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Council hears MC3 apprenticeship program; vice mayor asks staff to draft local‑hire ordinance for Southeast Bakersfield
Summary
Representatives from the building and construction trades described a 10‑week apprenticeship readiness program with an 80% placement rate; the vice mayor referred staff to draft a local‑hire ordinance and workforce‑development supports tied to major public works investments in Southeast Bakersfield.
Alyssa Reed, executive secretary of the Kern, Inyo and Mono Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, described the council’s Apprenticeship Readiness Program (MC3), a 10‑week curriculum that she said connects participants to trade apprenticeships and yields an approximately 80% placement rate for graduates.
Vice Mayor Kaur praised the program and asked staff to begin drafting a local‑hire ordinance to maximize employment benefits for residents—particularly in Southeast Bakersfield—on upcoming major public works investments. The vice mayor asked staff to include standards for outreach, recruitment, training and hiring, a strategy to support workforce training (similar to MC3), and a plan to build capacity among locally owned minority‑, women‑ and veteran‑owned businesses so they can compete for contracts and subcontracts.
Councilmembers who had attended graduations for the MC3 program described a diverse set of participants and supported the referral to staff. No ordinance was adopted at the meeting; the vice mayor’s request was a referral to staff for development of draft policy options to return to the council.
