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Long Beach school offers free classes in construction, heavy duty maintenance
Long Beach City College is now accepting applications to two courses that aim to help residents get into the construction and heavy duty maintenance fields.
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Long Beach City College
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A Long Beach community college is offering two free apprenticeship classes over the next year as part of a program to help residents get into the construction and alternative fuel fields.
Long Beach City College is now accepting applications for 825 spots in two courses: the six-week “Construction Pre-Apprenticeship Track” and the three-week “Heavy Duty Preventative Maintenance and Alternative Fuels” class. The college is set to start offering those classes in March.
The construction training course will include subjects such as plumbing, cabinetmaking and green technologies. The alternative fuels course, created in partnership with national recycling and solid waste management company Republic Services, aims to help tackle a shortage of qualified technicians in the field.
The initiative will give priority to the influx of returning veterans in Long Beach, Long Beach City College Superintendent-President Eloy Oakley said.
“We want them to be able to get into good-paying jobs,” Oakley said.
Wages for the positions can range from $20 to nearly $25 an hour, according to the college, and graduates will receive job placement assistance.
A $2.75 million grant implemented by the Department of Labor and the Department of Education is funding the program.
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“We see that there is a tremendous need in the greater Long Beach area,” Oakley said. “The recent recession displaced a lot of individuals from various jobs that they had, and there are a number of individuals that are looking to get back into the workforce. This program provides them the skill training that they need to find some very well-paying jobs.”
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