Feb. 11—The Pittsburgh Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute has been approved as the city's first Black-owned, state-certified pre-apprentice program for the skilled trades.
The APRI's "Breaking the Chains of Poverty" program is designed to help people build the skills necessary to earn a career in the building and construction trades, manufacturing and emerging energy industry.
"To receive this recognition is exciting for not just our organization, but for Pittsburgh in its entirety," said DeWitt Walton, vice president at Pittsburgh APRI. "With additional funding from the state, we can provide even more transformative opportunities for our participants."
That additional funding comes in the form of a $400,000 grant from former Gov. Tom Wolf's PA Smart initiative.
The money will be used to train people from underserved, underrepresented and formerly incarcerated groups in the greater Pittsburgh region.
The nonprofit APRI's Pittsburgh chapter was formed in 1968. It provides both workforce development programs and voter education resources. It is named for Asa Philip Randolph, an American labor union organizer and civil rights activist who organized the first successful Black-led labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, in 1925.
"Over the last decade, we've brought on several APRI graduates to support our team," Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said. "This has been a win-win for us.
"We've been able to turn to APRI for motivated, ready-to-work talent and have, in turn, brought on dedicated, hard-working employees who are invested in the work and their jobs at the county.
Educators and those in the skilled trades have been looking to gain attention for re-apprenticeship programs even before the pandemic. In addition to APRI, other nonprofits like New Century Careers offer state-registered pre-apprenticeship classes at both its South Side facility in Pittsburgh and Eastern Westmoreland Career & Technical Center in Derry Township.
Class participants can earn a variety of National Institute of Metalworking Skills credentials and don't need prior experience in manufacturing.
For more on APRI's program, see PittsburghAPRI.org.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .