Contact: Kristi Pronovost
Director of Marketing & Communications
717.653.8106 or kristi@abckeystone.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 21, 2019
(MANHEIM, PA.) Associated Builders & Contractors – Keystone Chapter (ABC Keystone) was recently awarded a $67,182 PASmart Pre-Apprenticeship Grant through the PA Department of Labor & Industry to create the Lancaster-Berks Construction Pre-Apprenticeship Connection (P-A Connection). P-A Connection is a partnership between the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board, Berks Connections/Pretrial Services (BCPS) and ABC Keystone. Through the P-A Connection partnership, PASmart Grant funds will help promote pre-apprenticeship in the construction trades, provide no-cost education for 20 individuals and certify additional instructors at partnering organizations.
P-A Connection seeks to increase the number of youth, returning citizens, and the underemployed in pre-apprenticeship programs in the two-county area and to provide the skilled trade and employability skills necessary to build the workforce pipeline needed to meet the increasing demand in the commercial/industrial construction trades. A portion of the grant funds will provide opportunities to promote the pre-apprenticeship program through open houses and awareness efforts, and funds will also be used to support Berks Connections/Pretrial Services. Berks Connections/Pretrial Services is an organization focused on improving employment participation of returning citizens through the development of a career pathway in the construction trades and other similar organizations; expanding the number of secondary and post-secondary partnerships; and raising the number of youth pre-apprentices in the construction trades. Increased articulation agreements with area schools, made possible by this grant, will allow additional area youth to more easily access the pre-apprenticeship programs.
ABC Keystone will serve as the registered apprenticeship sponsor and is a registered pre-apprenticeship consortium. The Keystone Apprenticeship and Training Trust (Trust) oversees the ABC Keystone apprenticeship programs in seven member-determined trades. Trades currently offered include: Carpentry; Construction Craft Laborer; Electrical; Heavy Equipment Operator; Plumbing; HVAC; and Sheet Metal. Pre-apprenticeship application details for the 20 students to be served by this grant will be finalized in mid-March 2019. For more information, please contact stephanie@abckeystone.org.
###
The Keystone Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC Keystone) is a construction trade association based in Manheim, Pennsylvania, representing nearly 550 construction-related firms. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC and its 69 chapters nation-wide help members win work and deliver that work safely, ethically, and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work. Visit us at www.abckeystone.org.
