Drafting apprentices in Orange have to travel to Sydney for one day every week to complete their TAFE course.
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Orange business Trang Imagineering and Central West Group Apprentices (CWGA) have joined forces to encourage TAFE to run the course in Orange, which they believe will give businesses more of an opportunity to employ drafting apprentices.
David Finlay from Trang said it was "almost logistically impossible" to send an apprentice to TAFE in Sydney every Monday and have them back in Orange for work on Tuesday morning.
"There's a fair bit involved in spending a day a week at Ultimo, especially for someone straight out of year 12. It would certainly be more appealing to myself as an employer if the course was available here," he said.
Mr Finlay said CWGA, the Department of State and Regional Development and TAFE had shown interest in organising the course in Orange during a Skills Summit held last week.
He believes other local businesses would be interested in putting on a drafting apprentice if it was simpler for them.
"Group apprentices will work as an independent adviser to see if they can find commitment from employers to put on 10 apprentices in the region and they will take that to TAFE. Certainly in Orange there is a shortage of people and the pool of drafting resources doesn't seem to be growing," he said.
Any businesses interested in putting on a drafting apprentice should contact CWGA.
