NoVA Industry Leaders Among Appointees To Labor Department Apprenticeship Committee

NORTHERN VIRGINIA — Two industry officials from Northern Virginia were selected to serve on the newly reinstated U.S. Department of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships.

The advisory committee will provide advice and recommendations on registered apprenticeships to U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and seek to promote greater awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships.

Among the 29 members recently appointed to the advisory committee were Jonathan Adelstein, president and CEO of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, of Arlington, and Carolyn Holmes Lee, executive director of The Manufacturing Institute, of McLean.

Adelstein and Lee will serve two-year terms as employer representatives on the committee.

From 2002 to 2009, Adelstein served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. He then served as the administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service in 2009. The Wireless Infrastructure Association represents more than 200 companies in the wireless broadband facilities sector.

“I will leverage our experience in workforce development in the high-growth telecommunications industry to support the Advisory Committee’s mission," Adelstein said in a statement Wednesday. "Thank you, Secretary Walsh, for recognizing the value of telecommunications apprenticeship.”

The Manufacturing Institute is the workforce and education partner of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Lee said in a statement Wednesday that as manufacturers nationwide work to fill a record number of open jobs, “we know that apprenticeship opportunities play an important role in closing the skills gap and launching well-paying careers for more Americans.”

The committee will hold public meetings to explore apprenticeship priorities in the upcoming year. Agenda topics will include diversity, inclusion and equity in apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, youth apprenticeships, and expansion into new industries. The first meeting was held Oct. 6.

The Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships has a balanced representation of employers, labor organizations and members of the public.

President Joe Biden announced the relaunch of the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship in February, and the department began seeking nominations in May 2021.