Lt. Gov. McGeachin visits Weiser school, businesses to promote technical education

By: 
Steve Lyon

Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin spent last Wednesday in Weiser meeting with students and businesses to promote career-technical education and the many good jobs in the state for skilled workers.
 McGeachin, a small business owner from Idaho Falls, spoke to Weiser High School students at an assembly before stopping by HVAC company Comfort Zone to hear about an apprenticeship program the business started.
 She ended her visit to Weiser with a tour of manufactured home builder Champion Homes, one of the biggest employers in the area.
 In her position, McGeachin is a supporter of career-technical education and workforce development as a post-secondary for young people not inclined to attend college.
 As Idaho continues to grow, there are more good paying jobs for Idahoans who obtain the skills needed in a number of vocational trades.
 McGeachin also serves on the board of directors for the Idaho Career and Technical Education Foundation. The nonprofit corporation works with industry and other partners to raise private dollars to add to state and federal dollars used to fund CTE programs throughout the state.
 After speaking with WHS students about job opportunities for those who pursue career or technical training after high school, McGeachin visited a local HVAC contractor to hear about an apprenticeship program the owners started jointly with Weiser High School and CWI.
 Comfort Zone owners Doug and Gina Applegate worked with the Weiser School District, College of Western Idaho and the state labor department to create an HVAC apprenticeship program.
 The business brought on two Weiser High School seniors in 2018. They planned to interview another student last week for the 2019 school year.
 “We were all able to come together to make this work,” Gina said.
 The Applegates started the HVAC apprenticeship program as a way to develop skilled employees for the growing business they founded in 1996.  
 In rural communities, skilled labor at the journeyman level in the trades of plumbing, electrical and HVAC is not always that easy to find.
 Rather than complain about the lack of HVAC technicans, Doug Applegate said he wanted to do something about it. He worked with former school district superintendent Wil Overgaard to create the apprentice program in 2018.
 The high school screens students as candidates for the apprentice program before putting them in touch with the Applegates for a possible placement.
 Out of the two seniors that were brought on in 2018, one found that HVAC work wasn’t really for him and the other was hired by the Applegates and continues with year two of his apprenticeship.
 “We have some really long-term employees. We take care of our employees and they take care of customers,” Gina said.
 The students are enrolled through the workforce development program at CWI as they complete their senior year at high school. The business works around the students’ class schedule during the school year. They work with HVAC-certified employees on the job.
 If the students stick with the HVAC apprenticeship program and pay for their first year of classes at CWI, the Applegates will pay for years two, three and four as they work toward the 8,000 hours it takes to get licensed in Idaho as a journeyman, along with passing a rigorous test.
 McGeachin said there are businesses across the state that need more skilled tradesmen, and the CTE programs at schools like CWI and TVCC are helping to fill the job vacanies.
 “You guys are an example of this working successfully,” McGeachin said.
 Going to school beyond high school to learn a  technical skill that is in demand can be the difference between making $10 an hour and $30 an hour, she said.
 It also offers young people the opportunity to live and work in their hometowns without having to leave for employment opportunities.
 “There is so much opportunity out there,” she said. “It’s just a great thing to promote and support.”
 

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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