The manager of an Iowa apprenticeship program says there’s more demand for skilled workers than his program that trains plumbers, welders and technicians who work on heating and air conditioning systems can supply.

That’s Jason Shanks, the training director for the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 33 in Des Moines. The apprenticeship program he runs lasts five years and the cost for the apprentice is only 200 dollars a year, plus a contractor hires that apprentice as a “helper” and they earn a paycheck.

There are 753 apprenticeship programs registered with the State of Iowa today. Duane Boswell of Iowa-based T-M-C Transportation says his employee-owned company started a “heavy truck” apprenticeship program in the early 1990s and today there are a thousand drivers enrolled.