ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.

• Author: Saylor, Teri

Businesses expanding in North Carolina are creating thousands of jobs. Colleges and universities, along with public and private sector partners, are uniting to fill them with skilled workers.

Kelly Sivy grew up with old-time music playing in the background and always loved it, but it wasn't until she moved to Alaska to pursue her career as a wildlife researcher that her love bloomed into full-blown passion.

"My friend gave me a super cheap fiddle and I was sort of scratching away, trying to figure out how to play it," she says.

She started sitting in at local jam sessions in Fairbanks and became a fan of Joe Thrift, a celebrated musician and violin maker in Elkin. This year, she is one of his apprentices, splitting her time between North Carolina and Alaska.

She has crafted four violins and has even sold one.

Thrift, who is revered in the world of old-time music, was once an apprentice too.

"I learned to play music by ear, and stumbled into old-time music, and this is the life I have chosen," he says. "I went to work as an apprentice at a guitar factory and was in a moneyback band, which means if you bought a ticket to fiddlers' conventions and played on stage, you got your money back."

He now teaches at Surry Community College.

"I love that I am giving back, and I also love providing information and passing along the craft," he says.

Sivy, Thrift, and Ben Masterson of Elkin participate in the unique North Carolina In These Mountains Appalachian Folklife Apprentice program. Funded by the N.C. Arts Council, the program supports yearlong apprenticeships in the folk and traditional arts across the Appalachian Regional Commission's 31 counties in North Carolina.

The three musicians split a $ 10,000 grant which funds their apprenticeship.

North Carolina has had a robust folklife program since the 1970s, says Zoe van Buren, director of the N.C. Arts Council's Folklife program.

"We started our version of an apprenticeship program in 2018 to preserve the future of our cultural practices," van Buren says. "Apprenticeships are time-tested foundational pieces of folklife programs."

Apprenticeships are considered the gold standard of learning a skill or a trade. Whether it's arts, early childhood education, or advanced manufacturing, apprenticeships can pave the pathway to a new career by providing hands-on learning while paying a salary.

Apprenticeships also help fill the workforce gaps in the post-pandemic economy and fill jobs at businesses and industries located in North Carolina.

Many apprenticeships are registered at ApprenticeshipNC, a program administered through the N.C Community College System, which works with employers to develop...