Connecting Alaskans with industry opportunities: training a future work force for Alaska.

• Author: Bergman, Todd
• Position: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium

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Alaskans tend to be independent, loyal, individuals, and the state's business practices were built on these qualifies. Today, more than ever, companies doing business in Alaska are promoting and engaging in the training and hiring of Alaskans for those jobs and careers.

Alaska currently has many large-scale resource development projects, with many more on the horizon, that promise job growth and increased demands for coordinated work force development. The Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium (APICC) was incorporated in 1999 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and has a 10-year legacy as Alaska's model industry consortium. APICC has been, and continues to be, at the forefront in connecting the work force development needs of process industries with Alaska secondary and postsecondary educational institutions.

APICC is a membership organization founded by Alaska process industries and operates with a small staff and an industry-based volunteer board and working committees. Its mission is to ensure the availability of highly trained Alaskans to staff Alaska's process industries. Through partnership, leadership, awareness, advocacy and alignment, APICC works to develop educational initiatives toward this aim.

APICC has a history of collaboration with member industries and businesses, the Alaska Department of Education, public schools, the University of Alaska system, regional training centers, private education providers, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and many other Alaska work force-development initiatives.

INDUSTRY LED

APICC's Putting Alaska's Resources to Work (PARW) initiative consists of an industry led, evolving and broad-based alliance of oil, gas and mining industries and work force development entities working together to ensure Alaska will have a highly skilled and globally competitive work force that meets the current and future needs of those industries. PARW has focused on maintaining a Priority Occupations Report that identifies and delineates projected work force shortages in the various job and career fields within Alaska's oil, gas and mining industries.

The need projections of the Priority Occupations Report have serious implications for those industries that have traditionally paid high wages. When a projected worker shortage is realized in the oil, gas and mining industries, available workers may be drawn from other industries to fill the need. Wages increase and gaps may open in...