Interplay Launches Tech-Driven Apprenticeship Program
Interplay Learning has launched a Department of Labor-approved, technology-driven apprenticeship program that combines employers' on-the-job training with Interplay’s virtual classroom featuring video courses and 3D simulations, enabling skilled trades companies like Goodbee Plumbing and Camflo Heating and Cooling to efficiently train apprentices, improve workforce skills, and increase retention while reducing administrative burdens.
Approved by the Department of Labor, Interplay’s Apprenticeship Program combats the growing labor shortage and enables employers to join an apprenticeship program powered by Interplay’s technology.
Austin, Texas – February 15, 2023 — Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online and virtual reality training for the essential skilled trades, announced the availability of a technology-driven apprenticeship program for employers in the skilled trades. By joining Interplay Learning’s DOL Apprenticeship Program as a Participating Employer, companies can create a better-trained workforce and increase employee retention while eliminating the traditional complexities of managing their own formal apprenticeship program.
Employers continue to provide apprentices with on-the-job training (OJT), while Interplay’s digital training serves as the virtual classroom (Related Technical Instruction) portion of the apprenticeship program. By pairing on-the-job learning with Interplay’s video courses and immersive 3D simulations, apprentices receive a valuable and impactful experience. They gain new skills, learn effective troubleshooting, and get unlimited practice in a safe virtual environment using a desktop, laptop, tablet, or virtual reality headset.
Louisiana-based Goodbee Plumbing joined Interplay’s Apprenticeship Program and sees it as a pathway into the trades for young job seekers. Allison Harrison, co-owner of Goodbee Plumbing, said, “Interplay has created a pathway that makes apprenticeship accessible and achievable for someone who is running a full-time business. The curriculum, administrative burden, and everything else that comes with running a program are handled by them, allowing us to focus on training our team and building the next generation of workers.”
Indiana-based Camflo Heating and Cooling co-owner Titus Hess is giving his team the opportunity to work toward journeyman licenses. Hess said, “Interplay did a lot of the leg work so I could focus on teaching and growing our workers, and myself, to get better in this industry. We want to make sure our team has a path toward credentials and learning what they need to advance in their careers.”
Doug Donovan, founder and CEO of Interplay Learning, stated, “We’re thrilled to introduce our innovative, tech-forward approach to apprenticeship. With one of the first digital and off-the-shelf solutions for apprenticeships, we seek to eliminate the pain points existing today for employers, while also providing them with a powerful training solution to address the skills gap problem in the U.S. What has traditionally been complex and especially daunting for small and medium businesses, we have streamlined the process to set up an apprenticeship program and given contractors a tool to build a better-trained workforce.”
Interplay’s apprenticeship experts help participating employers build their apprenticeship model. As the Program Sponsor, Interplay offloads ongoing administrative management, including reporting monthly RTI, tracking apprentices’ ongoing engagement, and interacting with the DOL and state apprenticeship agencies on behalf of its Participating Employer partners. By participating in Interplay’s registered Apprenticeship Program, employers can also open opportunities for financial incentives and tax credits in many states.
Interplay Learning’s DOL-approved training courses provide all employers with a flexible way to teach Related Technical Instruction (RTI). Employers using Interplay training also have the option of starting their own apprenticeship program and leveraging Interplay’s expert guidance when navigating the complex requirements of a DOL-registered program.
As part of the company’s mission to provide equitable pathways to start careers in the skilled trades, Interplay Learning has signed the Business Pledge to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the U.S. Registered Apprenticeship System.
About Interplay Learning
Since 2016, Austin-based Interplay Learning has been building better training, better careers and better lives for its customers and their employees. Its award-winning online and VR training for the essential skilled trades, including HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Solar, Multi-Family Maintenance and Facilities Maintenance workforces, is scalable and more effective than traditional training methods. By leveraging immersive learning technology, Interplay’s customers are able to train and practice hands-on learning from a desktop, phone, tablet or in virtual reality. The result is a highly trained employee who is job-ready in weeks, not years. Its digital experiential learning platform, Interplay Learning, conveniently turns any space into a training lab with its short video courses, 3D simulations, knowledge checks, coaching, community, and connectivity. Recent accolades include recognition by Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards in the Education, General Excellence and On the Rise categories. Welcome to the next generation of the skilled labor workforce.
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