An Unexpected Honour: Rocky Mountain Diesel Recieves Apprenticeship Award

An Unexpected Honour

Rocky Mountain Diesel would like to thank Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett and the Industry Training Authority for an unexpected honour: they recently received recognition for their support of apprentices and apprenticeship programs in the East Kootenay.

Owner Chris Thom said of the award, “Apprenticeships are important to our company – they’re an easy way to keep locals living and working in Cranbrook and making a decent wage.  For people interested in the trades, apprenticeships work, helping both the employee and the employer.  We’re pretty happy to be given this distinction.”

Due to baby boomers leaving the work force, estimates predict there will be 120,000 more jobs available in the trades in BC alone over the next 10 to 15 years.  Government has begun investing more in colleges and creating additional tax incentives for employers to hire apprentices as well as increasing funding for trades training in an effort to stave the deficit of skilled workers.  Thom says, “We’ve built our reputation on customer service but without people to do the work, we’re in trouble.  Apprenticeships are one of the best ways to help fill the gap.”