WIVT – NewsChannel 34

New training facility for construction apprentices

BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – The City of Binghamton is getting behind a plan to recruit more people of color and other under-represented populations into the building trades.

Mayor Kraham announced today $275,000 for the Multi-Craft Apprenticeship Preparation Program, or MAPP, to purchase 89 Robinson Street, former home of Southern Tier Printers Supply.

MAPP plans a facility for its training programs that help participants prepare for and gain access to trade apprenticeships in fields such as masonry, carpentry, plumbing and pipe fitting.

It was started in Rochester in 2017 and has matched 100% of its graduates with apprenticeships.

MAPP operates a 2-step process beginning with its Project Phoenix which exposes participants to real-world job sites and some of the challenges of the industry.

That will run from June through December.

Those who stay on, then join the full-fledged MAPP from January through April which provides additional academics, preparation for assessments, OSHA training, first aid and the like.

Executive Director Kereem Berry says MAPP has already hired 2 instructors for the Binghamton facility who are themselves people of color.

“When your instructors, when your teachers look like you, they understand you, they’ve been through the same struggles that you’ve been through, you can relate to them. So, you tend to take what they say as a little more valuable and , ‘Okay, if he did it, and he’s showing me how he did it, I know I could do it too.'”

Berry says the size of each class depends somewhat on funding available.

He says participants are paid for their time in training.

Berry says the first class will take on the project of building out the new location.

This will be MAPP’s 3rd location, following Rochester and Albany.

For more information, go to MAPPInc.org.