TOWN AND COUNTRY — Government contractor Accenture Federal Services said Tuesday that new apprenticeship and training programs will help it staff up its new Advanced Technology Center in west St. Louis County.
Arlington, Virginia-based Accenture Federal Services, a subsidiary of global consulting firm Accenture, announced last year it had chosen St. Louis for its new regional office that is slated to employ as many as 1,400 people by 2025. The “preponderance†of those hires will be recruited locally, said Ali Bokhari, who heads the company’s advanced technology centers.
About 200 people have already been hired for the St. Louis office that opened in February at 520 Maryville Drive, said company spokeswoman Donna Savarese.
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Accenture hopes about 30 to 40 people will move through the new apprenticeship and training programs each year, giving them an inside track to a job at the company but also making them attractive to other firms, Bokhari said.
“What’s important to us is they’re employable,†he said.
The program is modeled after a similar training program at Accenture Federal Services’ San Antonio office — which, along with St. Louis, serves as one of its major Advanced Technology Centers, Bokhari said.
The company plans to hire about 200 people in the first year and move into an office near Maryville University by December.Â
A 12-week apprenticeship-in-training program, which will feature skills training from the company, will try to recruit dislocated and lower-income people. will help recruit people for the program in partnership with the nonprofit Family and Workforce Centers of America, which helps manage the county-owned Metropolitan Employment and Training Center in Wellston.
Those that meet eligibility requirements can earn wages while in the program, paid through a U.S. Department of Labor grant.
“We’re able to pay while they gain technological skills,†said Carolyn Seward, CEO of Family and Workforce Centers of America.
Those interested can call the county job center at NorthWest Crossing in St. Ann at 314-615-6010 to check their eligibility.
Bokhari said the people who would qualify for the program are often missed by traditional corporate recruitment efforts.
“You are getting a demographic that really needs this more than anyone else,†he said.
The MET Center, an anchor in one of the region’s poorest communities, could be key to addressing the region’s current shortage of skilled workers.
That locally run program will help funnel graduates to Accenture Federal Services’ one-year, salaried apprenticeship program, which will also recruit veterans and others without a four-year college degree. Accenture Federal Services officials have said St. Louis’ concentration of defense employers lends itself to a workforce the company finds attractive.
If it meets hiring targets, the company will be eligible for up to $20.2 million in retained state withholding taxes through the Missouri Works program. AFS will also receive $219,000 through the Missouri One Start program for training and recruitment assistance. It’s also getting a 50% break on local personal property taxes and sales taxes on new equipment purchases.