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Community Learning Center to host pre-apprenticeship in building trades

A free, three-week building trades pre-apprenticeship program is planned for Jan. 15 through Feb. 2 at the Huntington County Community Learning Center, the Northeast Indiana Building & Construction Trades Council and Northeast Indiana Works have announced.

The Building Futures initiative, a collaboration of numerous regional entities, is designed to enhance talent pipelines for construction trades occupations, which include laborers, carpenters, iron and sheet metal workers, plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, insulators, painters, plasterers and roofers.

Building Futures accepts applicants 18 years old and older. People who are selected for the program must undergo a pre-assessment process that includes a drug screen.

Participants will receive a stipend during the course of the program. People who complete the program can apply for a full learn-and-work apprenticeship or seek opportunities to enter the workforce.

Residents interested in Building Futures can visit neibt.org to sign up or call the building trades at 489-8574. The registration deadline is Dec. 18.
Among the initiative partners are Northeast Indiana Works, which helped facilitate strategic planning and secured significant funding for the program through a Skill UP Indiana! grant for the pre-apprenticeship program and a separate insurance industry initiative; Ivy Tech Community College Northeast, which is the chief training provider for Building Futures; WorkOne Northeast, which will assist with participant assessments; the Fort Wayne Urban League, which along with Ivy Tech, will provide instruction; the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, which secured funding provided by Chase.