Miami Job Corps Center hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday to debut their new Glazing, Pre-Apprentice training program. The event featured remarks from U.S. Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su and Job Corps National Director Rachel Torres.

“Now, more than ever, we need to strengthen and diversify the pipeline into good union jobs through proven strategies like pre-apprenticeship,” Su said. “This administration is kicking off an infrastructure decade that calls for a generational investment in America’s workforce, with training programs like this that are tailored for young people.”  

The Glazing, Pre-Apprentice program is offered at four Job Corps centers nationwide—Atterbury, Long Beach, Tongue Point and now Miami. The training area aims to teach students to cut, shape and install glass, among other applications of the material, on construction sites.

“Finding skilled entry-level workers in today’s job market can be a challenge. Job Corps can be a solution,” Torres said. “Partnership is what makes the machine run. At the local level, this means Job Corps campuses’ partnering with unions and local businesses. They have an opportunity to shape the training and establish pipelines to entry-level skilled labor.”

Daniella Cava, mayor of Miami-Dade County, also attended the ceremony, joined by representatives from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), the labor organization that played a pivotal role in bringing the Glazing, Pre-Apprentice training program to Miami Job Corps Center.

“At the Department of Labor, we want Job Corps to be the infrastructure academy of the United States,” Su said. “And we’re moving one step closer to that goal here today in Miami.”