Quality Apprenticeship Program Featured on CA.gov
Quality Apprenticeship on CA.gov website
The State of California, Department of Industrial Relations has listed our two Quality Apprenticeships: Chemistry Quality Control Technician and Microbiology Quality Control Technician. These represent two out of the three apprenticeships available in the Health Services category.
The Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) creates opportunities for Californians to gain employable lifetime skills and provides employers with a highly skilled and experienced workforce while strengthening California’s economy. MEIRxRS apprenticeship program supports this mission by requiring apprentices to work toward an industry certification while they are enrolled in the apprentice program. Each certification requires a mix of training and experiential learnings. Apprentices are paired with mentors who can provide guidance and support for the duration of the one to two year apprenticeship.
Our apprentices can be deployed in any FDA-regulated industry (food, biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical). Our grants cover the cost of training and mentoring the apprentice. If a mentor is not available within the host company, MEIRxRS will identify one.
The Quality Apprenticeship program helps businesses in multiple ways. Apprentices can help the company achieve a business objective. Currently, apprentices are helping small companies to comply with Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations. Others are helping food companies pass third-party certification audits required to land new customers. To see apprentices in action watch the video on our FSMA page or read Four Ways to Use Apprentices to Improve Food Quality.
The apprenticeship program is designed to help military veterans, mothers returning to work, recent graduates and people coming off disability (such as cancer survivors) to return to the workforce.
