Celia-Marie Bartholomew heard about an apprenticeship with Stadler in her high school welding class. “At the time, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my future,” she told the Deseret News. “I wasn’t sure if college was the right path. But now, I’m on track to earn a degree while I’m getting professional work experience and, hopefully, have a job offer waiting for me at the end.”
By June 2026, she was nearing the end of a three-year apprenticeship at the Stadler Rail factory in Salt Lake City through the Talent Ready Apprenticeship Connection (TRAC). The program began in 2018 as Utah’s first youth apprenticeship, with Stadler as one of the founding partners. High school students split their senior year between classes and paid work at the plant, then earn an associate degree in advanced manufacturing at Salt Lake Community College, with Stadler paying tuition. Nearly 100 students have joined the program since 2019, and 13 of the 17 who signed on in April 2026 will be apprentices at Stadler.
“I’ve looked at apprenticeships across the country, and I don’t think there is anything that rivals what’s been created by Stadler for us in Utah in partnership with Talent Ready,” Salt Lake City School District Superintendent Liz Grant told the Utah Board of Higher Education in August 2024.
Photo Courtesy Salt Lake Community College…