Free event to offer employers introduction to creating registered apprenticeships

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, Michigan Works! Southeast (MWSE) is inviting area employers to a free event that will cover the basics of creating a registered apprenticeship program.

The interactive lunch-and-learn session, called Roadmap to Registered Apprenticeship, will be held on Nov. 22 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at 1201 E. Ellsworth Rd. in Ann Arbor. It's open to anyone interested in creating a registered apprenticeship for their business in 2025. 

"We're going to give people easy access to all of the key players who might help them," says Amber Keyes, a business services specialist at MWSE. "We're collaborating with Washtenaw Community College (WCC), someone from the Department of Labor (DOL) will be attending,  and we'll have a panel of people who've benefited from starting apprenticeships." 

Underscoring that apprenticeships require both on-the-job learning, and related training and instruction (RTI), Keyes says the event will be of particular interest to those wanting to work with WCC, which is an RTI provider. 

"We're bringing everyone into the same room and walking through the process of registering an apprenticeship," Keyes says. "We'll give business owners what they need to know about registering for classes. Or, if they need assistance with their Appendix A, which is sort of like the magic document that we use to register their program with the Department of Labor, we'll help."

Keyes says MWSE registered 13 apprentices at four different employers this summer, and business owners have continued to approach MWSE about starting apprenticeship programs. Keyes explains that employers often know they want their apprenticeship programs to start in January, but need timely guidance on how the process works. 

Starting an apprenticeship is now even more streamlined since MWSE recently became a DOL-approved intermediary. This means that MWSE can serve as the consultant, registrant, and manager of employers' DOL-registered apprenticeship programs, removing significant barriers in time, energy, and money for employers. Employers previously had to complete a two-step process of actually registering the apprenticeship with DOL, and then registering as a standard holder or as an employer. 

"We now have the ability to register employers under our own standards, so employers don't have to do both steps," Keyes says. "We can just go straight to registering their apprenticeship, which is less work and stress."

Apprenticeships, she adds, are available in various industries, including health care, IT, and advanced manufacturing. They offer a structured pathway for skill development and wage growth. Keyes says many of the employers she's worked with are starting to think about growing their talent from within. They feel motivated to create a talent pipeline so that people can retire, or just so they know they have employees ready to meet industry demands.

"From where I sit personally, apprenticeships are a good return on investment," Keyes says. "This event is for anyone who's been thinking about it for a while, or anyone who might have just heard the word 'apprenticeship' today. If they're curious, this is a really great way to get that foundational knowledge they need."

Jaishree Drepaul is a writer and editor based in Ann Arbor. She can be reached at jaishreeedit@gmail.com.

Photo by Doug Coombe.