Enrollment FAQs
At this time, the Iowa Wine Growers Association cannot match potential apprentices with sponsoring employers (ie. wineries). Each sponsoring employer is responsible for hiring his or her own employees and determining among those employees who shall participate in the registered apprenticeship program. Applicants must also meet the minimum requirements set forth for this registered apprenticeship program. For further explanation on these requirements, see SECTION IV: QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPRENTICESHIP on page 2 of the IWGA Standards of Apprenticeship.
If you are interested in finding IWGA Member Wineries near you, we have a map available here.
I’m a potential apprentice interested in the registered apprenticeship program, how do I sign up?
I was laid off from my job due to our location closing. Do you provide support?
If you are a dislocated worker or have lost employment through no fault of your own, there are programs and assistance available to you through the IowaWORKS program.
For additional information on this assistance program, contact us at apprenticeship@iowawinegrowers.org and we will connect you with the IowaWORKS specialist in your area. Please note: this is not an endorsement for, nor is a program affiliated with the IWGA.
I’m a winery owner/representative and have an apprentice candidate I’m interested in enrolling in the registered apprenticeship program, how do I sign up?
At this time, the Iowa Wine Growers Association cannot match potential apprentices with sponsoring employers (ie. wineries), however, there are programs and assistance available to you as an employer through the IowaWORKS program. This program will provide you with pre-screened and qualified candidates and the assistance needed to support these workers through the duration of the registered apprenticeship program, including reimbursement for education, transportation, tools or dependent care costs incurred during the worker’s on-the-job training and instructional hours.
For additional information on this assistance program, contact us at apprenticeship@iowawinegrowers.org and we will connect you with the IowaWORKS specialist in your area. Please note: this is not an endorsement for, nor is this a program affiliated with the IWGA.
No, it is a requirement that all sponsoring employers must be current IWGA members in good standings through the duration of their participation in the IWGA registered apprenticeship program. Learn more about IWGA membership.
Can I enroll as a sponsoring employer without being a member of the Iowa Wine Growers Association?
No, we will accept sponsoring employers and apprentices outside the state of Iowa, as long as the sponsoring employer is a current member of the Iowa Wine Growers Association in good standings.
Do the sponsoring employer and/or apprentice need to reside in the state of Iowa?
Because this is the first cellar worker and wine maker registered apprenticeship program in our state and the first of its kind as a state association sponsored program, current winemakers in our industry wishing to receive their Cellar Worker or Wine Maker certification have a one-time opportunity to be “grandfathered” into the program based on a combination of experience and education. This does not mean that these “grandfathered” wine makers or cellar workers do not have to receive any additional on-the-job training or educational hours to fulfill the requirements, it simply means that their experience and education in the current industry will be taken into account when reviewing their prior credit checklist. All apprentices MUST be enrolled as a registered apprentice in our system for a minimum of 6 months, whether they’re being grandfathered into the program or not.
I’m a current winemaker and have many years of experience, but I would still like to receive a certification so that I can hire an apprentice in the future. Can I be “grandfathered” in or bypass the education and training requirements?
We are offering two occupations in our program, cellar worker and wine maker. At this time we’re only offering the cellar worker program and will begin accepting apprentices into the wine maker program once the first apprentice has successfully completed the cellar worker program and received his or her certification.
The term of training for the cellar worker program is one year with an on-the-job learning obtainment of 2,000 hours in addition to approximately 185 hours of educational instruction. These required experience and educational hours for the cellar worker program will be applied as the first year of the wine maker program, which requires an additional 2,000 hours and additional educational hours in the second year of training and education.
I see that there are two occupations in this program – cellar worker and wine maker. Can I enroll in both or individually?
No, there is no fee required or associated with enrolling in this form.
Is there a fee associated with the Employer Participation Agreement form?
Yes, there is a $25 fee associated with this form to offset administration costs.
Is there a fee associated with the Apprentice Enrollment Application Form?
Who pays for this fee?
The apprentice and sponsoring employer are responsible for coming to an agreement on who pays for the apprenticeship enrollment fee.
Once you have received approval as a sponsoring employer through the IWGA Registered Apprenticeship Program, your apprentice is then able to complete and submit the apprenticeship program application, which the sponsoring employer needs to also sign. This form is sent in to the IWGA office and the IWGA Apprenticeship Training Committee will review and notify both the apprentice and the sponsoring employer within 45 days of approval.
After I’ve submitted my Employer Participation Agreement form, what do I do next?
The winery employer will be assigned a Program ID for RAPIDS (Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Data System) and this ID will be given to the program administrator at IWGA. RAPIDS is a Federal system which provides automated collection, retention, updating, retrieval and summarization of information related to Apprentices education and on-the-job training progress. The IWGA Registered Apprenticeship Program’s Administrator will be responsible for communicating with sponsoring employers and apprentices to report all activity and progress in RAPIDS.
Apprentices and sponsoring employers will also be placed on the IWGA Registered Apprenticeship and Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute (MGWII) contact list. Once you’ve been added to this list, we will be in contact with you regarding upcoming course and instructional workshop opportunities to fulfill the educational requirements.