ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓPresident and CEO Mike Bellaman made a live appearance on Fox Business Network's "Varney & Co." show on October 17th. The one-on-one interview focused on the U.S. Department of Labor's Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion that Bellaman was appointed to the day before.ÌýWatch a clip of Bellaman's appearanceÌýhere.

ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓis now accepting nominations for the 2017 Craft Professional of the Year and Craft Instructor of the Year awards. ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓmembers, employees and chapter staff may submit a nomination by the Jan. 6, 2017 deadline. If you know of someone who works hard, makes a difference in the industry and embodies the merit shop philosophy, enter them into the competition and they could walk away with the top title and a hefty grand prize.

In order to successfully define and implement workforce development initiatives to best serve ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓmembers, contractors are invited to take part in a new survey related to training. Three randomly selected participants will be awarded $500 American Express gift cards once the survey is closed.

The Intent to Compete forms for the 2015 National Craft Championships are now available online for ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓmembers and chapters who think their apprentices and craft trainees have what it takes to win the national title of ABC’sÌý craft champions. The competition will take place March 3-6 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Intent to Compete forms are due by Dec. 1, 2014.The 2015 competition will feature the following crafts:

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law July 22 and has the potential to create great opportunities for ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓmembers who have been looking for skilled workers to fill the labor shortage. Here’s how it directly affects ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓmembers: