Apprenticeship Case Study

Introduction:

Sellenriek Construction is a family-owned broadband and utilities construction company based in Missouri. They joined TIRAP in January of 2021 and began their apprenticeship journey with a Mentoring Program, leveraging their seasoned field staff to launch their program and set standards for subsequent trainees.

The Challenge:

Like many companies, Sellenriek was competing with everyone around them for talent. With projects planned sometimes years in advance, they were looking to eliminate uncertainty around the availability of trained workers to complete planned projects.

Sellenriek was looking for a more effective way to build the teams they needed themselves, and that required a talent pipeline. They were already hiring people and training them, but they didn’t have a clear roadmap and career path for trainees to follow at their company.

The Solution:

TIRAP provided an adjustable framework and roadmap for Sellenriek to train their employees and set them on a clear path for career advancement.

By kicking off their program with seasoned field staff, Sellenriek was able to make the field teams aware of the training standards they were implementing through TIRAP. By leveraging support and resources from TIRAP, the Sellenriek team was then able to create apprentice training programs for Underground Utility Installer Technicians, Overhead Utility Installer Technicians, and Fiber Optic Technicians.

Results:

Since joining TIRAP, 75 employees have completed one of Sellenriek’s new Registered Apprenticeship Programs, with 56 more actively enrolled as apprentices.

To manage their apprentices, Sellenriek leverages ApprentiScope, an online platform sponsored by TIRAP that helps employers manage their trainees and track progress. ApprentiScope is a platform specifically designed for apprenticeship programs and relieves the administrative burden of tracking apprentice progress

Not only has Sellenriek reaped the benefits of better, more efficient, training by taking advantage of the resources and support offered by TIRAP, they have used their program to strengthen applications for other resources. Sellenriek was recently awarded a $966,740 workforce training grant by the state of Missouri after centering their apprenticeship program as a key part of their application.

Looking forward:

The success Sellenriek has experienced as a TIRAP employer partner has led them to fully endorse Registered Apprenticeship and work to expand this training model as a TIRAP Advisory Board Member.

“We were great at hiring people and training them, but we weren’t great at creating that actual map they could follow to become a foreman and move to the next level. The apprenticeship program helped us write our own book. This is not a cookie-cutter apprenticeship program—you can customize it to fit what you need it to be. For us, it was a win all the way around.”