U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer speaks to new apprentices at Micron Technology in Boise at a ceremony celebrating the first cohort of the company’s new workforce training program. (Laura Guido/Idaho Capital Sun)
U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer visited Boise-based Micron Technology on Wednesday to recognize the large semiconductor company’s first graduating class of its registered apprenticeship program.
The five young adults recognized were part of the inaugural class of an “earn while you learn” program at Micron, in which participants work in technician positions while earning either an approved technical certificate or two-year associate’s degree with their tuition paid for by Micron. Registered apprenticeships are industry-vetted and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency.
The company also formally accepted 22 people into the second cohort of the program.
Trump administration official praises Idaho Launch
Chavez-DeRemer and Idaho Gov. Brad Little highlighted the model of workforce development training as necessary to supply the state and nation with a skilled workforce.
“It’s been my mission to keep talking about the registered apprenticeships and keep expanding them into the new and high demand industries,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
She highlighted Idaho Launch, which the Legislature passed in 2023 and has been a centerpiece policy of Little’s tenure as governor. The grant program is available to graduating Idaho high school seniors to pay for higher education tuition or workforce training in careers deemed “high demand” by the Idaho Workforce Development Council.
“It really is something that I will take back to the president and through this country as something we don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “We just need to make sure that we’re duplicating what you all have had this success in doing.”
The grant program narrowly passed in the Idaho Legislature and has received criticism from many lawmakers in the Republican supermajority, who argue it is a “handout” and that funding beyond K-12 education goes beyond state government’s role.
James Byers, Micron corporate communications manager, told the Idaho Capital Sun that apprenticeship participants “may first apply to other private or public funding, such as Launch, and then Micron will pay the rest.”
The governor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment on whether Launch grants were used for the apprenticeship program.
Chavez-DeRemer highlighted the benefits of apprenticeships programs, citing her office’s statistic that on average, graduates of registered apprenticeships make around $11,000 more than recent college graduates.
“Congratulations on making that investment in yourselves,” she told the graduating class.
Chavez-DeRemer is a former one-term congresswoman from Oregon and mayor of the Portland suburb of Happy Valley. The U.S. Senate confirmed her as labor secretary in March.
Micron is investing $200 billion in expanding domestic manufacturing
The technology company, which is building a $15 billion semiconductor fabrication facility at its campus in southeast Boise, announced in June that it plans to spend another $30 billion to build a second memory fabrication plant, BoiseDev reported.
The Boise investments are part of a larger plan to spend $200 billion to expand the company’s domestic manufacturing, Micron Executive Vice President of Global Operations Manish Bhatia said Wednesday.
“This is the largest single investment announcement by any manufacturing company ever in the history of the United States,” Bhatia said.
He told the graduating and incoming apprentices that they would be key to the “AI revolution,” as many powerful artificial intelligence processors rely on semiconductors.
The federal government last year announced that Micron would receive $6.2 billion from the CHIPS Act, passed by Congress in 2022. Idaho’s entire congressional delegation voted against the act, arguing it included unrelated spending.
Idaho Capital Sun, like the Oregon Capital Chronicle, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: [email protected].
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