Monroe County and UNiCON Rochester have teamed up to support local workforce development in honor of National Apprenticeship Week. 

In the Greater Rochester area, there are 15 local building and construction trade unions that provide apprenticeships where people receive classroom and on-the-job experience. 

It's something that Dave Young, the head of the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, says helped lift him and his family out of poverty. 

"I remember when I was a younger person, before I was in an apprenticeship program. I had no health care, no idea how I'd retire. I'd have to go beg the boss for a ten or fifteen cent raise," Young said. "I finally had an opportunity to get into an apprenticeship program and it was amazing."

The Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers' Local Union 48 will host an open house on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at its location at 244 Paul Road in Rochester. It starts at 5 p.m. 

There will also be an open house for educators to learn what construction trades can offer students. It's at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Rochester Training Center on Jetview Drive. That goes from 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2018.