Chaney Enterprises, a concrete and construction materials company based in Gambrills, announced Tuesday it has launched a new paid apprenticeship program with support from the state. The first class starts next week.
Apprentices will study the trade of concrete driving and work at the company full time while receiving classroom instruction and training, according to a Maryland Department of Labor news release. Participants will be in the classroom for the first eight weeks learning the trade and then start training on the job with a company mentor for the rest of the year.
The apprentices will start out at a rate of $15.04 per hour for the first eight weeks, after which time it increases to $18.92 per hour. Once the workers complete the program and are hired on as full-time staff they will start earning $21.50 an hour.
Chaney Enterprises Training Manager Donna Kopf said the program is aimed at combatting an industry-wide problem of not being able to attract enough workers to the trade.
“The whole conversation started around COVID and the lack of CDL [Commercial Drivers License] holders and truck drivers. You wind up recruiting from the same pool of people as your competitors and then the workers job-hop and there is no retention,” Kopf said. “One thing I love about my company is we don’t say, ‘oh woah is me.’ We say ‘what can we do about this? Let’s open up the pool.'”
The first class will include seven apprentices starting the classroom training Monday. The remaining sessions for the year start May 2 and Sept. 6, with each class designed for a maximum of ten students, Kopf said.
The training will position the company to fill some of the 50 positions it intends to add over the next few years.
“We are doing all we can to provide great career opportunities for the many deserving residents of Maryland,” said the company’s CEO Francis Hall Chaney III. “Through this approved apprenticeship program we will have the unique ability to prepare our team members of the future for maximum success.”
Kopf said the company is looking at partnerships with charities like Farming 4 Hunger in South County to recruit recently released incarcerated people looking for a new career.
Chaney will receive state financial support for the program through tax credits and reimbursements for training costs and some of the apprentice salaries in the first year. Kopf said the company intends to put the savings back into the program to expand and strengthen it.
Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement he was glad to have the opportunity to help expand job opportunities in the state with the approval of this program.
“The company will be able to grow its existing workforce and train incoming employees with the hands-on experience needed to succeed,” Hogan said. “We look forward to seeing the company’s success shine in the state for years to come.”
The first year of the program will only take place at the Maryland Chaney facilities, but the company is hoping to expand outside of the state to its other locations, Kopf said.
