On April 22^nd, 2014 Buckner Companies took the first step in getting the new Apprenticeship Program off the ground by signing up the first employees that will participate in the program.  By the end of last week, ten Buckner employees had been enrolled and at least six more were being considered.  The Apprenticeship Program, which is sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, will serve to improve the existing workforce by ensuring that young, inexperienced employees are getting the training and education that will turn them into full-scale journeyman ironworkers.

The employees enrolled in the Apprenticeship Program will be expected to complete over 2000 hours of on-the-job training and participate in over 160 hours of classroom educational training each year throughout a three year period.  Additionally, the program is set up with built-in yearly goals which allow for the Apprentices to earn pay increases as their working knowledge of the trade and educational background grows.  But more importantly, this incremental approach allows the Apprentices who have been in the program for a period of time to serve as guides to less experienced or newly assigned apprentices.

The Apprenticeship Program is being headed up by newly appointed Training Director, Kevin Leonard.  “With this program we will be able to take a hands-on approach and ensure that guys get the knowledge and skills that the trade requires.  The employees get the skills they need to succeed and Buckner gets quality ironworkers for the future.  It’s a win-win” says Leonard.  It is his hope that sometime in the near future that the apprenticeship program will be successful enough to be marketed as a career path option to aspiring construction workers such as high school graduates, trade school graduates, and military personnel.  Leonard concludes, “It’s a rejuvenation of the workforce; taking a guy with no construction experience and turning him into a journeyman ironworker within a three year period.  That’s where we need to be sooner rather than later.”