Heinrich Highlights $2.5 Million for Mobile Training Unit to Connect Rural New Mexicans to In-Demand Careers in the Skilled Trades, Participates in Training Demo with U.A. Local 412
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chairman of the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, highlighted more than $2.5 million he has secured through the Appropriations process for the United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 412 (U.A. Local 412) to operate a mobile training unit that provides pre-apprenticeship training to New Mexicans living in rural and Tribal communities.
The mobile training unit is creating more pathways to in-demand careers in the skilled trades and has already trained dozens of New Mexicans in Española, Taos, Las Vegas, Mora, Raton, and Santa Fe. Heinrich also participated in a training demonstration with U.A. Local 412 leadership and apprentices who are learning skills in the plumbing, pipefitting, and HVAC trades.
“Thanks to our Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, New Mexico is experiencing a manufacturing and clean energy renaissance that is creating new high-quality careers New Mexicans can build their families around,” said Heinrich. “I’m focused on expanding pathways to skills training and apprenticeships that connect New Mexicans to careers in their own communities. This is how we can address workforce shortages, grow the middle class, and strengthen our economy.”
Heinrich-Secured Federal Investments for the Mobile Training Unit:
The U.A. Local 412 Mobile Training Unit was initially paid for by an Economic Development Administration (EDA) Good Jobs Challenge Grant, as part of a $6.4 million award to the Northern N.M. Workforce Integration Network. The Good Jobs Challenge funds were authorized by the American Rescue Plan, the critical economic recovery legislation that Heinrich was proud to pass in 2021.
Through his work on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Heinrich has further supported the U.A. Local 412’s workforce development efforts by securing more than $2.5 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) in the Fiscal Year 2023 and Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bills. These awards helped the union secure the equipment and staffing they need to train New Mexicans for jobs in the skilled trades, including specialized training needed to fill the many new, well-paying jobs being created by the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Heinrich is currently fighting to pass the Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations Bills, which include an additional $870,000 CDS award that he secured within the Senate Appropriations Committee-passed Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Bill to sustain the U.A. Local 412’s mobile training unit’s operations past the original EDA funding, and to expand its reach to new communities including Grants, Gallup, Silver City, and Zuni Pueblo.
Heinrich’s Longtime Support for Workforce Training and Apprenticeships:
Heinrich has long championed proven workforce training programs like U.A. Local 412’s apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs that are growing the middle class, creating and connecting New Mexicans to high-quality careers they can access in their communities, and continuing New Mexico’s leading role in the clean energy transition that is being built by union workers in the skilled trades.
Last week, Heinrich hosted a “Pro-Worker, Pro-Business Opportunities” roundtable to talk directly with New Mexicans about how federal legislation he helped pass into law, like the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Law, is creating careers in high-demand sectors and strengthening New Mexico’s health care, early childhood education, and skilled trades workforce.
Last year, Heinrich introduced the bipartisan Apprenticeship Pathways Act, legislation to create pathways to careers for high school students by expanding access to apprenticeship programs for occupations with high need, including the building trades, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, telecommunications, and early childhood education. Earlier this year, Heinrich introduced the Pre-Apprenticeships To Hardhats (PATH) Act, legislation to strengthen the pipeline for careers in New Mexico, address rising workforce shortages, and grow the state’s economy through quality pre-apprenticeship programs.
Last year, Courtenay Eichhorst, Business Manager of U.A. Local 412 and President of New Mexico Building Trades, testified about the importance of apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships during a hearing that Heinrich convened as the Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee on “Job Training for the Clean Energy Transition.”
Eichhorst said during that JEC hearing, “In addition to our ‘gold standard’ apprenticeship programs, the UA and other Building Trades’ unions are also increasingly investing in pre-apprenticeship programs that can be designed to help prepare high school students or individuals from underrepresented communities for a career in the trades. These programs help fill the role that used to be filled by the ‘shop classes’ that were found in high schools but have become increasingly rare. Pre-apprenticeship programs also focus on the ‘soft skills’ that are necessary for success in any industry, such as showing up on time and other work etiquette.”
Earlier this year, also in the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bills, Heinrich secured $1,200,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for the SMART Local Union No. 49 Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee to enhance and expand specialized HVAC apprenticeship training.
In March, Heinrich introduced the Providing Resources and Opportunities for Health Education and Learning (PRO-HEAL) Act, legislation that will tackle the health care provider shortage in New Mexico and nationwide by expanding pathways to high-quality, in-demand health care careers that medical professionals can access in their communities. Specifically, the PRO-HEAL Act addresses medical provider shortages by incentivizing states and institutions of higher education to expand or create health care provider pipeline programs, particularly in underserved and rural communities. The legislation is inspired by the success of the Combined BA/MD Degree Program at the University of New Mexico, where over 65% of students who have graduated from their program practice medicine in New Mexico.
Last year, Heinrich introduced the Pathways to Health Careers Act, legislation that reauthorizes and modernizes the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program to help address health care shortages in New Mexico and across the country and create pathways to high-quality, in-demand health care careers. The HPOG program has a proven track record of successfully educating workers for jobs in the health care industry, while also providing career coaching, job placement, and a mix of other support services. The Pathways to Health Careers Act would restart and expand the HPOG Program, providing $425 million to make HPOG available nationwide from FY2024 through FY2028 and includes set asides for Tribes and U.S. Territories.
In 2021, Heinrich introduced the Championing Apprenticeships for New Careers and Employees in Technology (CHANCE in Tech) Act, legislation to create earlier pathways to high-paying careers in the information technology (IT) industry. Heinrich previously introduced similar bipartisan legislation in 2019 with former Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.).
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