11.22.24

Cantwell Celebrates National Apprenticeship Week

state currently has 16,150 active registered apprentices across 230 registered apprenticeship programs and 206 occupations

WASHINGTON. D.C. – This year, November 17-23 marks National Apprenticeship Week. Senator Cantwell has been a strong advocate for apprenticeship programs across all industries to skill and train workers to fill critical workforce gaps and create high paying jobs.

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Since 2021, Sen. Cantwell helped secure major wins for Washington state’s apprenticeship and workforce development programs, including more than $18 million in funding for the following programs:

  • $10 million for University of Washington: This grant will help train semiconductor industry workers as part of the U.S.-Japan University Partnership for Workforce Advancement and Research & Development in Semiconductors (UPWARDS) for the Future project. Funding for this grant comes from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, which was authorized by Sen. Cantwell's CHIPS & Science Act.
  • $5.6 million for Washington State Department of Labor & Industries: This grant was awarded to help expand and diversify registered apprenticeship programs in cybersecurity, infrastructure, clean energy, education, and health care. Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL), State Apprenticeship Expansion formula grants.
  • $750K for University of Washington – Bothell: This grant was awarded to create a Center for Biotech Training and Innovation, in partnership with the local biotech industry, to train the future biotech workforce, including those traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. Sen. Cantwell fought to secure this funding in the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations bill.
  • $714K for Seattle-based Ada Developers Academy: This grant was awarded by the DOL to help increase the number of women in registered apprenticeship programs. Ada Developers Academy aims to diversify the tech industry by providing software development training for women and minorities.
  • $500K for the Red-Tailed Hawks Flying Club: Funding for this grant comes from the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Aviation Workforce Development Grant Program, which was established because of the Aviation Maintenance Workforce Development Pilot Program, spearheaded by Sen. Cantwell in 2018 and enacted into law via the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The Red-Tailed Hawks Flying Club, the Mukilteo-based chapter of Black Pilots of America, works to help introduce underrepresented youths to careers in aviation and practical STEM applications.
  • $459K for Aviation Technical Servies (ATS): This grant was awarded to boost ATS’s partnership with Sno-Isle Tech and Everett Community College to set up paid apprenticeship programs in technical aviation fields for high school students. Funding for this grant also came from the FAA’s Aviation Workforce Development Grant Program, established by Sen. Cantwell in 2018.

Sen. Cantwell has been a champion for apprenticeship programs and investments for workforce development opportunities. In 2017, Sen. Cantwell introduced bipartisan legislation to create strong incentives for businesses who invest in apprenticeship programs that would benefit both employers and workers. In 2018, Sen. Cantwell established the FAA Aviation Workforce Development Program to authorize grants to support apprenticeships across the aviation industry and provide aviation technical education opportunities. In 2022, Sen. Cantwell heralded the U.S. Department of Labor's announcement of six Washington state partners chosen to be National Apprenticeship Ambassadors. 

Sen. Cantwell fought to include $13 billion in her landmark CHIPS & Science Act to boost STEM education funding at the NSF for scholarships, fellowships, and traineeships, and for competitive awards to universities to expand STEM education capacity. The United States is on track to be 3 million STEM workers short by 2030. Of the $13 billion, the bill directs the NSF to invest $2 billion to increase STEM education opportunities for women, minorities, and tribal communities.

In her historic 2024 bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Sen. Cantwell expanded funding and assistance under the FAA Aviation Workforce Development Grant Program, securing $60 million per year through FY2028 to grow the aviation workforce pipeline. Sen. Cantwell secured the establishment of a new subprogram dedicated to recruiting and training the next generation of aviation manufacturing workers – including via support to local workforce training programs operated by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).  As a whole, the grant program makes investments in the education and recruitment of pilots, unmanned aircraft systems operators, maintenance technicians, aerospace engineers, and aircraft manufacturing technical workers.

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