High school students Jada Adkins, left, and Drake Dickers stand in applause as the West Virginia Department of EducationƵs Office of Career Technical Education announces a partnership with the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at Drinko Library in Huntington.
High school students Jada Adkins, left, and Drake Dickers stand in applause as the West Virginia Department of EducationƵs Office of Career Technical Education announces a partnership with the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at Drinko Library in Huntington.
Parents of the Baby Boom generation encouraged their children to pursue office jobs instead of the factory jobs that paid well but often took a toll on their bodies. Now the pendulum is moving in the opposite direction. The cost of higher education deters some prospective students who would rather earn decent money now than incur a large debt that takes years to pay off. That makes skilled trades and similar jobs more desirable.
Many West Virginia industries find themselves in need of skilled blue collar workers, but often the demand exceeds supply. About a decade ago, one company in the Kanawha Valley couldnƵt find enough welders, so it hired people and trained them to weld from scratch.
Diana Barnette, co-owner and vice president of Mining Repair Specialist at Holden, West Virginia, in Logan County, said her business, which repairs underground mining equipment, needs 30 machinists.
ƵFrom the time we started in 1987 until now, in the beginning, we had a lot of people who were machinists, mechanics, welders. And we kind of lost a generation. And then it went to computerized technology, so we had to retool our business. Ƶ And then where do you find labor?Ƶ Barnette said to The Herald-Dispatch reporter Katelyn Aluise.
Barnette was one of several people attending ThursdayƵs event on the Marshall University campus to witness the signing of partnership agreement between Marshall and the West Virginia Department of Education. Under the agreement, the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center and the Department of Education will create new pre-apprenticeship opportunities for students and strengthen the talent pipeline for industries in West Virginia.
Through the departmentƵs Classroom2Careers initiative, MAMC will align manufacturing trade programs at the stateƵs career technical education centers with U.S. Department of Labor pre-apprenticeship standards. Approximately 2,000 students across West Virginia will be eligible to earn pre-apprenticeship credit, giving them direct access to employment opportunities with companies that offer registered apprenticeships through MAMCƵs Apprenticeship Works.
ƵWeƵre going to help build those connections between the industry and the schools,Ƶ said MAMC Director Derek Scarbro. ƵAnd when these high school students finish these pre-apprenticeship programs, theyƵre going to be able to become very, very attractive employees to these companies that are doing registered apprenticeships, and theyƵre gonna be able to enter those at a jump-started level.Ƶ
In the past, government officials have talked about West VirginiaƵs liabilities in attracting private investment from outside or encouraging it from inside. TheyƵve talked about available sites and tax incentives, but workforce preparedness was not always at the top of their list. Now they can no longer avoid that topic. ItƵs too obvious. The new partnership between Marshall and the state Department of Education can be one step in the long process of showing companies that if they will come, we will provide the workers they need.
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