PROVIDENCE – Capco Steel Corp. is teaming up with the City of Providence to offer six-month paid apprenticeships to eligible city residents.
The jobs-training partnership, announced yesterday by Mayor David N. Cicilline and Capco CEO Michael Caparco Sr., is in line with the recommendations of the city’s Poverty, Work and Opportunity Task Force, the mayor’s office noted.
The new paid training program “is about giving Providence residents the tools they need … to successfully compete in today’s work force,” Cicilline said in a statement yesterday afternoon. “I want to thank Capco Steel for their strong partnership as we continue our efforts to create good-paying jobs to fuel the local economy.”
Participants in the six-month apprenticeship program will learn how to read blueprints, operate forklifts and handle hazardous materials. They will master welding techniques, study structural steel and fabrication, learn about rigging and cranes, and get a refresher course in basic math.
Apprentices must be at least 18 years old and have at least seventh-grade skills in reading and math. They will be hired from the First Source hiring list, established by the City of Providence to ensure that Providence residents receive preference for job openings at local companies that benefit from tax-stabilization credits or city and federal grants distributed.
Participants will be paid $10 per hour – half of which will be provided by the city through its partnership with Capco – and will receive full health insurance coverage after the first 30 days. Those who successfully complete the six-month program will be offered full-time employment as shop iron workers at Capco Steel.
“Capco Steel’s success depends on access to a pool of well-trained, dedicated workers from the community,” Caparco said in announcing the program. “Our partnership with Mayor Cicilline and the City of Providence helps us to accomplish our goals, while providing solid employment opportunities for residents in jobs paying as much as $25 per hour.”
For more information about the public-private ironworker apprenticeship program, call Robert Ricci at Workforce Solutions of Providence/Cranston, at 861-0800.
Capco Steel Corp., founded in 1990, focuses on the fabrication and erection of structural steel, ornamental and miscellaneous metal projects. Its Providence headquarters has a total fabrication area of more than 250,000 square feet. For more information, visit www.CapcoSteelCo.com.
