Surgical Technologist

‘The wave of the future is changing, and we want to be a part of that’

A Maryland community college is building a pipeline of workers through apprenticeships in in-demand local careers
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From skilled trades to health care to information technology, these are just some in a wide range of industries facing a common challenge: they don’t have enough workers.

Employers are feeling the squeeze. A 2023 Manpower survey shows 75% of employers in the U.S. are facing difficulty finding skilled talent with an estimated 68 workers for every 100 open jobs in the United States.

Finding and training workers with specific skills is a priority and a growing number of businesses are turning to apprenticeships to provide hands-on training and build a future workforce. And they are partnering with community colleges as part of the solution.

Preparing for the Future Workforce Through Apprenticeships

Howard Community College (HCC), for one, is embracing the role. HCC, based in Columbia, Maryland, offers associate degrees and certifications, with more than 20,000 students a year.

“As the only higher education institution in Howard County, we will play a huge, monumental role in getting people skilled up quickly and to work,” says Daria Willis, Ph.D., president of Howard Community College.

To address the demand for a skilled workforce, it currently offers apprenticeship programs in ten occupations – with surgical technologist, IT support technician, plumber, child care professional, and construction manager among them.

More apprenticeships are in the pipeline and HCC plans to build a Workforce Development and Skilled Trades Center on campus to be completed by 2026 with backing from the community.

Daria Willis, Ph.D., president, Howard Community College (Photo: HCC)

Willis explains: “As we do the design for this, we are trying to make sure that we have enough welding bays and automotive capacity. And we are really looking at solar and wind technology, all the up-and-coming things. The wave of the future is changing, and we want to be a part of that.”

For Willis, it’s part of a wider effort to realign career pathways to careers in a county that ranks as one of the most affluent in the country. “Most of our community members are highly educated. They send their kids to really good colleges, four-year schools that are snooty-wooty and all that good stuff, which is great.

“But there’s also an underlying group of people who don’t have that access. And even in those more snooty households, there are kids that just don’t want to go to the four-year school and they never really had an avenue in Howard county to do that,” she explains.

A Hunger for Skilled Trades Training
Minah Woo, VP, Workforce, Innovation, and Strategic Partnerships, HCC

Until recent years, HCC’s focus had been on preparing students to transfer to a four-year college or university. In 2019, though, it changed the model to add apprenticeships. In the skilled trades, HVAC (heat, ventilation and air conditioning) apprenticeships were first offered, followed by electrical and plumbing apprenticeships.

According to HCC, there were roughly a dozen students to start and that number now tops one hundred.

“What it did for me was to really counter the argument that said in Howard County, we don’t do that. My predecessor used to say ‘we are a boutique college, we don’t do that. Our county, our students don’t do that.’ No, that’s not true. Our county does do that and there was actually a hunger for it,” says Minah Woo, vice president of Workforce Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Howard Community College.

Beyond the need from employers to find skilled workers, apprenticeship programs can also open doors for students facing barriers to attend college and learn those skills because of tuition costs. Woo notes a rising poverty level in a county known for its wealth. “You need to have more than one pathway to success, one pathway to a career. We as a college need to provide them this other pathway,” adds Woo.

Breaking New Ground with IT Apprenticeships

HCC’s location – less than an hour from Washington, D.C. – is also providing some unique opportunities. There’s a demand for skilled workers at companies in Howard County working with government customers.

Brenda Anderson, associate director of Project Management at AT&T

AT&T is among them. In 2020, it launched its first cohort of IT apprenticeships with Howard Community College, touting it as the first of its kind in the state of Maryland. “It’s just been the best decision we could have ever made,” says Brenda Anderson, associate director of Project Management at AT&T.

“By us creating this apprenticeship, we’re molding our own talent, we’re developing hopefully career-long employees by taking this risk on them. And we have gotten some superstars out of this.

“It is just a way to give back to the community in general, but to really help some of this younger workforce get developed because eventually the workforce is so saturated with older people that are going to retire,” explains Anderson.

She says the IT apprenticeship takes two years, on average, to complete with students taking between 18 and 24 credits and working roughly 20 hours a week while getting paid around $21 an hour to start.
They do not complete an associate degree but instead work toward industry-based certificates that include Security Plus certification.

Because the company works with government agencies that can include access to sensitive information, apprentices must obtain a high-level government security clearance before being hired full-time. The process, says Anderson, can take an average of 18 to 24 months. To date, Anderson says she’s hired 80 apprentices with 30 to 40 being hired full-time. The rest, she says, are waiting for their clearances and doing other work in the meantime.

Apprentices, are mainly hired into entry-level positions as hardware technicians, network engineers, and systems administrators and pegs the usual starting salary in the ballpark of the mid- $60,000 range, depending on specific roles.

Anderson now speaks with other employers about the benefits of apprenticeship programs. “I think a lot of industries and a lot of employers don’t realize that this could be an option for them,” she explains. “I know I’ve spoken at a lot of panels and in a lot of meetings and just kind of educating the employers on what’s involved.” She adds. “Is it a risk? Sure. But is it worth the risk? You betcha,” Anderson concludes.

Getting a Foot in the Door

One Howard Community College student who secured her full-time job through the apprentice program is Amrita Assim. The mother of two started attending HCC part-time after her family moved to Maryland. She had earned an associate degree in Business Administration in California, but says she had a hard time landing a job there and was looking for a new career. She started learning about cybersecurity and focused on networking.

Amrita Assim, systems administrator, AT&T

“I started to hear about how much they want more women to be in this field so I started taking classes and enjoyed them,” Assim explains. When she received information about the IT apprenticeship program, she didn’t hesitate. “I thought: ‘Why not sign up?’ And I was chosen,” she adds.

She now works as a systems administrator, is working to grow her career, and wants to return to school to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in cybersecurity.

“The apprentice program is such an easy way to get your foot into a workplace for students because, in general, it’s hard for students to find a job these days with all the experience they’re asking for kids to have just coming out of college. I think this is a great opportunity for anyone,” she adds.

Providing opportunity and breaking down barriers is what Howard Community College’s President Daria Willis is striving to deliver. “I used to attend a church in Texas called ‘the church without walls.’ I love that concept and when I think about community colleges, we need to be those institutions without walls, without barriers, to give access to everyone who wants it.”

Information Technology Apprenticeship | Howard Community College

Howard Community College’s Information Technology (IT) Apprenticeship Program helps students prepare for an IT career and offers students the opportunity to get hands-on work experience at AT&T in its public sector organization. As they progress, apprentices will be guided through the extensive process to obtain security clearance with AT&T as their sponsor.

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.