2017 Apprenticeship Week News Release

Carlisle, Iowa (Nov. 14, 2017)  –  Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg will visit Murphy Tower Service in Carlisle Wednesday during his National Apprenticeship Week tour. Murphy Tower is one of several businesses the governor’s office chose as part of its tour to highlight apprenticeship programs across the state.

        The event, scheduled from 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m., will showcase Murphy Tower’s newly registered apprenticeship program and its partnership with iJAG’s (Iowa’s Jobs for America’s Graduates) pre-apprenticeship program for high school students. Murphy Tower Service owner Pat Murphy will present a brief company overview and highlight the specific training offered in its year-long apprenticeship program for Telecommunications Tower Technicians (TTT-1). No stranger to the skilled labor shortage in Iowa, the company developed the apprenticeship in order to meet the demands of its cellular company clients.

         “We have really struggled to fill our open positions the last several years, so we decided to create an apprenticeship for tower techs that would allow a young person to see exactly what they would be doing, how much they could earn in their first year and what a future in telecoms could look like,” said Pat Murphy of Murphy Tower.  “A good on-the-job training program that doesn’t cost the student is always attractive to young people entering the workforce.”

            Murphy Tower’s apprenticeship program offers training in cellular tower construction. A Tower Technician assists in tower maintenance or new construction, building each tower job as defined by the client’s scope of work under the direction of the Tower Crew Leader.

         Work in this industry often has employees up to 2,000 feet in the air. Each employee is required to complete safety certifications in 11 areas, including fall protection/rescue training, working with cranes/rigging and first aid.

Laurie Phelan of iJAG will speak about their pre-apprenticeship partnership with Murphy Tower. On Oct. 17, iJAG students toured Murphy Tower facilities and participated in supervised practice climbs, learning about safety protocol in tower climbing and the apprenticeship opportunity they’ll soon be eligible to enter. iJAG benefits Iowa students by increasing high school graduation rates as well as giving underprivileged high school students opportunities to explore career opportunities.

        National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is a national celebration under the Department of Labor that offers leaders in business, labor, education and other critical partners a chance to express their support for apprenticeship. NAW also gives apprenticeship sponsors the opportunity to showcase their programs, facilities and apprentices in their community. Gov. Reynolds signed a Registered Apprenticeship Appreciation and Awareness Week proclamation on Nov. 2. The week’s events highlight the benefits of apprenticeship in preparing a highly-skilled workforce to meet the talent needs of employers across diverse industries.

         

Murphy Tower Service is a leading provider of wireless and broadcast construction and maintenance services in Iowa and surrounding states. As a voting member of NATE (National Association of Tower Erectors) and an annual participant of the NATE STAR initiative since 2004, it values safety above all else, maintaining a zero-falls accident record. Murphy Tower’s ComTrain certified climbers and other skilled employees provide quality service to all the major cellular communication carriers, government entities and broadcast companies in Iowa and surrounding states.