration proposal to boost apprenticeships

President Trump proposes to “ramp up the number of apprenticeships in the United States from 500,000 to 5 million,” and “he’s promising money to back up his endorsement of the idea – with $200 million, to be exact, more than the $90 million the Obama administration allocated for the effort,” reported IndustryWeek.  The article adds, “Trump specifically mentioned manufacturing apprenticeships in his executive order on apprenticeship expansion, issued in June,” and “it’s an order that has potential, say workforce leaders in manufacturing.” The article quotes National Institute for Metalworking Skills Interim Executive Director Montez King saying that “the best people to develop manufacturing apprenticeship programs are manufacturing leaders themselves – through associations or regional collaborations.” In addition, “King says that recent changes to government regulations to allow community colleges to administer apprenticeship programs – ‘and employers just provide on the job training, rather than owning the program’ – are a big positive.”