Herkules, WCCC partner in new machinist apprenticeship program
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A new apprenticeship program will link an Armstrong County machine manufacturer with Westmoreland County Community College, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday.
The machinist apprenticeship, recently approved by the state Department of Labor & Industry’s Office of Apprenticeship & Training, will be based at Herkules USA Corp. in Ford City and will receive technical instruction from WCCC.
“With this new program, we are happy to be at the same level as our sister companies in Germany, which have had established machinist apprenticeship programs for many years and have been able to perform in-house education,” Herkules President Jakob Scheiffarth said. “We are pleased to now be able to train motivated individuals to learn new skills in the trade of machining.”
The program is the latest to be approved since the creation of the Office of Apprenticeship & Training in 2016. Since then, the office has registered 138 new sponsors and 193 new apprenticeship programs or occupations, bringing the total number of registered apprentices to 16,866 statewide, the governor’s office said.
“Labor & Industry is working to double the number of registered apprentices in the state by 2025,” Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said.
The new apprenticeship will prepare workers for jobs in the machine manufacturing industry in southwestern Pennsylvania, the governor said.
“Apprenticeships give Pennsylvanians the opportunity to build a rewarding career and earn a good wage,” Wolf said. “Registered apprenticeship programs provide students and workers with the hands-on experience needed for growing careers, while strengthening the pipeline of talented workers that businesses need.”