Apprenticeship Summit to be held November 4 at RCC
Robeson Community College will host an apprenticeship summit on November 4 for all business and industry leaders in an effort to increase apprentice opportunities for students. The summit will feature Joyce Milling and Antwan Pippin from ApprenticeshipNC, special guests from Elkay and Campbell’s Soup, and RCC students and apprentices Melinda Locklear and Kendrick Godwin.
“We are having a meeting to talk about apprenticeships and how they can be set them up through the North Carolina Community College System ApprenticeshipNC program,” said Patrick Jacques, dean of public safety and applied technologies at Robeson Community College. “ApprenticeshipNC pays the tuition for students to attend RCC, while employers can help students through an apprenticeship gain hands-on training, on-the-job.”
Jacques says that the apprenticeship program is a win-win-win-win for all parties involved.
“It’s a win for RCC because we get to see our students be successful in the trade that they have chosen; it’s a win for employers because as research shows, 87% of apprentices stay at the business after the apprenticeship is over, so they get an employee that is trained and skilled; and it’s a win for the student because they have tuition waived and they get hands-on training they could not get in a classroom,” said Jacques. “It’s also a win for our community, because having a skilled workforce is vital and can be a gamechanger in attracting new business and industry to our area, and could have a major economic impact upon our region.”
The summit will have an open discussion about the advantages of apprenticeships and the value they can bring to companies in the area, as well as to students as they continue their studies and seek a career.
The event will be held on Thursday, November 4 at 9:00 a.m. in the ADL Auditorium on the main campus in Lumberton. All leaders from business and industry in the region, and beyond, are invited to attend. For more information, please contact Patrick Jacques at pjacques@robeson.edu or (910) 272-3304.
