Recently at the U.S. Engineering Metalworks facility in Johnstown, Colorado, CEO Tyler Nottberg met with 30 first-year apprentices participating in our Apprentice Fellowship Program. He talked with them about the history of our organization and fielded questions, which led to a discussion ranging from leadership qualities to broader topics about our industry’s role in the U.S. economy and the future of labor.

“I was excited for the incredible opportunity to talk with the apprentices in the Fellowship Program,” Tyler said. “They asked challenging and interesting questions, like how do you overcome failure? How do you view union labor and the partnerships U.S. Engineering has with unions? The apprentices’ enthusiasm really sparked an engaging conversation.”

Some apprentices inquired about U.S. Engineering’s identity as a family-owned business. Tyler recalls, “We talked about family, and something that was a big deal to me was Leigh being there in Johnstown. We’re partners in this endeavor, and being a part of a family-owned business is important to me, but it also means something to other people.”

The Apprentice Fellowship Program in our Rocky Mountain region provides apprentices of all trades with opportunities to attend lunches, tour jobsites and U.S. Engineering facilities, and volunteer in the community. All apprentices from U.S. Engineering operating companies are invited to join the program. The program seeks to help forge connections with U.S. Engineering team members, to build camaraderie among apprenticeship classes and between trades, and to introduce career path options. As Joel Aragon—U.S. Engineering Construction General Superintendent and one of the program architects—notes, U.S. Engineering’s investment in the Apprentice Fellowship Program is an investment to maintain a strong core of field teams into the future.

Joel said, “We want apprentices to have the opportunity to build relationships early with the people they’ll be working with for the next 30 or 40 years.” He went on to explain that “if someone is interested in estimating, we want to introduce them to some of our estimators and show them that there’s a career path there. Or if they’re into VC, we can show them that path, too, and connect them to our team members doing that work.”

The inception of Apprentice Fellowship Program was a group effort. Several team members in our Rocky Mountain Region worked together to bring the program to life and support the future of our workforce.

We’re ready to help these apprentices grow. As Tyler put it, “I’m really excited about this program and about the people who are participating. They’re the most diverse group of apprentices I’ve ever seen—in age, gender, race, ethnicity—and I’m excited about what those different perspectives will bring to our business and to our customers.”