ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A partnership of IBEW Local 1 and the St. Louis NECA contractors who employ them is again committing financial support to the Apprentice Ready Construction (ARC) program which prepares high school students and young people for the construction trades.
Graduation day for 19 summer students in the ARC program, run by Missouri AFL-CIO’s Missouri Works Initiative (MWI), was held July 30 at the IBEW Local 1 Union Hall. There, representatives from the IBEW/NECA Electrical Connection partnership presented a $20,000 check to support ARC for another year. The students graduating participated in an eight-week pre-apprenticeship training program in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis.
Participants in the program have toured and gained hands on experience at the award-winning IBEW/NECA Electrical Industry Training Center. For more than 80 years, the training center has produced more highly skilled and safe electricians and communication technicians than any other program in Missouri.
The Electrical Connection commitment to the program also supports the exploration of careers in other trades and a pioneering construction pre-apprenticeship program at St. Mary’s South Side Catholic High School and other schools.
ARC traces its roots to a highly successful St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council AFL-CIO pre-apprenticeship program launched in 2014 and supported by all St. Louis union trades. Since its inception, it has placed 270 in St. Louis union apprenticeship programs.