Colorado invests in paid training as a way into the workforce
Naarai Navarro lived a double life as a Denver high school student and a claims-agent-in-training at Pinnacol Assurance, the Denver-based workers’ compensation insurance agency.
In the mornings, the 16-yearold attended classes at John F. Kennedy High School. But come afternoon, she transformed into a working professional as a registered apprentice.
In addition to being taught the ins and outs of the insurance industry, Navarro mastered career skills such as composing business emails, public speaking and phone etiquette — and she got paid while doing so, earning as she learned. Pinnacol even enrolls its young apprentices in the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association program, meaning the teen already was saving for retirement.
At the end of Navarro’s threeyear apprenticeship, Pinnacol hired her right out of high school to a full-time position as a bilingual business development representative. By 20, she said she had saved enough money to buy a house with her sister and brother-in-law. Next, she’s saving for a new car with aspirations to one day utilize her business knowledge to open her own Mexican restaurant.
“An apprenticeship will change your life,” said Navarro, now 21. “As a high schooler, I didn’t think insurance sounded that interesting, but look at all I’ve done. I’m learning so much, and now I know there is much more to the job than I thought.”
Colorado’s Pinnacol Assurance is looked at nationally — the U.S. Department of Labor recently visited — as a model of a successful youth apprenticeship program. Although the program is among the largest and most robust apprenticeship programs in the state, it is just one of several hundred opportunities for Coloradans of all demographics to gain on-the-job workforce experience and get paid while learning.
As of Monday, Colorado recorded 5,826 active apprentices, 287 active apprenticeship programs and 473 employers participating in these programs, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Some of these are youth-focused apprenticeships, and others accept people of all ages.
The state is investing in apprenticeship programs, heralding them as the future of workforce development — so much so that in 2021, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law establishing the State Apprenticeship Agency, which is set to launch in July. The agency is intended to:
• Be the primary point of contact with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship.
• Accelerate new apprenticeship program growth.
• Oversee apprenticeship programs, including registration, certification, quality assurance and compliance with federal laws.
Although trades such as construction are still the bread and butter of apprenticeship programs, experts said these types of on-the-job learning opportunities are being built to attract and retain an evolving talent pipeline in industries such as health care, education, information technology and business services.
“These aren’t your grandpa’s apprenticeships,” said Joe Barela, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Noel Ginsburg, founder and CEO of Colorado-based nonprofit Careerwise, believes apprenticeship programs are more than a philanthropic endeavor or workforce bolster.
Ginsburg, who has spent his career advocating for and setting up apprenticeships, said paid training opportunities should play a key role in mending the division, anger and uncertainty festering in the country.
“If we don’t change the system meaningfully, which apprenticeship does, I am really concerned about the future not just of our state but our country,” Ginsburg said. “Inequity will hold a country back and create some of the discourse we see politically. If people don’t see hope, if they don’t see a way of opportunity, then we end up with where this country is. It’s not that apprenticeship is a silver bullet, but a foundational piece.”
What’s an apprenticeship?
People often conflate apprenticeships with internships, but Katherine Keegan, director of the labor department’s Office of the Future of Work, said that’s a misconception.
Registered apprenticeships, Keegan said, are much more regulated than internships and must meet certain requirements to qualify. All apprenticeships must be a mix of on-the-job training and classroom instruction, provide payment, offer successful apprentices nationally recognized credentials in their field, and supply mentorship.
“Crafted well, apprenticeships can be an equity strategy because they address the need for debtfree labor credentials,” said Brent Parton, acting assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.
An apprenticeship can be an alternative to college, but it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation, said Chris Heuston, director of apprenticeships at Front Range Community College.
Front Range is recognized by the federal Labor Department as an apprenticeship ambassador, meaning the community college system will support the administration’s goals in modernizing, diversifying and expanding apprenticeships in the state, Heuston said.
The system’s campuses offer apprenticeship opportunities in manufacturing, technology, tree care and health care positions such as pharmacy tech, medical assisting and surgical technology.
Front Range partners with local industries such as hospitals and tree maintenance businesses for a combination of classroom learning and on-the-job training for people of all ages and backgrounds, Heuston said.
Many of the employers Front Range partners with help their apprentices pay for tuition. In the past three years, the community college’s industry partners have paid about half a million dollars toward apprentices’ tuition, Heuston said. Fewer than 7% of the nearly 400 apprentices that Front Range has trained since 2019 needed to take out student loans to support their training, Heuston said.
“With the rising cost of higher education, I think individuals are looking for alternatives for how they can be trained in an occupation,” said Renée Welch, director of collegiate apprenticeships at the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Apprenticeships, Parton said, also address equity gaps when it comes to the often intangible but critical benefits of social capital — providing access to professional networking through mentorship.
“Unpaid internships have made it challenging to distribute workforce experience equitably,” Parton said.
Apprenticeship programs are typically years-long and, in addition to payment, apprentices are federally required to receive a wage increase at least once. The wages themselves vary depending on the company.