MI’s Gardner Carrick Testifies Before Senate HELP Committee on Improving Registered Apprenticeships
Washington, D.C. (November 5, 2025) – Today, Manufacturing Institute Chief Program Officer Gardner Carrick testified before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for a hearing on “Registered Apprenticeship: Scaling the Workforce for the Future.”
In his testimony, Carrick illustrated the ongoing workforce challenges facing manufacturers—who face a potential shortage of 3.8 million workers by 2033—and shared the opportunities to strengthen and streamline the federal Registered Apprenticeship program and success stories from the MI’s Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME USA) program.
Photo Credit: Joshua Roberts
Watch the video of the full committee hearing here
In his opening remarks, Carrick iterated to the committee:
“Registered Apprenticeship has the opportunity to play a significant role in the growth and scaling of the apprenticeship model in manufacturing. But the program must be
value added, which in manufacturing means it must be employer-led, offer a sensible balance between benefits and costs and support the infrastructure needs of our education partners to deliver the skills and competencies that manufacturers are actually asking for.
“We know apprenticeship works. I see it every time I look at the FAME outcomes. I hear it every time I listen to companies … describe their success. And I feel it every time I visit with FAME students as they describe how it has changed their lives.”
Read Carrick’s full written testimony here.
BACKGROUND
In July, the MI—the workforce development and education affiliate of the NAM—released “Manufacturing America’s Talent,” its workforce blueprint to modernize the federal workforce system and expand employer-led apprenticeship opportunities, which includes key recommendations that would improve the federal Registered Apprenticeship program.
-The MI-
The Manufacturing Institute works to build and strengthen the manufacturing workforce for individual opportunity, community prosperity and a competitive manufacturing industry for the future, through implementing groundbreaking programs, convening industry leaders and conducting innovative research. As the 501(c)3 nonprofit workforce development and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers, the MI is a trusted adviser to manufacturers, equipping them with solutions to address the toughest workforce issues. For more information on the MI, please visit www.themanufacturinginstitute.org.