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Rexford, Kansas (9/7/2022) - Northwest Tech is pleased to announce a new apprenticeship opportunity in cooperation with Davis Electric. Through the new partnership, Davis Electric provides a paid OWE (occupational work experience) for Northwest Tech electrical students at the McCarty Dairy job site located in Rexford, Kansas. In exchange, Northwest Tech students have the opportunity to expand their skills on a job site, and perform work that supports their classroom and lab instruction.
“They have the opportunity to see state of the art controls and automation in the dairy that we can’t replicate here in the classroom,” said Northwest Tech Electrical instructor Logan Dobbs, “It is the most real environment they could be learning in.”
The collaboration began in the fall of 2022 and will continue through the fall of 2023. The dairy project covers every competency taught in the classroom, on the job training, and provides students with real-world industry experience. Currently, students are gaining industry experience with; underground installations with PVC, prefab light fixtures, conduit work, wire pulling, and motor controls.
“The founder of Davis Electric, Roger Davis, was a Northwest Tech graduate [Class of 77] and we have continued to recruit from Northwest Tech over the past 40 years,” explained Brandon White, Davis electric CEO/ Project Manager. “This project opens a whole new way to recruit and retain employees, both parties involved get the opportunity to see each other in action before employment.”
Split into two groups, the 25 second year electrical students are on a three-week rotation in the classroom and on the job site. All students attend classes Monday and Tuesday, then one group reports to the Rexford job site at 10 a.m. Wednesday through Friday. Davis Electric has provided transportation two and from the job site for the college students. After completing safety training, first year students will have the opportunity to be a part of the project in the 2023 spring semester.
Clayton Rico, an alumnus of the Northwest Tech Electrical program is now a Lead Technician for Davis Electric and was excited to see the opportunity in action. “I had the same instructor (Logan Dobbs) who is teaching these students. It is cool to see the students doing well out here and it’s been rewarding for me to be able to mentor them on this job site.”
Northwest Tech is appreciative of the partnership with Davis Electric and the opportunities it provides to get students out in a live-working environment. For more information about Northwest Tech visit www.nwktc.edu.
