During interactions throughout the Spokane Community it became very apparent there were a great many persons wanting to work in construction but not knowing at all how to prepare themselves nor go about getting to a place they needed to be to become a recognized interested applicant.
Founder’s message
...years of persons working in underpaid jobs without proper medical coverage or retirement benefits cost many families in Spokane a good deal.
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.
Fulfilling A Community Need
The Pre-Employment Preparation Program (PEPP) founders are all very aware for far too many years the business and community leaders in the Spokane and Eastern Washington area advertised to companies and business executives “…come here we have an affordable workforce…” They prided themselves on paying low wages, few benefits and advertised that to others as a reason to do business in the area.
Still others pursued higher education as their children’s best chance at securing and retaining a good job and career whether or not that child had a great interest in college. A construction career was something you might end up with, but not one you began with was the far too common belief. For these reasons, years of pushing students to prepare for college rather than consider workforce training; years of persons working in underpaid jobs without proper medical coverage or retirement benefits cost many families in Spokane a good deal.
In addition, when high schools dropped woodworking and auto repair from their curriculums many high school students began to drift. They did not see themselves in a four-year college following high school graduation, yet no one was giving them any type of appealing options. For these reasons added to the fact that a great many persons currently actively working in the Construction Trades are preparing for retirement have all cost the skilled labor pool a great deal.
During interactions throughout the Spokane Community it became very apparent there were a great many persons wanting to work in construction but not knowing at all how to prepare themselves nor go about getting to a place they needed to be to become a recognized interested applicant. Additionally, the number of persons being released back into the Spokane community post incarceration created yet another group of persons who had the interest in entering the construction trades but not the skills nor the information to get them where they needed to be. PEPP planners spent time meeting with Apprenticeship Representatives that included:
Brent Stephens Business Manager Boiler Makers
Scott Holstrom Business Manager Laborers
Brett Wideman Business Manager Pipe Fitters
James Garrett Business Manager Operator Engineers
James Rickman Training Director Ironworkers
Leo Marsura Business Manager Training Director Roofers
Luis Licea Apprenticeship Coordinator NW laborers
Mike Wright Business Managers Cement Finishers
Ken Brown Business Manager IBEW
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Unions Endorsed PEPP
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PEPP Graduates
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Graduates Placed in Union Jobs
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Of Lives Changed
A Purposeful Program Intentionally Designed
In the meetings with the Apprenticeship Representatives, an educational program was discussed and designed, that would meet the needs identified in those conversations for individuals applying for apprenticeships.
Following those meetings, others were held with neighborhood leaders, neighborhood councils, social service agencies, re-entry representatives, correctional facility staff, law enforcement personnel, court personnel including judges, commissioners and community court staff, community center directors and social service agency staff working directly with low income, disenfranchised and re-entry programs.
Additional curriculum research was conducted and PEPP is affiliated with North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and utilizes their multi-craft core curriculum (MC3) in a blended format of face-to-face and online instruction. NABTU monitors our program log-ins and completion of the modules and, at the end of each cohort, issues each student a certificate of completion. In addition PEPP requires students attend classes on time each day as if they were on an actual job, stressing reliability and punctuality.
Over 18 months of information gathering assisted the PEPP planners in designing a program that would be what the Trades Apprenticeship Representatives had voiced along with those in the other areas of our community who work directly with the disenfranchised, low income, minority populations who are frequently overlooked and therefore many of whom fail, to recognize their own talents and skills never before having an opportunity to enroll in a preparatory class that could provide them the opportunity of moving themselves into a positive position to secure an apprenticeship in the Trade of their choice.
The PEPP Advisory Committee comprised of:
Tina Morrison, Secretary, Spokane Labor Council
Timm Ormsby, Business Representative NEWANI Building & Construction Trades Council
Luis Licea, Apprentic4eship Coordinator NW Laborers
Ken Brown, Business Manager IBEW
Kandace Watkins, Neighborhood Advocate
Ashley Joslyn, DSHS – Support Enforcement
Judith Gilmore, Program Designer/Coordinator
This advisory committee continues engaging with the community and the Trades regularly in order to secure input and share information about the PEPP and the future of the program and its graduates. An example of a community partnership PEPP has cultivated is using the community centers in low income neighborhoods as sites for the PEPP classes. For instance a class held at the Northeast Community Center used a portion of their 40 hrs of power tool, hands-on building and forklift training to remove old shrubs and plant above-ground vegetable gardens for use by the community center as an exchange for use of the site for PEPP classes.
Current PEPP Board Members
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