Jesse

LemmonMade Butcher Shop | Lemmon

Apprenticeship Program: Butcher/Meat Cutter

Jesse, initially hired to assist with clean-up and other basic shop duties at LemmonMade Butcher Shop, became the first apprentice for the shop in the summer of 2019. Jesse had experience at various part-time and minimum wage positions but little idea of what he wanted to do long-term. As a new father, the sole source of income for his family and a justice- involved individual, he had a few barriers to employment. He was eligible for funding for On-the-Job Training (OJT) through the Department of Labor and Regulation and began OJT on Aug. 1, 2019. Jesse excelled at learning new tasks and assisted with finding new resources for related instruction. Soon Jesse was going above and beyond the training plan to include his own recipes for retail products.

In late October, members of Workforce Development and a representative from the U.S. DOL Office of Apprenticeship toured the LemmonMade facility and met with Jesse and the owner, Carl. The two prepared lunch using the shop’s products and demonstrated what Jesse had learned in his apprenticeship. Jesse exceeded Carl’s expectations; he referred to Jesse as “the wizard” when it came to the butchering process.

Jesse completed his OJT in November 2019 and was on track to complete the hours for his apprenticeship the following summer. In early 2020,  Jesse reached Journeyman status and LemmonMade has since requested the apprenticeship be switched from hours-based to competency-based.

LemmonMade Butcher Shop’s apprenticeship program has proven so successful they are growing rapidly and busy scouting new opportunities to expand.