FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Gov. Andy Beshear joined representatives from KCTCS, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Tuesday to officially launch a program that aims at letting people get an education while earning a paycheck.
“The reality is that right now, too many Kentuckians are forced to decide between pursuing their education and advancing their skills or earning a stable paycheck and supporting their family,” Gov. Beshear said. “Part of this initiative addresses that challenge.”
The program helps students by letting them work and pursue an education at the same time. It offers tuition benefits, flexible work schedules, and assistance with transportation and housing if needed.
“Education First Employment opportunities are not just short-term experiences like internships or co-ops. These employers are offering full-time jobs at or above the regional living wage with the flexibility and the benefits to complete their KCTCS credential and succeed in the workplace or transfer on to a four-year university,” said KCTCS acting president Larry Ferguson.
Participating employers include industries like construction, healthcare, automakers, manufacturers, and more.
“KCTCS is stepping up to meet the new needs, the new requirements, to meet the new world that we are facing by opening their doors and partnering with employers like never before,” Gov. Beshear said.
While several companies have already been working with KCTCS to provide these benefits to students, Tuesday’s launch marked an official name to the program and the start of the effort to encourage other companies to participate.
East & Westbrook Construction is an Education First Employer based out of Oldham County. The company’s human resources director, Tim Ernst, was at Tuesday’s launch and explained what it means for East & Westbrook to have that designation.
“Basically what that says is, ‘Hey, when you get out of school, high school, if you want to go into the trades, we’re going to take that burden of helping you get that education so that you can focus on getting that education, growing your skill sets and getting a paycheck at the same time,’” Ernst said.
For Richard Tuchscherer, an East & Westbrook Employee, the program has allowed for on-the-clock training in the classroom on top of training in the field.
“It allowed me to learn skills at a faster pace than I would have if I was just in the field,” Tuchscherer said.
Tuchscherer started out at the company as a “carpenter helper” who would retrieve tools for people at job sites. Now, about two years later, he said he’s working toward being a foreman in training.
“A big thing that wasn’t mentioned up there is raises,” Tuchscherer said at the launch. “I got a lot of raises faster than I would have – substantial raises. And I have two babies at home, so that’s pretty big for me.”
People interested in being a student with an Education First employer, and employers interested in becoming an education first employer, can visit KCTCS.edu/efe.
