Longmont, Colo: CareerWise Colorado, a business-led nonprofit implementing a statewide, three-year modern apprenticeship program for high school students, and Longmont Economic Development Partnership (EDP) announced a new partnership to further opportunities to connect Longmont-based businesses with youth apprentices for hard-to-fill positions, and to provide local students with local apprenticeship opportunities that multiply post-secondary options.
Under the agreement, Longmont EDP will work in close partnership with CareerWise on the business-facing infrastructure to support apprenticeships in the Longmont area, and serve as a premier business intermediary for CareerWise in Longmont. Also, under the agreement, CareerWise commits to ensuring that Longmont EDP and their partners have a meaningful role in the long-term growth of modern youth apprenticeship as a workforce solution for Longmont industry.
Apprentices work in various occupations within defined career pathways such as business operations, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, information technology, and financial services. Apprentices perform meaningful, productive work as they are trained to step into full-time roles. CareerWise supports apprentice employment with the recruitment of students, training plans, supervisor training, and ongoing consultation.
“Apprentices are identified by businesses through a competitive hiring process so employers can select the right fit for their organization,” said Brad Revare, CareerWise director of business partnerships. “CareerWise is designed to be ROI positive for employers based on apprentice productivity. In that way it’s much different than an internship—apprentices are a part of your team, ultimately freeing up other employees to do higher-value work. For three years businesses have a highly-productive worker at a fraction of the cost of an adult trainee.”
Innovative workforce development is a stated priority for Longmont EDP.
“With the recent launch of Longmont’s updated economic development strategy and collective impact framework, Advance Longmont 2.0, we set a goal related to talent that Longmont successfully recruits and retains new, needed talent while building an industry- and future-responsive talent infrastructure,” stated Longmont EDP President Jessica Erickson. “Our priorities in pursuing that goal include building industry-relevant pipelines to respond to current demands and designing effective career pathways to meet future demands. CareerWise Colorado, with the youth apprenticeship infrastructure they have already built, will serve as a crucial partner in our success.”
CareerWise is also working with St. Vrain Valley School District on the education side, introducing local students and their parents to the value of modern youth apprenticeships, and the new agreement with Longmont EDP will support creating more of those opportunities by increasing the number of local youth apprenticeship opportunities.
Longmont-based businesses wishing to connect with CareerWise through the Longmont EDP partnership should contact Longmont EDP Director of Strategy & Collaboration Morgan Smith at 303.651.0128 or [email protected].
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About The Longmont Economic Development Partnership: The Longmont Economic Development Partnership is a public/private 501c(6) non-profit economic development organization serving the greater Longmont area. As Longmont’s primary agent for economic development, the Partnership leads a comprehensive and collaborative economic development strategy to promote and strengthen the Longmont community’s economic health. The Longmont Economic Development Partnership offers a variety of services and resources to support the relocation, retention, and expansion of business in Longmont and serves as the gateway to Longmont for all businesses.
About CareerWise Colorado: CareerWise Colorado is building a statewide modern youth apprenticeship system that creates pathways for students to access high-demand, high-paying careers at leading Colorado companies. Student apprentices work toward high school graduation and earn postsecondary credit, industry credentials and the meaningful work experience to prepare them to launch successful careers. Employers benefit from an innovative talent pipeline of productive apprentices for hard-to-fill positions.
In its third year, CareerWise Colorado works with education and industry partners in Metro Denver, Fort Collins, Estes Park, Loveland/Berthoud, Grand Junction and Eagle County. More information about CareerWise Colorado is available at www.careerwisecolorado.org.
