Yesterday, the Western States College of Construction (WSCC) welcomed Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) to their campus in Northern Denver. The institution was awarded the 2024 Community Project Fund/Congressionally Directed Spending for its apprenticeship program that works with the local chapter of the Pipefitters Union.
The award will provide WSCC with over $1 million in funding to expand its apprenticeship and training programs for trades, including pipefitting, welding, sheet metal, and plumbing.
Heather Sherwood, the Vice President of Academic Affairs for WSCC, welcomed the additional funding as a means to improve recruitment and retention.
“The first thing we are going to do is hire two full-time recruiters who will primarily focus on bringing applicants into apprenticeships,” Sherwood said. “It also provides for our pre-apprenticeship program, it will provide materials, personal protective equipment, tools and to help expose the students to one of four potential career options.”
Sherwood said that WSCC plans on having these recruiters hired by March 2025. For the expanded pre-apprenticeship program, Sherwood said that they’re working to develop the curriculum further and are building a list of applicants interested in the program.
Talia Hernandez Medina, one of the apprentices currently enrolled at WSCC, told the senator, said the program will help her succeed.
“I originally came out of a trade school looking to weld. Of course, the only thing we learned there was how to weld. I wish I had known about this apprenticeship earlier because not only does this apprenticeship show us and teach us the trades, but it also lets us get our certificates as we are going through our apprenticeship which is something I didn’t get at a trade school,” Medina said. “I didn’t learn the fundamentals of our trade just from the program at the trade school. I am so grateful to be here to continue to learn the necessary skills to succeed in this industry.”
Although Hickenlooper had not prepared a speech, he told the apprentices and union members that their work would be crucial in the coming years.
“I love seeing younger people learning skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. I could not say more strongly that we continue to try and get these types of programs funded,” Hickenlooper said. “This country has a lot of building we need to do over the two decades and we are going to need a whole lot of people who have skills that you are teaching here [at WSCC]. My job is to stay out of your way, simplify the regulations and red tape of bureaucracy as much as possible, and also get you all the resources you need.”
Hickenlooper said that in his last two years in the Senate, the U.S. government committed to rebuilding America, both in terms of infrastructure and industrial manufacturing. Right now, Hickenlooper says that the U.S. lacks the workforce to do that and that institutions like WSCC will be more important than most Americans could imagine.
After the event, the Senator told the Colorado Times Recorder that he was intrigued by President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Hickenlooper was impressed that Chavez-DeRemer supports the PRO Act, saying that from what he has seen, she has been all in for organized labor. Hickenlooper did say he wanted to do more research into Chavez-DeRemer before committing to approving her nomination.
WSCC was formed in 2020 as a collaborative effort between labor and management partners to create a program for earning a degree in the construction field. Students are offered training programs in pipefitting, plumbing, and sheet metal, as well as licenses and certification to work in these trades. Students graduate debt-free while having the opportunity to learn on the job and earn a salary.
