Everett pre-apprenticeship program preps youth for manufacturing jobs

Published 1:30 am Saturday, May 23, 2026

EVERETT — Gavin Comer is ready to start building airplanes.

He, along with seven others under age 24, is about to complete a specialized training program that will give him a fast-track route to a possible manufacturing job at Boeing, a job he couldn’t imagine himself doing before he began working at a new pre-apprenticeship class just a few months earlier.

The classes were offered by the Machinists Institute, an educational nonprofit established by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751, the union that represents manufacturing workers across the aerospace industry, including around 33,000 Boeing employees in Washington.

The pre-apprenticeship programs — which the nonprofit is now offering in Everett for the first time out of a newly built three-story facility near Paine Field — are 12-week courses teaching manufacturing, welding or mechanic skills. The goal is to get people apprenticeships and eventually full-time careers making journeyman wages.

All of those who took part in the program’s first cohort were selected by a cadre of local nonprofits that identified young people aged 18 to 24 who were out of school, out of work and lacked access to traditional systems of support.

Kendra Reiser, a program manager at the nonprofit the Seattle Jobs Initiative, said the goal of the program was to offer a pathway to steady employment that opportunity youth — those age 16 to 24 who are neither employed or in school — could take advantage of.

“This is exactly the foot in the door that they need and want to head toward that pathway of economic self-sufficiency,” Reiser said in an interview Thursday.

For those who finish the 12-week course, the nonprofit also offers a four-week specialized training program that, when completed, allows people to apply to Boeing while skipping the traditional interview process.

Kim Dove, who leads the Boeing Mentorship Program for the Machinists Institute, said that the Boeing-approved program takes months out of the hiring process for prospective workers and helps Boeing get qualified candidates quicker.

“It takes a lot of the guesswork out of it for the Boeing Company,” Dove said.

The nonprofit is not just focused on getting workers to a single company, however. The skills are transferable to positions in both the public and private sector, said Herman Calzadillas, a regional director of operations at the Machinists Institute.

This first cohort graduating from the pre-apprenticeship program received additional support from local nonprofits like Cocoon House, which provided the students with wraparound support services and funding for transportation and clothing. Three of the students taking part said they heard about the opportunity through WorkSource, a statewide job placement program.

“I gained a lot of growth and development of my mindset and appreciation for things around me, and patience, and a deeper insight into how the world is built,” said Kai Walker, a student in the cohort.

The program was offered to students free of charge.

“I had thought about machining a bit, but I didn’t think it was going to be something I’d be able to afford, to take classes and actually learn skills to do that,” said Zach Moore, another participant in the program.

Reiser, along with the Machinists Institute, hopes to continue offering the program to young people in need of opportunities, but that’s dependent on finding funding. The eight students who took part in this pre-apprenticeship program did so thanks to a medley of donations and grants from various nonprofits, philanthropists and private companies.

Another group of students will begin the next 12-week course in June. The program is not open to applications from the general public, rather the students are referred to the Machinists Institute from local nonprofits serving youth in need.

“It’s very much tied to funding,” Calzadillas said. “We want this to always be free.”

Jacob Barrus, who teaches the pre-apprenticeship course at the institute, said the students had a “light in their eyes” when they realized they discovered something they could do for a living.

“It’s awesome to be able to help them because I see myself in them, I was in a similar situation when I was younger,” Barrus said. “Being able to help the 18-year-old version of me get a leg up in life just feels amazing.”

Comer said that before he took part in the program, he didn’t feel he had a chance at success, having just spent a few months in jail. But now, a week away from completing his class and hoping for a new job at Boeing, he can finally picture himself working in that factory.

“Ever since I’ve been here,” Comer said. “I really see a future for myself.”

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.