Surry

Sep 13, 2023

Surry-Yadkin Works and Altec have established the first youth manufacturing pre-apprenticeship partnership in Surry and Yadkin counties.

Eight local high school students are working as pre-apprentices at Altec in Mount Airy for the spring 2023 semester. The Altec partnership provides the first occasion for students in the area to participate in manufacturing jobs such as welding and assembly. These positions are normally reserved for persons 18 years of age or older, but through a special agreement with the North Carolina Department of Labor, they are made available to area high school students. Once these students complete their pre-apprenticeships, they will receive a special certificate from the State of North Carolina, as well as special cords to be worn at their high school graduations.

Students can also benefit from a pre-apprenticeship by earning internship honors credit in high school, earning a state certification, receiving up to $1,000 per semester stipend and travel expense, and getting paid an hourly rate by participating employers.

Altec pre-apprentices in welding are Anthony Allen, Mark Hodges, and JT Simmons, from East Surry High School, Carson Hill from Mount Airy High School, Fabian Zapata from Surry Early College High School, and Kamron Martin from North Surry High School. Matthew Senter from North Surry High School and Tyler Smeltzer from Surry Central High School hold pre-apprenticeships in assembly.

To help welcome the students to their program, Altec hosted a parent night to provide information and tours of their facility for the parents of these students.

Altec, which has an operations center in Mount Airy, is a leading provider of products and services to the electric utility, telecommunications, tree care, lights and signs, and contractor markets, and is a partner with the Surry-Yadkin Works Program.

Through Surry-Yadkin Works, students can hold pre-apprenticeships with companies such as Altec, which allow them to learn new job skills and earn money while still attending high school.

"Apprenticeships combine on-the-job and classroom training and help our students to get a foot in the door to the labor market while also increasing access to higher education," said Surry-Yadkin Works Program Director Crystal Folger-Hawks. "This program is also helping meet our local employers’ needs for a workforce with applied, technical, and problem-solving skills. We are so proud that we can be an avenue to offer this opportunity to students and businesses in Surry and Yadkin counties."

For more information about Surry-Yadkin Works, contact Folger-Hawks at 336-401-7820 or

[email protected] or visit www.surryyadkinworks.org