Representatives of the Central Midwest Carpenters union and Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo have signed agreements that give new options for people wishing to pursue careers in the fields of building construction and welding.
Gavin Gottfried, representing the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Training Fund (IKORCC-JATC), and Dr. Ethan Heicher, chancellor of Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area, recently signed articulation agreements that will allow graduates of Ivy Tech Kokomo who earn specific credentials in building construction or welding technology programs the opportunity to reduce the time needed to complete an apprenticeship with the Central Midwest Carpenters union.
"These agreements with Ivy Tech represent a chance to build a relationship for the years to come,” Gottfried, outreach specialist with IKORCC-JATC, said. “They will allow us to further help those who are looking for a career in the trades. More and more people are showing interest in the trades these days and partnerships like these give more people the resources needed to learn about the trades as a career as well as giving them a head start to make it one."
Apprenticeships combine on-the-job training with classroom instruction over a period of several years, depending on the trade. The articulation agreements specify how students can move more quickly through the apprenticeship programs based on credentials they earn at Ivy Tech. For instance, students who earn a technical certificate in Building Construction Technology and are accepted into the union apprenticeship program can cut as much as a year from their five-year apprenticeship.
“Ivy Tech courses in Building Construction Technology and Welding Technology lead to credentials that provide a foundation for additional credentials – from certificates in specific skills to technical certificates at one year of credit and associate degrees at two years, and they all support the apprenticeships under this agreement,” Heicher said.
“With so much construction going on, and so many people in the trades reaching retirement, we are excited that our local Ivy Tech can be a springboard into good-paying stable construction jobs right here in our area.”
The Ivy Tech Kokomo Service Area covers Cass, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Pulaski and Tipton counties.
For more information about the program or similar partnership opportunities, contact Nick Capozzoli, executive director of Operations, Apprenticeships & Special Projects for Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area, at ncapozzoli@ivytech.edu .
At Monday’s signing event the Central Midwest Carpenters union was represented by Gavin Gottfried, outreach specialist; Chet Fincher, senior business representative and a member of the Ivy Tech Kokomo Board of Trustees; and Andy Tropp, assistant director. Along with Heicher and Capozzoli, Ivy Tech Kokomo was represented by Bill Slonaker, assistant professor of heating, ventilation and air conditioning.