Skilled-Labor Funding Dipped Again in 2004

Apprenticing tradesmen have produced $14.1 million in state tax revenue since 2000, according to the Arkansas Department of Labor. At the same time, state and federal funding for training has been in decline.

State expenditures for skilled labor training were down 12 percent from $1.12 million in 2002 to $985,000 in 2003. Last year, funding was down another percent to $975,000 (see chart).

Steve Schaeffer, executive director of the nonprofit Arkansas Construction Education Foundation Inc., said in addition to some budgetary limitations, more programs are competing for basically the same dollars.

He said more funding could help produce more needed state revenue, and simultaneously help the state’s skilled labor shortage. In the meantime, the pipeline of tradesmen obtaining licensure has increased slightly but has not risen to meet ongoing demand.

ACEF, a Little Rock nonprofit organization, operates a statewide apprenticeship-training program for skilled trades.