LCPS and Crown Manufacturing announce recipients of Youth Apprenticeship Program

Thursday, June 10th, Crown Manufacturing, and Lenoir County Public Schools announced that Gavin Pittman, Connor MacIntosh, Austin Rivenbark, and Elijah Stroud are the 2021 recipients of the Youth Apprenticeship Program. 

These young men are finishing up the last one or two years of their high school education and will be simultaneously participating in the apprenticeship program. During the program, they will begin their training for Crown Manufacturing and by doing so, are guaranteed a position once they complete the apprenticeship. 

They also have the opportunity to attend Lenoir Community College on full scholarship, if they decide that’s the path for them. Nonetheless, they will have the opportunity to work full-time at Crown. 

“What it means is a career pathway for our students. They realize there are very good jobs within the community and they don’t have to move to another community to be successful in life,” said Rosemary Jones, the HR Director for Crown’s Kinston facility.

Jones and other Crown employees worked hand in hand with LCPS officials to turn this dream into reality.

Jones said, “This started with a meeting and some ideas about how we can grow the community and the employment base, how we can engage students to become interested in manufacturing, and because of people like Brent Williams it became possible.” 

Brent Williams stated that “As a public school system this partnership represents everything we seek to do and that’s to prepare our young people for the future.” 

The future is what recipient Elijah Stroud was thinking about when he applied for the apprenticeship. 

Stroud, a rising junior at South Lenoir high school said, “This is a big opportunity to help me go to school in the future.” 

This is the second class of apprentices this program has accepted, but the third year of the partnership with LCPS. Due to the pandemic, last year's program was put on hold.

Stroud mentioned that his class of recruits came out to the facility and began the application process two years ago, but the process was delayed.

Despite setbacks, these young men completed an interview process and were welcomed onto the Crown’s team. They began their first week of training this past Monday.