Apprenticeships Work!: Building a Stronger Workforce

Most people still believe the only path to a successful career runs through a four-year college degree.

But what if there’s another way?

In this episode of the Workforce Solutions Gulf Coast podcast, we explore how apprenticeships are creating real pathways into high-demand careers without student debt.

As the Gulf Coast region experiences rapid growth across construction, healthcare, and infrastructure, the demand for skilled workers is rising fast. Major projects are underway, billions of dollars are being invested, and employers are facing a critical challenge: finding and keeping talent.

So what’s the solution?

Apprenticeships.

Joined by workforce leaders and industry experts, this conversation breaks down how registered apprenticeship programs are helping employers build talent from the ground up while giving individuals the opportunity to earn a paycheck, gain hands-on experience, and develop in-demand skills at the same time.

You’ll hear directly from employers, workforce leaders, and individuals who have gone through the system, offering a real look at how apprenticeships work, why they matter, and how they are transforming lives and businesses across the region.

From solving the skills gap to redefining what career success looks like, this is a conversation about access, alignment, and the future of work.

What You’ll Learn

• What a registered apprenticeship program is and why it matters
• How “earn while you learn” creates a debt-free career pathway
• Why employers are struggling to find talent—and what’s changing
• The real skills gap (math, communication, and workplace readiness)
• How apprenticeships combine classroom learning with real-world experience
• The difference between apprenticeship-trained workers and traditional hires
• Why the four-year degree is no longer the only path to success
• How to get started as a job seeker or employer

Timestamps 

0:00 – Rethinking the path to a career
 0:40 – The workforce shortage and regional demand
 1:30 – Meet Crosby Brito
 2:00 – What employers are facing today
 4:00 – Workforce Solutions support for employers
 6:00 – Apprenticeships as a talent strategy
 8:30 – The real skills gap
 11:00 – Transition to industry perspective
 12:00 – What a registered apprenticeship is
 15:00 – Earn while you learn explained
 17:00 – Real story: from apprentice to business owner
 20:00 – The difference in apprenticeship-trained workers
 22:00 – Regional growth and opportunity
 24:00 – Apprenticeships vs. college
 25:30 – How to get started

Guests Featured

• Juliet Stipeche – Executive Director, Gulf Coast Workforce Board
• Crosby Brito – Senior Manager, Employer Engagement
• Paul Puente – Executive Secretary, Houston Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades 
• Martin Trevino – CEO, All Team Services

Connect to Opportunity

Looking for a job, training, or a new career path?

Visit: www.wrksolutions.com
Call: 888-469-5627

For apprenticeship opportunities:
 Visit: www.houstonconstructioncareers.com

Workforce Solutions Gulf Coast offers free resources to help you get started.

About the Podcast

This podcast was created to close the gap between what workforce systems do and what people understand about them.

Each episode highlights real conversations, real challenges, and real opportunities.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:09

If you think the only path to a good career runs through a four-year college degree, this conversation is gonna change your mind. And if you're an employer struggling to find skilled workers, same thing. The Gulf Coast region is in the middle of a building and construction infrastructure boom. The Texas Medical Center is expanding their major industrial projects across the Gulf Coast. The demand for skilled trade workers is enormous, and the talent pipeline isn't quite keeping up. That's why we're here to talk about apprenticeship. One of the best ways to fill those pathways. Apprenticeships don't happen without employers willing to participate and connect employers to those opportunities is exactly what the board's employer engagement team does every day across every industry in this region, not just construction. I'm honored to be joined here today by Crosby Brito, who serves as our senior manager of employer engagement for the Gulf Coast Workforce Board. Crosby, thanks so much for joining us today. So when it comes to finding and keeping good workers, what are you hearing right now? What are employers saying?

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Well, it's a challenge. I I think every industry is going through its own shortage to some extent. Um I think there's a recycling that's being done. It's a I'm hiring my competitors' employees and I have to bring them from abroad, or I have to bring them from out of the region, I have to bring them from out of the state. Um, and that could be expensive. So I I do I do think that eventually we are going to uh run out of this recycling method. So now is the time to start developing, growing your own workforce because there's gonna be expensive for you to bring somebody with a lot of experience. Um and again, having a lot of experience is not always the best way either. You you need to develop and train people your way.

SPEAKER_03 1:59

And so tell us a little bit more about what you do at Workforce Solutions Gulf Coast.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yeah, I am the employer engagement manager for the Gulf Coast Workforce Board Workforce Solutions. And my responsibility is to serve employers on their terms, their HR needs, their training needs, hiring needs. Um a lot of employers don't realize that Workforce Solutions has a department and staff dedicated specifically to employer services. That includes anything that has to do with training, hiring, um, upskilling current employees, customized training, hiring events, screening, recruiting, posting their jobs. Uh, mind you, this is all free of cost. But again, the employers wouldn't know about this unless we're the ones that are telling them about it. So um, our job is to go out there and inform our employers of these services.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

So, why should an employer consider creating a registered apprenticeship program here locally?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Yeah. I mean, it's it's a strategy. Employers are are looking and they're using any resources available for them to develop the next waveable workforce. They're probably already uh reimbursing for tuition. They're probably already paying for some type of training for their employees. So sometimes it's to re-evaluate and say, if I'm spending this much money for an employee to get this training that really doesn't bring back to my company, maybe I should reinvest and develop an apprenticeship where now I'm paying for education, but I'm paying for the education that I need and is not just wide open to any position. So this is, it could be an expensive uh investment from the employer, but if you re-evaluate it and if an employer evaluated what they're spending their education, their training funding on, they're probably going to realize that they're spending more not doing a register.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

So, how does Workforce Solutions Gulf Coast help employers create a registered apprenticeship program?

SPEAKER_00 3:44

So the the registered apprenticeship is registered with the Department of Labor. That that is the only one, and that is the ultimate uh approval, approver of registered apprenticeships. The workforce board can sit down with an employer, review their current workforce strategies, review their current paths that they're taking, their open positions, provide labor market intelligence to see what they're paying compared to others, looking to see what education is required for the position and develop the training curriculum that's required with the registration. We can help them with the documentation, to collect, introduce them to the Department of Labor representatives. The state of Texas has its own department or office called the Office of Apprenticeship. They are great partners of the workforce board. We could also introduce them to them for their assistance and technical assistance. But ultimately, the employer makes the decision, fills out the documentation. They call the shots. It's almost as if you're asking the employer, come up with your own training regime. What do you want to do? How long do you want to do it for? What do you want it to incorporate? What do you want to focus on? Who do you want the instructor to be? Where do you want it to happen? You sign off on it, and the Department of Labor approves it. So we are facilitators, we are the conveners, we'll put the right people together, we'll bring in the right experts, but the employer's not alone. I think that's the important thing that we want to get across here that this is a very important milestone, but they do not have to go about this alone.

SPEAKER_03 5:09

So, what are some of the skills gap that employers are talking to you about? And what's important for our listeners to hear about, you know, what type of skills and requirements are being sought out?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

I'm gonna go really basic with you. Okay, really, really basic. Math. For some reason, people do not know how to do math anymore. Um and maybe it's just a type of math, maybe we're thinking the math. I don't know. That that is uh that is something that we may have to look into, you and I. But math is one for sure that um I can tell people that it's it's something that when you're in school, I was one of them. I'm not gonna need this, I'm not gonna need these fractions. No, you're gonna need them, and we we need to pay attention to this. Um, but also just simple communication, saying hi to somebody in an elevator, opening the door for somebody. You never know who you're gonna meet in an elevator.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

So with registered apprenticeship programs and pre-apprenticeship programs, we're connecting folks to opportunities to be able to learn both hard skills and soft skills so that way they sit can succeed. The most important so the employers can get the talent that they need.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Yeah, yeah, that's right. And registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships will have these type of modules included in them. And if you're an employer, if an employer is interested in these registered apprenticeships, we don't want you to forget that if you are having reading, writing, math type of challenges in your workforce, when you customize a registered apprenticeship, you could add that component. You can spend a month on that alone, you could spend six months on that alone. This is your apprenticeship, this is your curriculum. So you develop it as you need it.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

So if you could get one thing across to every employer in this region who hasn't yet engaged with workforce solutions Gulf Coast, what would that be?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Well, let me go a step further. Even if you have engaged us in the past, we're not the same workforce solutions that you probably engaged with if it's been last year, two years, three years. So try us again for the first time, if we want to put it that way. So if you've never interacted with a workforce solutions uh staff member, and even if you have, we invite you to speak with us again. Things change in our world so quick. And the resources that you needed last year, two years ago, uh may have not been available then, but they're probably available now. So again, talk to us, let's have a conversation, let us diagnose the workforce problem, and we'll find the right solution. If we don't have it, we'll connect you with somebody who who's gonna have it. But uh, I think that's the first thing. Let's let's have a conversation. Let's talk.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

So really exciting times looking at different opportunities to upskill, reskill, and connect people to great careers. Crosby, I want to thank you so much for all of your hard work, especially just making sure that registered apprenticeships are well known in our community.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah, happy to be here. Happy to talk about that anytime. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 8:01

Thank you. So I'm joined here today with Paul Puente, Executive Secretary of the Houston Gulf Coast Building and Construction Trades Council. He's also a very wonderful member of the Gulf Coast Workforce Board and serves on the executive leadership team. Paul represents 17 skilled trades and has spent his career building the apprenticeship infrastructure and pre-apprenticeship infrastructure that trains the people who literally build Houston. And also, we are joined by Martin Trebino. He is the CEO of All Team Services, an HVAC and mechanical services company serving the greater Houston area. Martin has built his business around apprenticeship trained workers and has a program of his own. We are pleased to be joined by both of you here today. So, Paul, tell a little bit about what is a registered apprenticeship program for someone that does it now.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

So um, so the Department of Labor, the Bureau of Apprenticeship Training is what it used to be called. It's now the Office of Apprenticeship. Um it is a it is a registration with the Department of Labor through the United States. So that means if you are registered, the entire country is where you can travel. You can go anywhere once you have uh completed your, I guess, your course or your discipline within that trade. Um they register just about everything, not just construction. Um we've seen it in education, manufacturing, and we've also seen it in nursing and medical, uh, which you know you look at a lot of industries where education is important. Like uh to become a teacher, you have to get your bachelor's degree. Uh you have to get, you know, you have to go through a certain amount of educational courses. In our industry in construction, you have to do the same, except it's it's an earn while you learn. And that's what makes registered apprenticeship program vital, is earning a living while you're learning that what it is that you're you know having uh earn as a living. So and that way you don't have any student debt.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

So tell me a little bit, you were saying you can earn and learn, and it is a it's a very unique form of education where you actually start working while you're still studying, correct?

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Yes. So our apprenticeship programs that we have in the union is a partnership between an employer and the union. They create what they call a joint apprenticeship training committee. That committee selects individuals based on certain minimum criteria that they communicated to the to this to the all the applicants. Once they they interview all the applicants, they make a selection. Out of that selection, they all have to go to work. They don't select individuals to just go to school. They have to go to work. Yeah, they go to work immediately and um that then they start receiving uh health care additional to their wages. So they'll they'll make a certain salary. That salary is around you know, 50% of what a journeyman is making. So the journeyman making $30 an hour, the apprentice starting wage is $15. If they have a five-year apprenticeship school, it starts at 50%. So it's either five, four, or three years uh worth of school.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

So, Martin, how did you find out about the apprenticeship program and what does it mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 11:59

I found out about the apprenticeship program uh running into a family member at the gas station.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

Yeah, at the time I was going to San Jack, uh taking eight air conditioned classes, working for an air-conditioning company, but I was ignorant to unions, apprenticeship schools. And so just bumping into this uh family member, he asked me, What are you doing nowadays? And I just shared with him what I was doing. He said, Hey, you ought to go check out the apprenticeship school.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Had you ever heard of apprenticeship before?

SPEAKER_02 12:31

No. And he's like, It's if you're in air conditioning, the Pi Fitters Union, it's an excellent program. They got a five-year apprenticeship program, it's free. I'm like, okay, yeah. So we exchanged numbers and he called me for the next three weeks, like every other day. He's like, hey, you need to go up there. Did you go? And after like two or three weeks, we all get in comfort zone, right? So I was already comfortable with my school and in my, you know, my job. But after a couple of weeks of him being persistent, I told my wife, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna go up there to this school and talk to somebody. And I went up there, I talked to uh Brian Edwards and um shared with him, you know, like, hey, I'm in construction. I've been, I've been in construction for 10 years already. I'm going to air conditioning school now. And, you know, I heard about your program. And he just gave me the scale pay. He said, hey man, if you sign up, this is what you're gonna make your first year, this is what you're gonna make your second year, this is your third year. It's a five-year program. When you graduate, you're gonna make this much. The insurance is free, right? The schooling is free. And so that's how I heard about it. And it was uh actually just a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

So you completed the program and then you you started your own business, ATS, correct?

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Yes. So um I had some construction background. So he said, hey, Martin, um, instead of the whole five-year apprenticeship with your construction background, you could probably skip a couple of years because you're not green, right? But after seeing the welding classes, the electrical classes, the refrigeration classes, all these classes that were free, I'm like, if I'm gonna do three, four years, I might as well just do the whole program. Right? So I did the five-year apprenticeship school, completed that, worked as a journeyman for two or three years, and then ultimately opened up my air conditioning company.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

Are you the first business owner in your family?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

I am.

unknown 14:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

So did you ever think that you were gonna be an entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Yeah, so I did open up a construction company in my early 20s. Just young and you know.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Um but the apprenticeship program gave you the experience, the connections to be able to create ATS, which is a very successful company today.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Yeah, so the apprenticeship program taught me how to do things the right way. Right? Like anybody can hang a piece of sheetrock or or make a solder, right? And you can jump on YouTube and learn how to solder up a piece of the idea I watched. Yeah. But the in-class training, uh learning what the book says, how to do things, you know, it really is it's the foundation of the company today, because you can't teach what you don't know, right? And so now I know how to do things right.

SPEAKER_03 15:23

So we know that the building and construction industry is booming in this region. Can you talk a little bit more about the projects that are coming up, what you've been seeing out in the field?

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Yeah, so about $50 billion worth of work is projected within this couple of years. It used to be like $50 billion for the next five years or next 10 years. Now it's like in two years, the $50 billion. Look, we're we're we just got approved for $2.5 billion Harris Health. We all voted for this bomb. We're building LBJ expansion. Next, uh, we'll be doing some ambulatory clinics. Then you have the the tower, the bentop tower. It's going to add another hundred beds. Um, this is a a tier one trauma center. Uh, if you get caught, I mean, if you if something happens to you, you get in a bad accident or where you need emergency or god forbid anything, this is where you want to go because that's where all the training happens. Then you have, you know, Houston first, the city of Houston has $18 billion worth of uh water treatment plants. Uh our infrastructure is is is needing an upgrade. We've also got $2.7 billion that are added to the um the George R. Brown Convention Center. They're doing an expansion and a revitalization that's gonna bring a ton of business to Houston. Uh and then with Eli Lilly, uh, they've got a $6.5 billion campus they're gonna be building out in um northeast side of Houston on the Beltway. Uh down in Callist. Then we've got uh Daly's uh Davies uh Defense. They're there, they just bought uh Gulf Copper. They're gonna be building these icebreakers uh ships. Uh they're gonna uh the North Atlantic through the Antarctica. Uh they're gonna be cutting through the ice there to open up the trade routes.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

So you get everything from shipbuilding to highways to hospitals to and you look at all of that opportunity, but you need skilled trades persons to be able to make sure that those are accomplished on time with quality, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Well, all of these also have a ripple effect where you're gonna need more hospitals, more clinics, more uh more homes, right? More shopping centers. All of all of these businesses bring workers to that site. I mean, you you talk about an infrastructure that at Pelican Island, they're gonna, they're gonna they they're gonna re uh vitalize that facility to be able to manufacture ships. In the next two years, they're gonna have to build this facility. Not only that, they're gonna have to put another bridge uh to get 2,000 workers. It's it's massive.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

So, Martin, what's the difference between hiring someone that has completed a registered apprenticeship program and someone who has not.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

The difference is the registered apprentice that went through the program, um he has the advantage of being in class with 20 or 30 other apprentices that are on the field every day working. So them apprentices are learning stuff every day, right? Trial and error, okay. The instructor typically is someone that went through the apprenticeship school years ago, completed the program, worked on the field, and now they're instructing. So you have you're you're in that classroom with just a just a bunch of knowledge, and that's what the apprentice, that's the um advantage versus someone that didn't go to school for it. So it's just it's not just going to class, learning what the book says, and then go back to work. It's like you're you're in a room of guys that are on the field all day and we're all learning together.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

So is that cohort model and you have a mentor, you're getting direct hands-on experience and you're also getting the trainings.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Yes, and you so you build relationships in class too, right? So if me and Paul are in the same class and he's on a job at MD Anderson and I'm at, you know, uh Methodist Hospital, if he learns something, he'll call me after work and hey man, you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

We just found out about this orbital weld, you know, this is a new type of welding system. Uh, you know, it's just the communication is in that relationship, it's that bond, it's the brotherhood, the sisterhood that we have that we're always looking out for each other.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

Yeah. And so that's why the five year, it sounds like a real long commitment, right? And I didn't get into it till I was 30 years old. So I'm like, oh man, you know, by the time I finish the program, you know, but time flew because of so much that you learn.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

Well, and that's it, so it you started it a little later in life.

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Yeah, yeah. I worked non non-union for 10 years in construction.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

So for folks that aren't familiar with registered apprenticeship programs, how much does it, how much does this pre-apprenticeship program cost?

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Yeah, well, you know, it's not free. It's free for the individual, but there is a cost associated to it. It's about $10,000 to put an individual through this process. Even though it's a three-week course, there are uh it's 23 weeks long. So there's an outreach portion of it, there's a recruiting portion of it, there's an application, there's an interview, there's an orientation, then there's a class, and then there's a placement. Right? That 23 weeks, we have we, you know, these individuals are put in a in a program of their own choosing, not the not the one that I chose. Just we provide them all of the information. So when they make a decision, it's made a decision for their own life, right? And then they stick to it.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

We've spent a significant amount of time telling kids over the last 10, 20 years that they need to go to college. And, you know, now we have a lot of people looking at registered apprenticeship programs as a very critical alternative. Uh Paul, I know that you're on many Different both local, state, and national uh groups talking about the importance of registered apprenticeship programs. But can you tell um our listeners, you know, why is this a great alternative as opposed to college?

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Well, yeah, I think college is there, look, I uh take nothing away from college. College institutions are necessary. The the the problems that college have is the component in the construction industry has to be learned in the field. Because you're there are a lot of things that you learn in the field that are not in a book. Tricks of the trade, and there's some I'm not saying shortcuts, but things that you cannot put in a book when you're installing a panel. And um, you know, you you learn this when you put a panel together, you're putting in these uh you're using a hose haul. And this hose haul, once the drill bit goes through and it catches the metal, it could twist your wrist and maybe even break your wrist, right? So what we would do is you put a washer. So once uh the pilot hole goes through, the the the uh the hose haul would catch the washer and it would just spin. And so it wouldn't twist y'all. So you already had it started. So that was the thing, is that you learn you don't learn these things in a book. They don't have a book that says, oh, this is how you drill a hose haul. But it's telling you the technical parts that a lot of times we don't spend enough time communicating to an apprentice. This is how electricity flows through a wire. This is why we use this size wires. That technical training is crucial, but it so is the all-the-job training. So you have to do both. And I think a lot of colleges, they don't, they don't, they they focus all on the uh the technical training. And have the the workers have to figure out um what you know what the on-the-job training is later. And a lot of people won't hire them even though they have a a diploma because they don't have any on-the-job experience. I mean, you've seen that. I've seen I I've ran into so many people who have a bachelor's degree in certain subjects, and they couldn't find either the saturated market or their their background and what work they're trying to go after don't match.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

So skills, building on skills, and then building greater relationships and opportunities for those that are in the network. So if someone wants to learn more about registered apprenticeship program, what should they do?

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Well, we have a a great website. And I think I know we designed it with a lot of resource information. Um, so when when you go to our website, it's it it's very easy. It's www.houston constructioncareers.com. Or you can just Google Houston Building Trades. It's the first one that you'll see. It's Houston Building Trades. And um in there you'll find a way to sign up. If you wanna, if you wanna uh learn more about what we have to offer, go to our website, select a a union that you or a trade that you have an interest in, um, fill out the information. It'll have the um where you put your your your email address, your phone number, your name, and then how would you like to be contacted, either through a text message or an email or a phone call. And then um once you fill out all that information, you hit submit. It'll go to one of our recruiters, they'll reach out to you. Even if you're even if you're already a journeyman in the non-union, we would love to have you and put you through the process to learn uh whether or not you have the skills, and you probably do, and then we'll send you out as a journeyman. You don't have to go through the apprenticeship program. So if you're already skilled in the industry, we can put you right to work uh with one of our union contractors. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Yeah, let me speak into that because that's a good point, Paul. There's a lot of guys out there that that's on the field, they're journeymen, right? They're good at what they do. If they go to the union, um they could hire right in, get tested, and get and get hired right in. And now they're making union wages with health care and all the benefits.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

I want to thank today's guests. For employers and job seekers looking for workforce solutions services, please visit WRKSolutions.com. Or you can call one eight eight eight four six nine five six two seven. Find us at workforce solutions news dot com. Thank you for listening. And Gulf Coast, let's get to work.