Minnesota receives $1.8 million federal grant to expand apprenticeship opportunities

Minnesota has received a new $1.8 million federal apprenticeship grant that will continue to expand registered apprenticeship throughout Minnesota.

The federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's (USDOL) State Apprenticeship Expansion initiative is the second major grant awarded to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). In 2016, DLI’s Apprenticeship Minnesota received a $1.5 million grant from the USDOL.

This additional funding will continue to help develop the state's workforce by supporting pathways to registered apprenticeship and career readiness training, outreach and employer engagement to increase participation in registered apprenticeship opportunities across the state.

"We believe apprenticeship programs are a solid path for workers to establish career opportunities and for employers to build a motivated, highly skilled workforce,” said Ken Peterson, DLI commissioner. “This grant will help us strengthen and build partnerships with employers, labor, education and government to develop apprenticeship programs across Minnesota."

"This is an investment in Minnesota’s future workforce,” said John Aiken, Apprenticeship Minnesota director. “This will provide new opportunities to expand registered apprenticeship to help Minnesota employers’ meet their needs to recruit, train and retain 21st century talent.”

Apprenticeship Minnesota will use this new funding to support career readiness initiatives for youth, women, communities of color and veterans; conduct outreach and education; develop regional workshops about apprenticeships; and expand new registered apprenticeship programs in construction, advanced manufacturing, health care services and other high-growth industries. The funding runs through October 2020.

Since 2016, Apprenticeship Minnesota has used its first USDOL expansion grant to:

• conduct construction-employer engagement meetings for more than 130 attendees; 

• provide pre-apprenticeship training to more than 200 participants;

• develop new marketing materials, social media content and a web site that reached over 27,800 unique visitors in its first two months; and

• help host the first-ever Minnesota Apprenticeship Summit with more than 400 attendees.

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About Apprenticeship Minnesota

Apprenticeship Minnesota helps employers develop and register apprenticeship programs and promote workforce diversity through outreach and education. Minnesota's apprenticeship program allows employers to design their own apprenticeship program that provides apprentices with specific skills, training and job-related instruction tailored to the company's needs.