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LARF apprentices not only have the advanced lecture benefits provided by CompTIA, but through the foundation’s partnership with local businesses looking to cultivate their IT department, apprentices can gain field experience through a mentor’s guidance.

In doing so, by the time an apprentice obtains their Computer Support Certification, they would’ve already completed about 12 months’ worth of on-the-job experience.

A three-way contract between foundation, student, and business, LARF’s apprenticeship program allows students to obtain a practically free education. The foundation and the companies with whom they’ve partnered fund the apprentice’s education while working hand in hand with the student to offer training and mentorship.

Companies primarily serve to benefit from this partnership as they invest in an apprentice who will come out of the program with not just their certification and on-the-site experience already in place but apprentices who come out of their training into a company whose inner workings they already know and are ready to work in.

This program especially assists businesses who seek potential staff through third-party sites such as Indeed, which charge their clients a service fee for providing them with candidates the company would need to invest the time to train (and quite possibly discover) is not a good fit. A LARF apprentice has worked with the company throughout their apprenticeship, so the company already has insight into that individual’s knowledge and work ethic.

Meeting with individuals within the VA advisory board, Borderplex Alliance, Region 19, and many others, LARF continues to work hard to spread the word about the benefits this apprenticeship program is set to have on the El Paso economy, from its pre-apprenticeships that works to extend the program into local high schools by offering students the opportunity to graduate with not just their diploma, but also with three weeks worth of training and an employer, to the boosting of the local economy by keeping trained IT specialists working for local business.

This program introduces a system into the city framework to strengthen IT certification, affordable training methods for potential employees, and enhance the staff retention rate for local businesses within the Borderland. The Language Acquisition Research Foundation is a group that strives to fulfill its mission statement. Develop, facilitate, and integrate language and technological processes into the community at large to advance and prepare individuals for future success.