RAPTOR (Registered Apprenticeship Participant Tracking with Online Reporting) is an electronic application that automates running an apprenticeship program by accelerating onboarding, tracking, compliance and reporting in one inter-connected online platform.

With RAPTOR, Registered Apprenticeship sponsors in Michigan can easily manage one or hundreds of apprentices through quick connections to mentors/supervisors, in any industry, sector and occupation that offer Registered Apprenticeship Programs. Sponsors and apprentices can manage their program and progress from anywhere, streamlining tracking of on-the-job learning, related technical instruction and more from the intuitive RAPTOR application.

If you are an employer or intermediary with a Registered Apprenticeship program and are interested in using RAPTOR, please contact Katie Carnavale at katie@workhands.us.

JENNIFER TUCKER, SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN COMMUNITY ALLIANCE

Jennifer Tucker, Workforce Business Liaison at the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA), has been working with Registered Apprenticeship Programs since February 2022. She is proud of the work she gets to do with great partners, including the recent Empowering Women in Apprenticeship event. In addition, she’s particularly proud of the work she has done with RAPs/apprentices because it has made a significant impact on Southeast Michigan families.

In her spare time, Jennifer is the CEO/President of Team Tucker Wellness LLC, a health coaching business.

SAM DOUGHERTY, HELMETS TO HARDHATS

Sam Doughtery of Helmets to Hardhats has been working with Registered Apprenticeship Programs for 12 years. Sam enjoys the work because he is helping service members optimize their experience and skills by connecting them with a Registered Apprenticeship in the building trades. It truly impacts their lives.

Sam says it is an honor to help those who served our country with opportunities they may not have known about, or felt they weren’t qualified to be part of. He loves to see the positive changes in the lives of those he works with through a great career in the building trades through the apprenticeship. Sam is very proud to be part of the building trade Registered Apprenticeships that provide a place for the returning warriors who put their lives on the line to make all of this possible – a place they can gain financial independence, pride in their work, and continue to feel part of something bigger than them. Veterans have served our country, and through these Registered Apprenticeships, they are now building our country.

In his spare time, Sam cherishes time with his wife and family (especially his grandkids). He enjoys chainsaw carving, the outdoors and picking the guitar a little. Sam also enjoys volunteering with community nonprofits.

Working together is a crucial aspect of our professional lives. Collectively, it allows us to achieve goals and tasks more efficiently and effectively than if we were to work alone. Working better together not only improves productivity but fosters positive relationships and helps grow and expand the apprenticeship training model.

In a Forbes article, the author Colleen Reilly (2022) highlights that leveraging the power of quality relationships improves collective work experiences and creates a competitive advantage for companies. You can read that article here.

In Michigan, a larger number of program sponsors and apprentices can be provided support by forming and leveraging quality partnerships across the state.

This month, leverage a partner’s knowledge.

Meet apprentice Vikram Durci and the partners at Torch 180.

Before he found an apprenticeship in the food service industry, Vikram Durci tried on many hats: working at a local grocery store, at a factory, in construction, as a dietary aide, and for a waste hauling company. None of those hats fit very well. Vik has a cognitive disability that makes communication difficult. “I had a hard time saying the right thing. People would get upset with me, and I didn’t always know why. Conflict resolution was, and still is, tough,” he says. “There would be people around me in the lunchroom, but nobody would really talk to me. I felt like an outcast through most of my life.”

Life is different for Vik now that he’s working with Torch 180, a restaurant and cafe in Fowlerville, Michigan, that trains and employs people with disabilities in the food service industry using a Registered Apprenticeship model. Coursework combined with careful guidance of a mentor has helped Vik learn the food and safety skills he needs to excel as a lead kitchen worker. Perhaps as important, he’s also learned critical communication skills. Or, as he puts it, he’s learned “to be more open to people… not to be so judgmental… to let things slide… to just keep trying. It has made me realize everything is not set in stone. It’s not always black and white.” These are skills, he says, that are helping him in all areas of his life.

Torch 180 founder and President Rhonda Callahan experienced homelessness and poverty, an experience that galvanized her to find a way to assist others that was not intrusive or judgmental. She and her co-founder “landed on the idea of serving food because it is a necessity and binds people. We knew it would be a way to bring togetherness to difficult situations that people around our community face.”

For anyone considering an apprenticeship, Vik gives it two enthusiastic thumbs up. “Apprenticeship is not for the faint of heart, but once you get through it, it is a huge accomplishment. Keep chugging along and you will get there. You keep accomplishing little things and eventually, you will get to the big thing.” Vik’s big thing was to be a cook. And thanks to the skills, training, experience and support he’s gained under his Registered Apprenticeship, Vik was recently promoted to cook!