This week we chatted with Gazette reporter Izabela Zaluska. Izabela walked us through her story on the Iowa City program that builds connections for job seekers to the skilled trades.

This interesting program helps job seekers learn more about trades before entering an apprenticeship program so they will better understand what trades are a good fit for them.

Resources:

• Izabela's article on thegazette.com
• Link to program opportunity
• Other skilled trades opportunities

Job openings in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City in trades

All right. Well, welcome to cruising hockey. I'm

Liz Kennedy. And I'm here with Isabel De Luca, one of the

reporters here at The Gazette. And I'm so excited. Have you,

Isabella. Nice to have you here. Yeah. Thanks so much, Liz.

Thanks for joining us. Today we're going to talk about a

story that you recently wrote that might be interest to job

seekers in the area. Can you tell us a little bit about that

story?

Yeah, so I'm just kind of over the last year

of reporting, and I've had a chance to write about a lot of

different projects funded by American rescue plan dollars.

And one of the more recent projects that I wrote about is a

partnership between Iowa City and the University of Iowa labor

center. They're getting funding over the next couple of years, I

think next four to five years or so to actively recruit year

round for their pre apprenticeship program. And it's

a way to just kind of continuing to boost the skilled trades

workforce, getting people interested in in the trades, as

well as helping them you know, pursue that career and giving

them the resources to be successful.

I was like I was when I read your story. I was

like, wow, I didn't know there was a labor center, like, what

is that? What is the Iowa labor center?

Yeah, so it has a really long history, I think

they just recently celebrated their 70th or 75th anniversary.

So they really focus on educating about different

trades, helping, you know, helping recruit and get people

in the door, and really also building connections with the

apprenticeship programs in the area. So in Iowa City and Cedar

Rapids area. That's kind of what I focused on with this story.

And I think they do a lot more than that. They also have

different classes and seminars. I know another thing that the

labor center director does is she has a kind of like a group

for women in the trades. So we're just sort of a another

community and another support network for for women

specifically.

Well, that's really interesting. So there, it looks

like there were 20 graduates in this program. Can you tell us a

little bit about what a pre apprenticeship is? Because

that's basically what they're certified with, right?

Oh, yeah. So the pre apprenticeship program is a five

week class, it's typically held in the fall. And it's a way the

program actively recruits for it as well. Typically, they try to

actively recruit people who are underrepresented in the trades.

So women, people of color are veterans. And through these five

weeks, the participants go through learning about different

trades. They also get certified certified and OSHA, CPR and

first aid. So once they do move on to that apprenticeship part,

they already have some those certifications that are

important. In the pre apprenticeship program, they

also learn financial literacy interviewing skills. So it's

almost like a, you know, a course to prepare them to then

qualify for and complete a skilled trades apprenticeship.

What was your kind of reaction? Did you get to talk

with some of the graduates?

Yeah, I did. And I also got a chance to speak with

someone who did the program a couple years ago, and is now a

mentor to people in the pre apprenticeship program. And what

was really awesome getting a chance to be at the graduation

was seeing just the, all the different people, you know,

people were younger, maybe soon to graduate high school, some

people were older, there was a mom who did the class with her

son. So really just a huge variety of people who are

interested in the trades, and maybe without this program

wouldn't have, you know, it would have maybe been a little

bit harder for them to pursue that career, even though they

that's what they were interested in. One of the participants, she

said that she's always had an interest in, you know, the

trades and moving forward in that way, but just wasn't really

sure how to do that. And the pre apprenticeship program helped

her, you know, move forward in that.

Yeah, it does feel like a lot of times that there

is difficulty for people to get started with some of these kind

of big because you think like a plumbing apprenticeship. That's

a really long commitment. And I wouldn't even know anyone that

could sponsor me to get involved with that and and really getting

a foot in the door can be kind of difficult for people.

Yeah, and that's something that I had a chance to

talk about with the labor Center Director Robin Clark Bennett,

about just you know, it's a program that has the information

that's there. But it's also really great way to connect the

participants to the directors and the the ones who run these

apprenticeship programs in the area too. Because like with any

career, it definitely helps to maybe know someone or just have

someone as a mentor to get started, but then what the pre

apprenticeship program does as well is it follows up with the

participants, even when they're in the the, in the

apprenticeship, continuing to support them and seeing if

there's anything that they might need or any, you know,

challenges that they might be facing. One of the participants

who I spoke with Justin, he shared with me, he's in his

second year of a carpentry apprentice, apprenticeship. And

he spoke about just some of the language barriers and cultural

differences that he experienced in his apprenticeship and just

kind of working through it, and now he's really happy to be a

mentor for other people in the pre apprenticeship program to

kind of help them go through and support them, if they're maybe

experiencing some of the same things that he did and kind of

help them through that.

Yeah, it's not the is that that case management you

were talking about?

Yeah. So kind of, so he's just someone who went

through the program and is now a medical. But yeah, they they

also follow up and just kind of make sure that, you know, once

you're in the door, that you're also, you know, have the support

that you need.

And it kind of seemed was there like an

industry that it was sort of focused on? I mean, you talked

about construction, but were there other programs that were

represented, that they kind of got to get a taste for in the

program? Yeah,

I'm not sure. The full list, but I think it's like 15

or 16 of the trades, they get an exposure to. So I would imagine

it's the, you know, kind of the ones that you think about first

carpentry electrician, plumbing, but then also maybe some of the

other ones that people aren't as familiar with, but there's still

a need for to continue growing the workforce and also

diversifying the workforce too.

Right? Yeah. Well, why was last last time on

careers and coffee, we were talking with Aaron Murphy about,

you know, this lack of population growth that we

haven't seen it in Iowa. And, you know, we're seeing a lot of

diverse applicants that come, you know, just different people

from all walks of life that come in, if we can get them kind of

filtered into some of these doors that are career pathways

that could be really good for Iowa to have some growth there.

Yeah, I think something that was mentioned in that

graduation was that in the Iowa City Cedar Rapids area in the

next decade or so there's going to be about 5000, carpenters are

retiring. So that's going to be a pretty big gap to fill. Which

is another reason why this program is so important, because

it's helping. Like I said before, just like not only with

the workforce, but just getting different people and helping to

diversify, diversify that workforce to which is really

important.

Hmm, wow, that's a big number. Yeah. So was there

like a cost for these candidates to go through this? Or did was

it like a course where they had to pay tuition or?

So actually, no, it's free of cost of the

participants, which is another I think, really great thing and

removes that barrier. So the program is funded by grant

dollars. And which is another reason why this ARPA investment

is so important, because they for the next few years or so

they don't have to rely on grant funding, which can sometimes be

a little bit inconsistent, just kind of not knowing maybe where

that funding is coming from. Knowing that they're going to

have this funding for the next few years, they can actively

recruit year round, and really promote the program even more,

because they know they're going to be able to continue holding

the five week course.

Well, if if there's someone that's interested in

maybe participating in this, how do they contact the recruiters?

Yeah, I think so probably the easiest way would

be to look at the Labor Senator on Facebook as well as on their

website. And there's a pre apprenticeship program kind of

tab on their website that has all a lot of information about

the program different links and resources. And then that seems

like the best place to to kind of keep an eye out when that

next application period will open. I'm not typically sure

when the center starts accepting application But the program does

begin in the fall. So I would imagine some time next year more

information about that next cohort will be available. All

right,

well, we'll be sure to put those links in the show

notes for today. But thanks so much for joining us today,

Isabel and talking about your story is a really important look

at kind of some of the good news that's happening in our market

as far as getting people into trades and helping them along

through the process. So it was kind of a bright spot on our on

our site. I'll include a link to your story. And thank you so

much for joining us for careers and coffee.

Oh, definitely. Thank you so much, Liz. I really

appreciated talking with you. And thanks for giving me the

chance to talk more about the story.

Awesome. All right. Well, you guys. We'll see you