Pennsylvania Apprenticeship Initiative Receives National Innovation Award

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON – This week at the National Association of State Workforce Agencies’ (NASWA) 2020 Winter Policy Forum in Washington, D.C., the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry received the prestigious Pinnacle for Business Development Award, presented by NASWA's Employment and Training Committee. This award is bestowed upon a state demonstrating excellence and innovation in the area of employer engagement.

The Pennsylvania Apprenticeship and Training Office partnered with Keystone Development Partnership to develop a Registered Apprenticeship (RA) Navigator Program. This program is designed to meet employer demand by assisting with starting and scaling up registered apprenticeship training programs. The full program has 2,000 hours of on-the-job training with 144 hours of related technical instruction.

"The RA Navigator Program is one of the first nongovernmental workforce intermediary training of its kind in the country," said Scott B. Sanders. "As employers struggle to find talented employees in the current labor market, it is essential they have the tools needed to help their organizations grow and thrive."

RA Navigators help grow the apprenticeship ecosystem through regional partnerships and providing technical assistance to employers, unions, industry associations, community organizations, training providers and the workforce system.

For more information about NASWA’s Winter Policy Forum, visit https://www.naswa.org/conferences/2020-winter-policy-forum , and for more information about NASWA’s Employment and Training Committee, visit https://www.naswa.org/about-policy-committees.