Ohio Job and Family Services receives $9.4M grant to expand apprentice program

The Montgomery County Job Center. FILE

The Montgomery County Job Center. FILE

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Service announced on Tuesday that the state will receive a three-year, $9.4 million federal grant to expand Ohio’s Registered Apprenticeship system and expand the number of opportunities available.

The ODJFS said the grant will fund system improvements, incentives to help employers pay for training and tools and pre-apprenticeship opportunities to help better serve “underrepresented” populations like minorities, veterans, people with disabilities, and people with criminal records.

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ODJFS Director Kimberly Hall said, “Apprenticeships are an excellent way to begin building a successful and sustainable career, and this grant will allow us to make that option accessible to even more Ohioans. Apprentices earn while they learn, avoid student loan debt and, when they complete their programs, their starting salaries can be as much $60,000.”

The Ohio apprenticeship program works by having each program be run by a sponsor, usually an employer, a group of employers and labor or management committee. The apprentice learns skills for a job in the sponsor’s industry with at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job training and 144 hours of classroom training.

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