Case Study · Registered Apprenticeship
Elite Apprenticeship Academy
How one Wichita electrical contractor built a state-registered, IRS-recognized apprenticeship and placed 22 apprentices in about six months.
The Challenge
In late 2025, Elite Electric Company LLC, a Wichita, Kansas electrical contractor, faced the problem most of the industry faces: a journeyman shortage that was capping its backlog. Hiring trained electricians off the open market was slow and expensive. The cleanest path was to train apprentices internally, but no one inside the company knew how to navigate the legal, instructional, compliance and recruiting work needed to register a federally recognized apprenticeship program.
That's how Elite Apprenticeship Academy, Inc. was formed: a 501(c)(3) workforce-development nonprofit built to sponsor a registered electrical apprenticeship for Elite Electric and the broader Wichita electrical trade.
What Got Built in About Six Months
Layer by layer, from nothing to a registered program.
- Legal entity
- Kansas 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Articles of incorporation, bylaws, conflict-of-interest, whistleblower and document-retention policies adopted and on file.
- IRS recognition
- Form 1023-EZ filed and approved. Determination letter on file. Donations are tax-deductible and the program is eligible for federal and state workforce grants.
- State registration
- Kansas Office of Apprenticeship review complete, with a Kansas Apprenticeship Council-approved Affirmative Efforts Plan. State sponsor registration issued in RAPIDS.
- Curriculum
- Four-year program: 8,000 on-the-job learning hours and 576 hours of related technical instruction, aligned to the IEC Electrical Apprenticeship Curriculum. Level 1-4 academic calendar and lab manuals built.
- Apprentices placed
- 22 registered electrical apprentices, all employed by Elite Electric Company LLC, with apprenticeship agreements signed and filed with the state.
- Funding
- Workforce-center billing set up for each apprentice. First grant won: Wichita Wagonmasters Good Life Grants Fund. Active pipeline across state and federal workforce programs.
- Ongoing compliance
- Quarterly RAPIDS reporting cadence, annual conflict-of-interest disclosures, and current board governance.
The Numbers
About 6 months
From incorporation to registered sponsor
Under 30 days
From registration to the first signed apprenticeship agreement
22
Registered apprentices placed in cohort 1
1
Grant won in year one (Wichita Wagonmasters Good Life Grants Fund)
5+
Active state and federal grant targets
Compliant
Apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio under Kansas standards
Figures as of May 2026.
What the Playbook Included
The same assets, customized for your state.
These are the assets Elite Apprenticeship Academy built, and the same assets an Apprenticeship OS cohort receives, customized for its state.
- Articles of incorporation, bylaws, board resolutions and organizational consent
- Conflict-of-interest, whistleblower, document-retention and sexual-harassment policies
- IRS Form 1023-EZ filing packet
- State Standards of Apprenticeship, customized
- Work process schedule and related-instruction outline
- Affirmative Efforts Plan
- Compliance checklist for state submission
- RAPIDS sponsor SOP and quarterly hours-reporting templates
- Apprentice application packet and apprentice handbook
- Participating employer sponsor agreement
- Four-year electrical curriculum: academic calendar, lab manual, syllabi and NEC mapping
- Recruiting and employer-outreach marketing assets
Grant availability, eligibility, amounts and reimbursement timelines vary by state and program and can change. Results described here reflect one program and are not a guarantee of results for any other program, including grant approval or grant amounts.