A very nice and knowledgable staffer at the Technical College system of Georgias called late yesterday to offer help on understanding the workings of the taxpayer-funded HDCI program  created by the GOP-ruled legislature and signed into law in 2022 by Gov. Brain Kemp.

That you very much, Brandon Ona.

Audio on the bottom.

Transcript by Rev.com. My cost, $20.00 and about two hours.

______

dak:

“…really, Brandon, what, what I’m trying to do is, is gain some knowledge on, on this program which I’ve done and you’ve just helped.

Brandon:

Yeah.

dak:

But I’m trying to discern whether or not that I… I’ve read the legislation…

Brandon:

Mm-hmm.

dak:

… the legislation two years ago. I’m trying to figure out if there is any hump in the road that will prevent or detour somebody in the country illegally from participating in this program either as an employer or as an individual apprentice, uh, apprenticeship m- uh, program member o- o- or, an employee, and I, I can’t find one. I would love for you, if you can direct me towards any language in the law or the policy that would stop that from happening.

Brandon:

In the, um… Well, it, so I, I wanna make sure I understand it. That, so you’re, you’re wanting to, to, to know what, what’s in place to stop, um, somebody that may not be eligible to work, um, because they’re i- undocumented or for whatever reason from participating in the program. I- is that right?

dak:

That, that is, uh… Yes, sir.

Brandon:

Okay, so, um, and, and I can, uh, have the folks that actually, you know, um, lead the program itself, um, follow up on that, but, um, generally once a company applies to participate, um, a- and as you’ll see in the application, uh, what we do require is, um, that one, they provide a lot of information on their company. Um, but the main thing there, um, is that we’re able to see that one, um, the company itself is, uh, registered to operate in the State of Georgia, um, with the Secretary of State’s office. And then from there, uh, we look to make sure that they’re current on all state taxes since it is a program funded by state tax dollars. Um, so that’s on the company side.

Um, on the participant side, um, itself, uh, we do collect, um, the US Department of Labors, um, apprentice forms, um, and so those are federal forms that do require, um, detailed information about each apprentice that is participating, uh, and then from there, um, I, I… There’s something else, so we require that form, um, I think… I’m gonna try to remember, look up i- and my apologies if I’m-

dak:

No, no, no.

Brandon:

… not-

dak:

You’re doing great.

Brandon:

… too, too familiar. One second. Um…

I think it’s the [inaudible 00:02:42]. I’m trying to find the checklist. Well, I don’t think there is a checklist per se, but, um, what we use.

Okay. Um… Want that one.

Okay, so we require, um, a, uh, yeah, the, the federal f- um, apprenticeship form, um, that proves, uh, you know, registration of that particular apprentice, um, copy of photo identification and then a wage verification, um, that they’re employed there.

dak:

Copy of photo identification of what description, please, sir?

Brandon:

The, the photo identification of the apprentice.

dak:

Y- yeah, but what, from, like, a, a state or any government issued photo ID?

Brandon:

Correct.

dak:

So can it… Does it have to be Georgia specific?

Brandon:

Um, I, we don’t spell that out specifically in this particular requirement, but, um, I, I don’t know if we’ve had an instance where somebody provided something from another state, but I, but that would be… That would have to… We’d have to double check with the folks. Um-

dak:

Would, would a, a, a student ID from Georgia State take-

Brandon:

No. It would have to be govern- yeah, government issued, so like a state driver’s license, a passport, um, something like that.

dak:

Okay, but not a student ID from a government, s- taxpayer funded school?

Brandon:

No. That’s, yeah. Thank you, that, that’s not allowable, but, but we could check in on that. I don’t-

dak:

Okay.

Brandon:

I don’t think so.

dak:

Ca- w- can I access or can you please sort of send me whatever resource you’re looking at that outlines that checklist?

Brandon:

Sure. Yeah, we can, um… So what we have is like a, um, uh, like an MO- a, a template MOU that we have with the companies ’cause each company goes and enters into a contract. Um, yeah.

dak:

Well, if you, if I could see the MOU, then I would wash your car.

Brandon:

Sure. Yeah, yeah. No, but that’s fine. Um, we’ll need to get a, um, a draft. I, I need to ask the team for a draft of it, um, to make sure we have, I, I get you an accurate one. Um, but yeah. That, that’s something that we can provide.

dak:

Um, o- okay. The, the, the, the, the MOU you said you had a template for. Uh, all I’m looking for is, is whatever you’re looking at, the template.

Brandon:

Yeah, no. The, so the template would have in there, like, the, the requirements for it, the required documentation that they have to provide for each apprentice.

dak:

Okay. That, that, that, that helps a lot, and I, I, I appreciate it very much, so-

Brandon:

Mm-hmm.

dak:

… um-

Brandon:

Yeah.

dak:

… but, the, the e- there is no information gathered from the employer. Is that, is y-… And is that called the sponsor?

Brandon:

The emplo-… So there’s, so no, no. In the registered apprenticeship program, there’s two entities. Um, there’s an employer who employs the apprentice in the registered apprenticeship program, so that’s that person that’s usually… Well, not usually. They’re on payroll. Um, they are an employee of that particular company. Um, and then there’s the program sponsor. Sometimes that is the employer, um, so if you’re looking at, like, a larger company, um, you know, uh, they’re, you know, a larger corporation, um, will probably wanna be a sponsor as well as the employer, um, just because they have the resources to do, and they have more control over the program.

Um, but if, uh, but in other cases, uh, the sponsor could be an external organization that’s partnering with them on the apprenticeship program, so that could be a technical college. It could be an industry association. It could be a union. It really just depends on the nature of the particular program.

dak:

Okay. This is very educational. Thank you very much, so i- if, the, is the, the entirety of the information that is collected by TCSG, is the application th- th- that I was sent earlier today, right? There’s no- there’s nothing, there, there’s no other information gathered other than on that in- that what’s listed on that app?

Brandon:

Um, so during due diligence, um, we, we look to make sure that what’s provided in the application is, is accurate. Um, whether that be through the-

dak:

Oh, okay. Okay.

Brandon:

… the documentation that they, um, provided on the front end, or, um, if, you know, we need to double check, you know, uh, and, and, and also, for that, um, you know, part of the, the criteria is the characteristics of the company itself, and so sometimes we have to conduct some due diligence. Also, you know, sometimes companies may apply, um, and they may not actually have an active, registered apprenticeship program, and so that’s something that we need to screen for on the front end.

dak:

Oh, okay, uh, ha- have, Brandon, have you ever… Do you have, let me put it a different way. I, I’m trying to locate the, the application for registration with the US Department of Labor into the apprenticesh- into their apprenticeship program. I’m having trouble finding that app. Have you ever seen one?

Brandon:

The application? Um, so it’s called the Standards of Apprenticeship, um, is, is the, the full… So I, I should say a couple things. There is the Standards of Apprenticeship, uh, which, um, they have template documents on apprenticeships.gov. Um, but the official form itself that is the apprenticeship agreement is form 671.

dak:

Oh, that’ll help-

Brandon:

It’s called an ETA form 671.

dak:

What, do, d-… What are those letters again?

Brandon:

ETA. Um, echo, tango, alpha.

dak:

Ah, cool. Well, this is, this is, d-

Brandon:

Yeah, um, so ETA six, d-… Um, and then there, well, let me see if the, duh-duh, ETA form 671. Yeah [inaudible 00:08:58]-

dak:

Program registration and apprenticeship agreement?

Brandon:

That’s correct, yes.

dak:

Outstanding. I’m going to wash your car for sure now.

Brandon:

(laughs)

dak:

Okay.

Brandon:

Um, yeah, that, so that’s the… Any apprentice has to have this, this particular form, um, registered apprentice, sorry, um, if, if you’re in a US registered apprenticeship program.

dak:

I get it. So once… Excuse me. The caveat on the Georgia end is that you must first be registered with the US Department of Labor to participate. This is the application that-

Brandon:

That’s correct. Yeah.

dak:

… that goes after that, that registration?

Brandon:

Yes. Now, it could be, you know, it and, um, my understanding is that if there’s a company that does apply and let’s say they’re in the process of registering that program, um, but as long as it is registered at the time of the contract execution, um, then, you know, that’s, that’s permiss-… I mean, we need all the documentation before we enter into a contract. Um, but there may be, uh… My understanding is that there may be cases where a company may apply, um, but they’re currently going through the process with US DOL to get that approved, um, and, and sometimes that does take a little bit longer just because it’s, um, it, it’s a, you know, a registration process with a federal agency. Um, so that, that does, you know, take some time.

But usually with that, they’ll provide us some sort of documentation or, or, or some sor- i- provide us with some sort of information that demonstrates that they are going through that process actively.

dak:

Okay. B- big help, so-

Brandon:

Sure.

dak:

… thank you for calling, and I forgot why you called. And please forgive me. When I answered the phone, it said, um, “Spam alert,” so-

Brandon:

Uh, try to… Oh, okay. I, I often get a towing company. I think I, the number I have used to be a towing company. (laughs)

dak:

Okay, well-

Brandon:

Yeah, sorry.

dak:

… a- a- anyway, very helpful and, and thank you very much, okay?

Brandon:

All right. Sounds good. And then I will, um, I’ll… It’ll probably be tomorrow or the day after, uh, but I’ll see if, um, our team can send you over the draft MOU that we use.

dak:

Outstanding. Thank you again.

Brandon:

Yep, thank you.

dak:

Yes, sir. Bye.

Image below is from the GALEO Inc. 2023 “Power Breakfast” funder.

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