By Phoenix Angell
Submitted by Megan McBroom, Marketing Manager
Balzer & Associates recently announced that Phoenix Angell is the first person to complete the Survey Technician Apprenticeship Program in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Angell has been an apprentice in the Roanoke Land Surveying Department since 2018, all while also completing his high school courses in the Roanoke County Public School system.
Angell’s persistence and dedication to finishing his apprenticeship at Balzer & Associates exemplifies what the student registered apprenticeship program is all about: students getting a head start toward a great job, with a great employer who has taken time to grow their own employee from the ground up.
“Phoenix has opened the door of possibilities for himself, and we couldn’t be prouder,” said Jason Suhr Director, Career & Technical Education of Roanoke County Public Schools.
The apprenticeship program, sponsored by the Department of Labor and Industry, combines on the job training and related instruction to result in learning a skilled trade for students in high school.
The Survey Technician apprenticeship program requires 4,000 hours of on-the-job training and 144 hours of related instruction each year. The apprenticeship program is an important part of ensuring students have access to skilled trade careers and to support the future of the land surveying field.
Patricia Morrison, Director of the Division of Registered Apprenticeship at the Department of Labor and Industry, said, “The Department of Labor and Industry wishes to commend Balzer and Associates, the architecture, engineering, and surveying firm in Roanoke that has graduated the state’s first Youth apprentice as a Land Survey Technician. This important, intentional step by Balzer to include the region’s youth in their recruitment practices demonstrates a solution to the labor shortage problems.”
With many of the industry’s surveyors moving towards retirement, getting the next generation of surveyors, like Phoenix, into these careers is important. Land surveyors are integral to land development and their work supports projects all-across our communities.
