Through ongoing assessments of communities around the country, research shows that inner city residents of the urban cities and surrounding areas are lacking the education, skills, and training to get better job opportunities and create economic welfare. A solid way to improve job awareness and opportunity is to provide a foundation of training and potential job placement in the technological and building industries. The Allied Information Technology & Engineering Union (A.I.T.E.) has partnered with businesses and community organizations to act as the avenue of the apprenticeship program specific to training and representing the inner city residents. Businesses, professionals and affiliates will sponsor/administer the Apprenticeship Training Program for the Information Technology and Engineering industry.

Allied Information Technology & Engineering Union (A.I.T.E.) along with strategic partnerships and business affiliates will:

The Step-Up Program will provide participants job opportunities in the technological industry as potential network engineers, database engineers, electrical engineers, low-voltage engineers, computer repair technicians, LAN/WAN administrators, web-developers, software developers, helpdesk system analysts, and other related IT (information technology) positions. The apprenticeship program will include work-based activities such as structured wiring, smart and energy efficient integration techniques, network administration, and computer basics and repair. School-based activities will include a comprehensive curriculum of classes, which includes introduction to computers, an overview of technologies, application software, keyboarding, computer repair, operating system configurations, and helpdesk and network technologies.

Step-Up utilizes a technology-specific training phase to provide a broad range of work experiences to participants. Apprentices may be employed on any worksite requiring information technology skills. A.I.T.E. strives to established relationships with public and private entities that sponsor and contribute to the program so that Apprentices can be referred to their businesses for on the job training/employment opportunities. AITE is also continuously looking to aligned themselves with entities that have the same passion to educate in their communities. Our training programs in the past have aided organizations to become more eligible for educational and job training funding sources. These groups have even become capable of organizing a viable training curriculum. The digital divide has become a more important part of education and more of a concern for our government on the city, state, and federal level. This is a major advantage for receiving funding for programs. One Major benefit of our training programs is that a union is able to provide job training certifications for a student while actually performing on the job; therefore giving real work experience. The A.I.T.E. Union are also professionals in providing a speaking voice for specific trades as well as organizing and unifying people to agree on health benefits welfare and wages in order to secure work and continue working on projects in the communities. This is a proven process that far exceeds the conventional classroom training due to the hands-on training.

We practice our strong belief in helping to provide every opportunity in Information Technology and Engineering industry to urban cities and surrounding area residents. Enriching a community with more educational opportunities has a positive impact on its’ economy. This would lead to the inevitable growth of a community by improving their financial and educational capacity which constitutes higher property values, product awareness, decline in crime, consumer and business growth, and a more secure future for our children.