News and Events for March 2017
Alaska Career & Technical Student Organizations Conference & Skills USA Competition
March 23rd and 24th, APICC Outreach will be at the Alaska Career & Technical Student Organizations (CTSO) Conference and SkillsUSA competition, talking to students and assisting in Automotive & Service Technology, located at UAA.

What is a CTSO? 
CTSOs are vocational organizations primarily based in high schools and career technology centers.  On the state level, they are frequently integrated into Career and Technical Education programs and courses. 


A powerful avenue for helping our state and our nation to address key challenges such as workforce development, student achievement, economic vitality, and global competitiveness, 
CTSOs extend teaching and learning through innovative programs, business and community partnerships, and leadership experiences at the school, state, and national levels. 




What is SkillsUSA?
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers, and industry representatives working together to assure Alaska (and America) has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA helps each student to excel and throughout the year, local SkillsUSA chapters provide community service. 

In Alaska, nearly 20 high schools have SkillsUSA chapters, representing a number of occupations, all of which are important to Alaska's economy. Next week, students preparing for careers in technical, skilled, and service occupations such as architectural drafting, automotive service, aviation maintenance, carpentry, commercial baking, crime scene investigation, early childhood education, electrical construction wiring, power equipment technology, and welding (and more) will be competing at the state level for an opportunity to represent Alaska at the national level.

The main conference is located at the Downtown Anchorage Hilton Hotel. Other venues will be around the Anchorage area, such as UAA hosting the welding competition as well as the automotive technology competition. If you have some spare time, stop by. It's an excellent opportunity to witness first-hand how bright and capable our youth are!
 

If you didn't come to the APICC open house on February 23rd, you missed out on a great gathering! Judging by the response we have heard from attendees, it was a huge success. We had individuals here from member companies (one as far away as Colorado!), other non-profits, job seekers looking to network, as well students here to talk with industry, and neighbors in our building. Our newly remodeled office space showed off nicely and highlights of Workforce Wednesday decorated the once-bare walls very well.

Our motivation for this event came from our annual meeting. A recurring comment on participant surveys was "more networking." Armed with that comment alone, we decided to hold this open house to give our members networking opportunity. It also was a great venue for us to show off what we do here at APICC, the many programs we oversee, have adopted, and are revitalizing. As an example, APICC manages the NSTC program. Many people know that, but many don't. It was the perfect occasion for to show off the new and improved YES program (see below for more).

We will undoubtedly be having a re-run of this event, success cannot be ignored! Please join us (again) the next time!

Thank you to our sponsors: 

Calista
Northern Industrial Training

Thank you to all who donated to our giveaways: 

Beacon OHSS
Donlin Gold
EXCEL Alaska
Fire Island Bakery
Chugach
Dowland Bach
CH2M
Anchorage Dental Arts

YES Gets a Face Lift!
Since 1999, the Youth Employability Skills (YES) program has been a preferred educational tool in classrooms across the state. Developed with partners from industry, YES focused on skills and competencies, work attitudes, and work values. Over the past year, APICC has been speaking with industry across Alaska to see if the YES program still met their needs of employment attributes. Generally, our question was, "Is anything missing?"
Not surprisingly, the answer was, "Absolutely. We have some things needing to be addressed, starting with...." A variety of answers were duly noted and subsequently, the YES program has gone through some much-needed revision. The first thing you will notice is its more contemporary look. Additionally, we have a new heading "Open Doors to Employment" to target issues such as social media and technology, and adding persistent issues such as high school graduation and driving records.

APICC is continuing to work on making the program better by re-introducing the certification program associated with YES. Any student can gain YES certification with some effort. Contact our office or more information.

For more about the YES program and downloadable copy of the new poster, visit our website.


Learn More

Join APICC on KTVA's Daybreak Wednesday mornings as we showcase Alaskan workers, training programs and employment opportunities. 

Your sponsorship of Workforce Wednesday will help Alaskan job seekers get connected to the training programs they seek, as well as help Alaska's economy by increasing the number of skilled workers. 

Keep up to date on upcoming Workforce Wednesday episodes by liking and following APICC on Facebook .  
Workforce Wednesday: MAPTS

David Spann, a HSE coordinator with MAPTS spoke on Workforce Wednesday about training opportunities directed towards someone looking for a career in construction

Workforce Wednesday: Advancing Alaska Workers

A Joint program with Vigor, Maritime Works, and APICC can help Alaskans start a lifelong career in the maritime industry.  

Workforce Wednesday: Geospatial Science
Nearly every industry in Alaska uses high-tech imaging and mapping. We talked to Adam McCullough from Quantum Spacial to learn more about the career opportunities and use of this technology. 
Workforce Wednesday: Engineering

Kristina Storlie, an EIT at AMC Engineering, talked about how she became an engineer in Alaska, and how engineering is used in big infrastructure projects in Alaska.