PowerForward DuPage held its fourth annual DuPage County Trade Apprenticeship Expo on Wednesday at the IBEW Local 701 Union Hall.
The event brought trade organizations from the area to speak with the community about career paths.
Understanding trade work
“Many high schools are starting to come back to the idea of offering some type of trade component counseling and reaching out to us for more information about these different apprenticeship programs. The Expo really gives us the opportunity to welcome everybody in, teachers, parents, counselors, everybody at the same time so that they can learn about the benefits of trading the traditional career path for a career in the trades,” said Karyn Charvat, the executive director of PowerForward DuPage.
The expo welcomed close to 500 people interested in learning about trade opportunities.
“Basically what happens is each affiliate organization has an apprenticeship training director, and that training director then interacts with each attendee, giving them information about their program, wages, benefits, all the things that they can expect with relation to that particular organization,” said Charvat.
Demonstrations at the DuPage County Trade Apprenticeship Expo
Some trade organizations at the event included plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, and tile setters.
Many of them offered hands-on demonstrations to attendees, like the cement masons who let them flatten and soften the material.
This is all part of the event’s mission of showcasing the importance of trades and providing alternative career paths, especially to the younger generation.
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