Tom Barr, president of TK Mold & Engineering Inc., was named Mold Builder of the Year. CompuMold Tool & Design Inc. wins Tooling Trailblazer of the Year.
Joshua Johnson, state director of the Wisconsin Apprenticeship Program, is famous for saying, “apprenticeship is for everyone.”
However, recent numbers suggest the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated racial disparities in the construction industry, and retaining Black apprentices in that industry may pose one of the state program’s biggest challenges to date.
Apprenticeships, paid training opportunities that can last three to seven years, represent the primary way people interested in construction careers become journeyworkers in trades such as plumbing, bricklaying and electrical work.
Based on state Department of Workforce Development statistics, the share of minority construction apprentices in Milwaukee fell from a high of 17% in 2009 to 15% last year; the share of Black construction apprentices fell from 9% to 5%.