Why we're going to ApprenticeshipTX

Next week, we'll be attending the ApprenticeshipTX conference in Dallas, Texas on October 3rd and 4th. This will be WorkHands 4th ApprenticeshipTX conference, 5th if we're counting the virtual pandemic years.

There's many reasons ApprenticeshipTX is consistently on our conference radar each and every year its been held whether it's been in San Antonio, McAllen, or now Dallas. We'll admit, some of those reasons are the BBQ and tacos, but mostly, we have business reasons for attending ApprenticeshipTX.

Here's a few of them.

Texas apprenticeship has much room to grow

Yes, there are programs that have been around in Texas for decades. But no, Texas has not had the same level of investment and attention for apprenticeships that it has today. The numbers tell this story plainly.

California, with a population of 39M people, has 80,000 active apprentices according to the DOL. This is close to 4x the size of any other state, but it shouldn't be. Texas has a population of 30M people and 22,000 active apprentices.

Certainly, this discrepancy is driven by a much heavier union building trades presence in California that's driven apprenticeship, but that is changing as the source of apprenticeship changes. Increasingly, apprenticeships are being run by colleges, associations, and sole employers as well as unions. With that change and population, Texas has a much potential for apprenticeship as any state in the country.

In fact, the new apprentice numbers already bear this out. While Texas has only 1/4 the number of total active apprentices as California. It has 1/3rd the number of new apprentices.

It'll only be a matter of time until Texas has apprentice counts that mirror California's on a per capita basis with at least 60,000 apprentices, if not more.

New apprenticeship industries drive innovation

This is true in any industry, and the apprenticeship industry is no different. New entrants typically drive innovation.

Texas is where we encountered the first ever digital marketing apprenticeship back in the early days of ApprenticeshipTX in The New Apprenticeship. It's something we've seen in ensuing conferences with Texas leading the charge on incentivizing apprenticeship with tax credits. It's something we see today with the Texas Industry Recognized Apprenticeship (TIRA) program.

Consistently employer friendly

There are many conversations around apprenticeship that lose sight of the key constituent that's required to make the whole system work -- employers. This is not a problem in Texas. Texas apprenticeship conferences have a great mix of stakeholders from colleges, union training programs, non-union training programs, associations, and of major importance, employers.

We even find this reception extended to us as vendors. ApprenticeshipTX is consistently one of the most vendor-friendly conferences of any we attend with potential for quick pitches, events centered around vendor booths, and information sharing all part of past events.

Oh, and we have something new for Texas

Finally, we have something new for attendees of ApprenticeshipTX.

WorkHands is launching an entirely new (free) product for the apprenticeship ecosystem around National Apprenticeship Week, but attendees of ApprenticeshipTX will get a sneak peek into what we're launching.

We'd love to get your feedback on what we're launching so stop by our booth, sign up for early access, and you might even win a prize to take home as a thanks for your early insights.

We're looking forward to seeing you in Texas!