BY JESSICA PARKS
Kingsborough Community
College launched a new
program where students get
hands-on experience apprenticing
at working boatyards
as marine service technicians.
“We… look forward to deploying
the next generation of
highly trained and educated
marine service technicians
into the workforce,” said
Kingsborough Community
College President Claudia V.
Schrader.
The new program focuses
on producing technicians
able to fi ll vacancies plaguing
the nation’s marina industry,
which lacks professionals
skilled in the arts of boat
repair and maintenance, according
to the program director.
“The industry has a major
defi ciency in trained technicians
and we started the apprenticeship
COURIER L 26 IFE, MARCH 6-12, 2020
program to address
that need,” said John
Nappa.
The Maritime Technology
Apprenticeship Program at
the Manhattan Beach community
college offers student
once-a-week classroom
instruction and internships
starting at $16 per hour for
fi rst-year students.
By the end of the apprenticeship
program — which
was made possible courtesy
of a $857,000 state grant —
students will have earned an
associate degree in Maritime
Technology and a Journeyman
title from the state Department
of Labor.
The apprentices will be
provided MetroCards and
food vouchers and have access
to onsite academic support,
food pantry, an urban
farm and other resources offered
at Kingsborough Community
College and the state
grant will allow many students
to attend the school tuition
free.
“The number one issue I
hear from employers across
the state is that they can’t fi nd
workers with the skills they
need for 21st-century jobs,”
said Lieutenant Governor
Kathy Hochul. “That is why
we are investing $2.3 million
in nine New York City-based
job training programs that
will benefi t hundreds of New
Yorkers as part of our historic
$175 million Workforce Development
Initiative. Whether
it’s home care, the culinary
arts or marine engineering,
we are investing and working
to close the skills gap and prepare
New Yorkers for jobs today
and in the future.”
A recent report issued
by Center for an Urban Future
and Tech:NYC earlier
this month found that while
Brooklyn had the secondmost
technical programs
in the city, those programs
were spread unevenly —
with a high concentrated in
northern Brooklyn neighborhoods
and but relatively few
in southern Brooklyn neighborhoods,
which they claim
further exacerbated the lack
of diversity in the borough’s
tech workforce.
Sea worthy
Kingsborough Community College President Claudia V. Schrader (left) and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul.
Photo courtesy of Kingsborough
Kingsborough Community College
offering maritime apprenticeships