The Missouri Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (MBFAA) recently enrolled four apprentices into the Fire/Life Safety and Electronic Security Technician Apprenticeship Program. This apprenticeship program, titled “Fire/Life Safety and Electronic Security Technician,” is a four-year program that provides for 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and 700 hours of Academic Study. The MBFAA Apprenticeship standards were approved by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship and Training Employer and Labor Services.
 
Apprentices are provided and sponsored by MBFAA member companies. The apprenticeship program provides many benefits for both the employer and apprentice. For employers some of the benefits are: Continuing education that maintains skill levels for employees, imparting the knowledge and skills of experienced workers to new employees, and an advantage when recruiting and retaining a high-quality workforce. For the apprentice/employee, benefits include: A rewarding career with well-paid, skilled employment and quality post-secondary education with the ability to earn college credit.

Kurt Canova, president of the MBFAA Unilateral Apprenticeship and Training Committee (UTAC) stated, “One of the biggest challenges our industry has faced is the lack of a standard for training fire/life safety and security technicians. The Electronic Security Association provided the Missouri Chapter the opportunity to adopt and implement these training standards. After the MBFAA board of directors reviewed the standards we felt that this was the opportunity to provide a solution to this long-standing issue. More importantly, we felt that for life safety and security systems, it was the only solution to ensure that these systems are being properly installed and maintained given the elevation of technology and codes in our industry.”
 
The MBFAA UTAC, which is made up of five committee members, performs oversight of the apprenticeship program. Its current members are:

President: Kurt Canova, Tech Electronics
Vice president: Bob Scales, Safeguard Alarms
Vice president: Nick Barrack, Central Security and Electric Inc.
Secretary: Brian Modglin, Interface Security Systems
Treasurer: Joe Polizzi, ABF Security

To learn more about the MBFAA Apprenticeship Program, call the MBFAA Apprenticeship Program training director, Leroy Ginther, at 314-951-1738.