New York Wins Approval for Apprenticeship Program
The New York State Apprenticeship Council has approved the New York Burglar & Fire Alarm Association’s (NYBFAA) application for an apprenticeship program. The application was approved for the occupation of Protective Signal Installer (Fire/Life Safety and Electronic Security Installer), according to the Electronic Security Association (ESA).
Sanctioning the Unilateral Apprenticeship and Training program will guarantee New Yorkers working in the electronic security industry an opportunity to submit bids on construction work in the state. A series of new local ordinances requires companies to have an apprenticeship program, whether prevailing wage or not. Because of these ordinances, large-scale security and fire alarm jobs were previously beyond the industry’s reach.
ESA’s apprenticeship standards were federally approved in September 2006. Since then interested ESA Chartered Chapters are required to locally adopt these standards and file with the state agency for approval. The acceptance of the application gives NYBFAA member and non-member companies the ability to fill the void for qualified security and fire alarm technicians in New York and to provide structured, quality training to the industry at a reasonable cost.
“It took 28 months from application to approval, but the ESA apprenticeship program was finally accepted,” says Ron Petrarca, former chair of ESA’s Apprenticeship Committee. “During our lengthy application process, we watched and applauded the ESA Chartered Chapters in Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada as they obtained their registered apprenticeship programs. Their success also reinforced our conviction that this was an important effort for the future of our industry and gave us the incentive to continue with the job of securing a registered program in the state of New York.”
ESA President Mike Miller applauded Petrarca’s efforts in working toward the program’s consent.
“We want to commend Ron Petrarca who has worked so diligently on this apprenticeship program, along with members of the NYBFAA. We know, at the New York state level, that Ron has been the main driver of this effort and we truly appreciate all he has done.”
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