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Remember
when you were in high school and someone asked you,
“What are you going to do when you graduate? What
do you want to be?” Many of us were at a loss for
words. Finding a direction requires the assistance
of teachers, parents and those organizations that
reach out to the youth of our country with their
expertise. The Miami Valley Alliance of Construction
Professionals (MCACP) has done just that.
The
MVACP has developed the Better Choice Program to
develop a pool of workers to be used by any of the
thirteen (13) different Building Trades’ signatory
contractors to provide work experience and
educational opportunities to prepare participants
for entry into traditional apprenticeship programs.
The MVACP has made a long-term commitment to the
Dayton Public Schools to bring students and
graduates into the program. The goal is to help
students achieve a permanent career in the organized
construction industry as journeymen and to develop
an experienced base of highly skilled journeymen
from which to foster new minority business
enterprises in the construction industry.
Structure
The
Better Choice
Program is a joint venture between local
construction company owners and local labor
organizations. As they have managed other successful
training programs for over 100 years, this program
will be overseen by a joint Labor and Management
Sub-Committee of the MVACP. The program is funded by
the MVACP with help from State and Federal Grants.
Program
participants earn the wages of the classification
they work under in the trade they are referred out
by to a member contractor. At the end of the 1000
program, the Better
Choice participant will choose an apprenticeship
program and proceed under traditional apprenticeship
procedures.
Recruitment
Dayton
Public Schools. The Better Choice Program focuses on increasing access to student
classrooms for their recruiters and offers new and
improved training for district guidance counselors
on construction industry options.
Montgomery
County Job Center. The Better Choice utilizes Job Mall space and aggressively partners with
the Montgomery County Job Center to move
underemployed city and county residents into well
paying careers in the construction industry with
true benefits and retirement security.
Community
Outreach. The Better
Choice Recruitment Team will take their message
of new options and opportunities directly to the
leaders and members of local church and fraternal
organizations and the general public through
speaking engagements, exhibits and industry events,
such as the Annual Construction Expo (to be held at
the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in October).
Training
Entry
into the program requires:
- High
School Diploma or GED
- 18
years of age or older
- Valid
Drivers License
- Negative
Drug Test
Services
of the Program include:
- OSHA
10 hour training
- 1000
hours of monitored work hours with recordkeeping
on attendance, performance and experiences
gained
- Full
placement service with local signatory
contractors across all thirteen (13) Building
Trades
- Introductory
training on each of the trades and their
apprenticeship programs
- Core
courses in math or reading to help them with
entry into apprenticeship programs
- Specific
trade-related courses, as offered by the various
apprenticeship programs, to help develop
particular skills necessary for entry in
apprenticeship programs.
The
program is coordinated by Eddie Jaudon, an
electrician by trade, who has served on the NECA/IBEW
Joint Apprenticeship Committee for over twenty (20)
years. For more information, please call
937-430-5130.
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