August 2022 – APP101 at Sherwin Williams

APP101 Celebration at Sherwin Williams

Tuesday, August 23, 2022: Sherwin-Williams, located in Buford, Hall County, Georgia, is awarded ARC grant money for their participation in an Apprenticeship Model (APP101) supported locally and regionally for small manufacturers located in Hall County, Georgia. The accomplishments of three Sherwin-Williams Company – Atlanta DSC employees that were selected to become apprentices in Industrial Maintenance were celebrated by a partnership of community leaders. Each apprentice was an existing employee that accepted the apprenticeship position when they responded to company posted internal position openings. Upon completion in Spring 2023, they will be promoted to full time Maintenance Technicians. As a part of APP101, the apprentices have an in-house mentor that conducts their structured On the Job Learning (OJL) while they also attend 1-2 classes of Related Technical Instruction (RTI) per semester at Lanier Technical College (Lanier Tech). There is no cost to the students. During their OJL, the apprentices have replaced cables in a Sherwin Williams Distribution automated robot which relates to their classes on wiring. They also reported that being able to read schematics now helped during their lighting project. At the beginning, apprenticeships are cost heavy to companies that engage in the opportunity, but the company outlined significant savings and paybacks they have already realized with the apprentices just half-way through.

As a part of APP101, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has awarded for 7 apprenticeships and 6 more are eligible next month. This includes apprentices from ALBAform, Bitzer, Elringklinger, Georgia Poultry Lab, Murray Plastics, Ranger Manufacturing, Sherwin Williams, and Voyant Beauty. The apprenticeships are in technical specialties of Industrial Maintenance, Machining and Quality Technicians. All these APP101 apprenticeships are 2 years in length, include a structured On the Job Learning (OJL) component with an assigned mentor, as well as Related Technical Instruction (RTI). All these apprenticeships are US Department of Labor Certified. There are currently 50 active 2-year apprenticeships in the WorkSource Georgia Mountains Region 2 which covers 13 counties, and all are supported by the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), more specifically by Lanier Tech and North Georgia Tech. This funding is part of an original ARC grant through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) awarded to the Gainesville-Hall County Development Authority in the amount of $300,000 in December 2019. It is a partnership of the Authority, Lanier Technical College, WorkSource Georgia Mountains, and Workforce Strategies Group, LLC. The ARC grant funding opportunity for manufacturers starting apprenticeships concludes in 2023.