The Southern States Apprenticeship
Labor-Management Council

A Letter From Our Chairman

On behalf of all individuals who are part of the Apprentice family who were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we thank each of you for your support, prayers and words of encouragement. We are not back 100%, but we can see the light and we are back to training Apprentices.

We are rapidly approaching the 2007 Southern States Apprenticeship Conference with the mid year planning meeting scheduled for October 7, 2006. Please contact your Council member if there is anything you would like to add to the conference or if there is anything you wish to change about the conference. It is the desire of the Council members to promote Apprenticeship Training and to use the annual conference as a means of disseminating information across the fifteen Southern States.

The annual conference is scheduled for June 20-23, 2007 at The Williamsburg Hospitality House in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mark your calendar and plan on attending the conference, participate in our panel sessions, and support our Outstanding Apprentices as they make the transition from Apprentice to Journeymen mechanics in their respective crafts.

I challenge each member of The Labor/Management Council to recruit those who work with Apprenticeship training in your area to come to Williamsburg, Virginia and participate in the conference. We all have a common goal of preparing tomorrow's workforce and the more we have working together to accomplish this goal, the better our programs will become. The available pool of recruits is getting smaller each year and we need to share information and ideas on how to revive the young people's interest in obtaining a marketable skill that will allow them the financial means to support a family and live a quality life.

There are opportunities for interested business and industry owners and managers to sponsor activities at the conference. Sponsoring Apprenticeship conference activities will give your business exposure to other business and industry leaders in fifteen southern states. This is an excellent way to highlight your products and support the Apprenticeship training. Information on how to sponsor activities is on the web page.

On behalf of the entire Southern States Labor/Management Council, I wish each of you the best and look forward to visiting with you at the conference in Williamsburg in June 2007.