I am reaching today to share a new model for apprenticeship in New Jersey, as the State’s advanced and precision manufacturing companies are in need of skilled talent. They are also in need for programs to recruit, develop and retain the talent required to operate, maintain and grow their businesses.
MechaFORCE SM —Registered Internship Manufacturing Program or M-RIM, is designed to assist companies with training and building their high-skill, high-demand talent pipelines and also to assist K-12 and higher education institutions to align their curricula to manufacturers’ needs.
M-RIM is housed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) with the support of numerous state and national partners. M-RIM is modeled after the US Department of Labor’s registered apprenticeship program, now known as ApprenticeshipUSA. M-RIM helps manufacturers attract talent from:
- Graduating High School Students (traditional, Career and Technical Education/CTE and Vocational Education) who begin their studies in this field in 11th and 12th grades
- Millennials, Generation X populations and others who might have never considered manufacturing careers
Additionally, M-RIM:
- Combines on-the-job learning during working hours with formal classroom or online courses outside the work-day
- Offers a unique, flexible system allowing companies to focus on the occupational areas that are in high demand and most needed within their organizations
- Offers employees an educational and career pathway with on- and off-ramps that leads to one or more of the following outcomes: college credit, industry-valued credentials and even associate and bachelor’s degrees that can be earned studying part-time while being fully employed.
For more information about the program, please click here.
