The Big K Morning Show
An Electrical Vehicle Program Kicks Off In Pittsburgh
right after the news with David. This is the big K morning show. Larry Richard with my in studio guest every Wednesday on our seven o'clock hour, the executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Rich Fitzgerald and a very special guest from Partners for Work. We do in a special announcement that was just made a couple days ago. We have Rob Cherry, the chief executive officer of Partner for Work. And what Partner for Work is a workforce development program made up of a lot of industry people, labor people, human service folks, educational people like CCAC and others who really try to develop the next generation of workers who are going to be, you know, we need to train them for the jobs that are here and jobs of the future and the labor department made a big announcement last week in which they named Pittsburgh as the very first place to do an apprentice program with electric vehicle charging. Rob, welcome and tell us a little bit about that. First of all, congratulations on this big announcement for you being the person to do this and tell us a little bit about it. Yeah, thank you for having me on the show this morning. So the apprenticeship was registered by the German Chamber of Commerce, the Pittsburgh chapter and the EV automotive apprenticeship program will help address the growing demand for skilled professionals capable of servicing and maintaining high voltage electric vehicles. So the classroom training, which is called the related technical instruction, will take place at CCAC West Hills Center. After completing that part, the apprentices will continue their training on the job with dealerships in the region. So it's important to note that the apprentices are employed from the first day of the program. Their time spent in the classroom learning these skills is paid and they receive benefits. The apprenticeship model de-brest the training for apprentices making sure that we remove barriers that additional training and jumping into a new career can sometimes pose. So the employers benefit to because getting a worker that's trained in their standards and meet their needs in the growing industry is great for the employers and the electric vehicle automotive technician program. Equips them with the skills to safely diagnose service and repair electrical vehicles, plugins, including all the intricate tasks involving battery systems and other electrical components components and EV cars. We're with Rob Jerry, CEO, a partner for work. Rob, this is exciting. I know Pittsburghers, Rich, you know this too, we love to be first at anything. So this first apprenticeship, but this for anybody that moves into this field, I think is job security because that skill set is only going to grow. Absolutely. No, go ahead, Rob. I'm sorry. Yeah, it's definitely job security because what we're seeing is a lot of manufacturers move the EV, the automotive repair into the dealerships. And so big companies like Tesla and other other companies right now, a lot of the EV, when there's a problem with your EV car, you're sending them back to the factory. Now a lot of that work is moving to the dealerships and that's going to a create jobs for people. And just like you said, create a lot of job security for folks who have this training. And I think and Larry said something exactly right. This is job security because the future really is starting to move towards more and more electric vehicle cars that are going to be out there. And the need for these technicians is going to be tremendous. I guess a couple questions Rob, we would ask is number one, how does somebody get involved in this? How does a young person can sign up for this apprentice program? And what do we estimate that the salary or what the wages will be for somebody who comes through the program and then does go work at a dealership? Great question. Listers can go to wwwGACCPit.com for more information around enrollment. And EV technicians have a median salary of around $60,000 a year. And that's just median. Wow. Good. Good stuff. And I think as we see, you know, again, moving into where the technology is going, where electricity is going, we're going to be electrifying so many things in our world from our vehicles to our homes will become more electrified from stoves and heating systems, et cetera, being an electrician right now and in the future is really going to be tremendous job security. Absolutely. Well, great news. And thanks for sharing it with us here. First, Rob, we appreciate it. And I know you do tremendous work partner for work. And it helps a lot of young people and a lot of people just get connected with the work world. There is a lot of demand. So we need you. Thank you. And what Rob does also is really all the different jobs and robotics and in the building trades. And they've been great partners with, I know, our airport, the pit to work program that Rob and his team have worked on. They're reaching into all the various aspects of where job future is. So Rob, keep up the good work. Thank you for being with us. Thank you so much. Rob Charan, the CEO partner for work. Coming up with rich rich Cheryl, we got some final thoughts this hour next on the big K morning show.