Apprenticeship at Scale: Designing and Sustaining Regional Hubs

This session explores how Regional Apprenticeship Hubs can serve as durable workforce infrastructure, drawing lessons from the implementation of a $5.8 million U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) grant in the bi-state Greater St. Louis region. Covering eighteen counties in Illinois and five in Missouri, this initiative became the region’s first formal bi-state workforce development effort.

Participants will learn how the Hub moved from fragmented, employer-by-employer outreach to a scalable intermediary-led model anchored by higher education and community partners. The presentation will highlight successes across education, healthcare, and bioscience apprenticeships, including the development of more than 30 new programs, engagement of over 100 employers, and registration of more than 700 apprentices.

The session will also candidly address operational challenges, including staffing gaps, leadership transitions, funding restrictions, and differences in state workforce policy, and how these obstacles were navigated through partnership realignment and braided funding strategies. Attendees will leave with practical insights into building regional apprenticeship ecosystems that reduce employer burden, strengthen intermediary capacity, and create sustainable pathways beyond the life of a federal grant.