Parkland College Announces New Logistics Training Program in Partnership with Caterpillar in Champaign

Parkland College partners with Caterpillar for new logistics training apprenticeship program

[NOTE: This is the corrected version of the original release from 2/23/22.]

Parkland College announced a new apprenticeship program in collaboration with Caterpillar Integrated Logistics Center, a provider of integrated supply chain solutions.

The program aims to upskill entry-level warehouse associates and prepare them for advancement opportunities within the industry by combining on-the-job learning and mentoring in Caterpillar logistics centers with classroom instruction provided by Parkland.

"Parkland College is pleased to partner with Caterpillar in this work-based learning program," said Derrick Baker, dean of Career and Technical Education. "We have been impressed by Caterpillar's desire to put a program in place that will provide such a great benefit to the community. Workforce development is an important part of our mission, and Parkland looks forward to more opportunities to assist employers by developing these kinds of 'earn while you learn' programs to expand employers' talent pipelines, increase employee retention, and open doors of opportunity for the local community."

The apprenticeship program launches in late March. Apprentices will work full-time at CAT while taking related courses at Parkland. Classroom time is included in the employees' work hours, and they will be compensated for that time. Four courses comprise the related training instruction portion of the program and the 10 credit hours earned throughout the apprenticeship apply toward Parkland's Business Management Associate in Applied Science degree. Caterpillar will cover all educational expenses for their apprentices.