Governor Tony Evers toured Wisconsin on Thursday to celebrate a milestone in the state's apprenticeship program.
More than 15 thousand registered apprenticeships can be found statewide, and Evers says Wisconsin's economy is better for it.
“Learning skills and practicing the skills at the same time. The more apprentices we have in the state of Wisconsin the better, they’re expanding into all sorts of different areas”, said Evers.
Evers says employers are finding the program to be beneficial when it comes to retaining employees as well.
“It’s helping our workforce. It’s helping employers find people who will be good, long-term employees”
Evers says the apprenticeship program is starting to expand outside of manufacturing and skilled labor.
“There’s lots of different jobs in healthcare now. It’s not just doctors and nurses. It’s all sorts of people that keep the building running and things like that, so this is going to continue”
When asked how high the ceiling is for the program, he responded "how many people are there in Wisconsin? “The more people we can get into these apprenticeships, the better our economy and the stronger our economy is going to be.”
Evers made his comments at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau.
Following the presentation, he toured the college's new smart manufacturing line.
