Witnesses tell House subcommittee apprenticeships and career centers can help fill skilled‑worker gap
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Summary
Industry and K‑12 witnesses told the House subcommittee that apprenticeships and regional career centers provide viable alternatives to four‑year degrees, help students gain credentials and enter well‑paying jobs, and can address technician shortages — but witnesses said federal support and sustained funding are needed to scale programs.
Industry leaders and K‑12 educators told the House Oversight subcommittee that apprenticeships, paid internships and regional career centers offer practical pathways into well‑paying work and can address urgent shortages in skilled trades.
Todd Dillander, chief operating officer at Caliber Collision, described the company’s TAP technician apprenticeship program and said it trains and pays apprentices ‘‘day 1’’ with a competency‑based curriculum that typically completes ‘‘within 12 to 18 months.’’ Dillander told the committee that since 2023 Caliber has ‘‘graduated more than 2,300 apprentices’’ and that at any given time the company has ‘‘another 1,300 to 1,800 in training.’’ He said those graduates are ‘‘out in the field today repairing tens of thousands of vehicles’’ and that scaling apprenticeships requires expanded funding and incentives.
Reeds Spring School District Superintendent Cody Hershey described his district’s Table Rock Career Center and a regional internship program called RS Works. Hershey said RS Works serves three counties and 11 school districts and that his district funded a full‑time internship coordinator who places students in mostly paid internships with local employers. Hershey provided student examples: ‘‘Max…took 33 college credit hours his junior year’’ and gained a paid dental internship; ‘‘Emma…fell in love with working with animals and is now in a pre‑veterinary program at Missouri State University.’’ He said industry‑aligned career center programs use advisory teams, align to labor market data, and award industry credentials, noting credentials grew from 28 when he arrived to 226 earned last year.
Witnesses and members cited data to underline demand. Dillander referenced a TechForce estimate that the collision repair field needs ‘‘nearly 100,000 new technicians between 2024 and 2028.’’ Rachel Gretzler and other witnesses said apprenticeships can produce earnings competitive with college degrees while reducing student debt; Gretzler also said that federal rules and subsidies have, in her view, created barriers that limit apprenticeship expansion.
Panelists identified practical benefits and limits. Dillander and Hershey emphasized that apprenticeships and career education boost student engagement, provide credentialed outcomes and link students to local employers. Hershey said 88% of Table Rock Career Center students in internships have ‘‘a positive placement in a career path in the related field or post‑secondary institution offered to them.’’ At the same time witnesses warned that sustaining programs is expensive: start‑up grants can help, but long‑term funding and incentives are needed to scale nationally.
Members from both parties expressed interest in expanding these pathways while differing on the appropriate federal role. Several members pressed witnesses on whether investments should come from federal workforce funding, tax incentives or state partnerships. Witnesses urged the committee to reduce regulatory barriers and consider tax incentives or workforce grants to help employers and districts sustain apprenticeship pipelines.
The hearing record includes submitted written testimony and offers a set of local examples the committee said it will follow up on with written questions and additional materials.