A new apprenticeship program and associate degree pathway to meet the workforce shortage in skilled trades in the masonry field has begun at Lorain County Community College in partnership with the Ohio Administration District Council Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC).

The associate of applied science degree in masonry technology includes four majors: brick laying, cement finishing, restoration and tile setting and finishing, according to a news release from LCCC.

Additionally, the College announced students also can pursue four one-year technical certificates in the same areas.

“These programs add to LCCC’s ‘learn-and-earn’ pathways in health care, manufacturing and skilled trades, which have proven successful for both employers and students,” said LCCC President Marcia Ballinger, Ph.D. “Our partnerships with local unions and employers create a unique learning experience that includes earning potential along the way.”

The masonry certificates and degrees are designed for apprentices enrolled at one of the  Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee’s two locations – the Northern Ohio Regional Training Center in Amherst or the Southern Ohio-Kentucky Regional Training Center in Batavia, Ohio.

Students will be co-enrolled at LCCC and the  Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee with masonry courses delivered at the two  Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee locations, while support coursework in math, industrial blueprint reading, construction estimating, and others will be offered online or on LCCC’s campus, according to the release.

The  Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee apprenticeships were developed to help fill the talent pipeline as many current masons are reaching retirement age, the release said.

“I’m very proud of the partnership we have with LCCC and the masonry program that

we’ve developed. Our apprentices are using the most updated technology in clean, modern

training facilities while earning documented college credit for crafts that they master,” shared

Ken Kudela, director of the OH-KY Administration District Council Joint Apprenticeship and

Training Committee for Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.

“By partnering with Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee and area employers, we are able to design programs like this that provide the opportunity for students to gain the education and applied experience that pays them a wage along the way,” Ballinger said. “For employers, they are at the table not only designing the program, but involved in its delivery, creating a workforce ready to work.”

Participants are part of a four-year paid apprenticeship program, while earning the college technical certificate and have the opportunity to complete the associate degree.

LCCC has additional sponsored and registered apprenticeship programs in areas that include tool and die maker, maintenance technician, pipefitter, electrical, millwright, industrial truck as well as state-tested nursing assistant and emergency medical services apprenticeship pathways in health care, the release said.

For more information on the new program, contact Michelle Pawlak, LCCC career and academic advisor for the bricklayers, at 440-366-4856 or Tammy Tansey, administrator of apprenticeship and training for bricklayers and allied craftworkers, at 440-986-3300.