The White House has announced the awarding of $244 million in grants aimed at bolstering registered apprenticeship programs across the country.
The funds “will help to expand, strengthen and diversify programs that aren’t just one-offs — they create a pipeline of workers with in-demand skills, connecting them with good jobs that create real security for workers and their families,” Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said Thursday in a statement issued in conjunction with the announcement.
“The senior living sector will benefit greatly from this expansion as it works to close the growing gap between the need for millions of workers in hospitality, senior care and healthcare,” Argentum Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Maggie Elehwany, JD, told the McKnight’s Business Daily on Friday. “With more than 11,000 Americans turning 65 each day, more than 20.2 million caregiving jobs will need to be filled by 2040.”
Argentum, however, is “disappointed that funds were not provided to meet the unique needs of assisted living,” she said.
Registered apprenticeships, offered as an alternative to college or trade school, are industry-driven programs where employers can grow their workforce through on-the-job training and related classroom instruction. The new awards mark the largest federal investment in US history in registered apprenticeships, according to a fact sheet from the White House. Funds will be the money distributed among 52 grantees in 32 states.
About $195 million in awards will come through a second round of grant funding under the Apprenticeship Building America initiative, which supports public-private partnerships designed to serve a range of industries and individuals. This funding “will help expand the use of registered apprenticeships across in-demand fields, such as K-12 education, clean energy, IT and cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, supply chain, hospitality, care economy and public-sector occupations,” the Labor Department said.
The other $49 million will come through a second round of the competitive portion of the State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula grants to nine states. According to the Labor Department, the awards are meant to help states and territories advance registered apprenticeship “as a talent development strategy and create post-secondary education career pathways that strengthen the nation’s workforce” and to enable states and territories to engage industry partners.
“The expansion of apprenticeship programs further allows for industry and workforce collaboration to meet present and future needs,” Elehwany said. “Registered apprenticeship programs allow for training and professional development in critical industry sectors, while at the same time advancing the career development of existing workers.
Argentum previously was awarded almost $6 million through an Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap grant from the Labor Department, as one of 28 public-private partnerships that received a collective amount of almost $100 million, the association announced in 2020. The four-year funding would be used to train more than 7,200 apprentices in key senior living and allied health occupations in more than a dozen states, Argentum said at the time.
