Registered Apprenticeship Guide for Chambers

Registered Apprenticeship Guide for Chambers

By Nicole Bentley, Safal Partners

Nicole Bogdan Bentley is a former principal with Resource Development Group. Now a registered apprenticeship expert, we are pleased to help spread the good word about how she and others from the SAFAL Partners team are able to assist Chambers and EDOs with building apprenticeship programs as part of an overall talent development strategy.



When I started with RDG in 2014, most of the projects that came across my desk were traditional EDC & Chamber funding initiatives – operating revenue and targeted programs of work. Pretty quickly, however, the focus turned to talent. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the labor market was experiencing substantial shifts and critical skills gaps were becoming apparent as communities recovered. Our clients were tasked with figuring out their role in what was now a core component of the economic development prospect package – workforce development. Zoning, utility infrastructure, and due diligence studies all still mattered to interested companies, but the workforce ecosystem started to play a much larger role in a prospect’s decision. Interested companies wanted to know what programs were in place to support a robust talent pool that could meet their hiring needs beyond day one of production and help them avoid high turnover while creating a succession plan. Chambers and EDOs were seen as ideal partners because they are the connection between industry and the community. Talent attraction remained the most common engagement strategy, but as Clint likes to say, it’s only a Band-Aid. Long-term sustainability for talent pipeline development comes through in-depth training models like Registered Apprenticeship. 

In 2016, I had the opportunity to work with the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce on their Accelerate Greater Charleston II campaign where I was introduced to the concept of Registered Apprenticeship as a workforce tool for nontraditional industries. The chamber used part of their AGC II budget to fund education costs for youth apprentices at the community college. I had the privilege of telling Shannon's story to AGC II investors and showing them exactly where their dollars were going in the community. The Charleston region went on to become one of the prime examples of a successful apprenticeship ecosystem and Charleston employers and partners continue to develop innovative solutions to existing talent gaps.  

Almost a decade later, Registered Apprenticeship is now my expertise. As a member of the team at Safal Partners, I supported one of three Centers of Excellence in the United States funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Center provided no-cost technical assistance, hosted webinars, and created resources that help more people successfully engage in RA. We specialized in alignment between RA and the workforce system. At the request of the U.S. Department of Labor, we partnered with ACCE to gain an understanding of current efforts in the RA space among chambers through a survey, focus group discussions, and 1-1 interviews. Using that information, we created a guide for chambers of commerce to use in assisting their members with workforce needs through RA. This guide outlines the core components of RA, explains its benefits for chambers and member businesses, and provides actionable strategies for chambers to become active facilitators in their regions. It includes real-world case studies from chambers across the country to highlight successful approaches and scalable practices. 

So….why apprenticeship? Because it works. Investors love to see ROI and Registered Apprenticeship boasts a positive ROI across all industries that increases as time goes on. It offers employers the option to standardize their talent pool and clearly define what success looks like for a fully proficient employee. RA is proven to reduce turnover, allowing the company to focus less on talent attraction and more on their product. With a wide array of both federal and state funding opportunities, using RA as a talent development tool leads to a more sustainable talent solution. With a continued emphasis on the importance of RA from the current administration and more funding likely to come, it is important for chambers across the country to understand how RA can help their members meet their talent needs. 



You can find our guide here: Registered Apprenticeship and Chambers of Commerce: A Guide for Addressing Members' Workforce Needs Through Registered Apprenticeship. Our main page for the Center also includes several resources on all aspects of the workforce system and Registered Apprenticeship.