Louisville Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee
4315 Preston Hwy Ste 100
Louisville, Kentucky 40213
How It Started
The Louisville Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (LEJATC) was officially formed in November 1956 by a joint effort of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 369 and the Louisville Electrical Contractors Association (LECA), now the Louisville Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). The office was in the Columbia Building in downtown Louisville.
At this time the Program consisted of five years of electrician training and had about 145 apprentices. Classes were conducted at Ahrens Vocational School. One of the first actions of this newly formed Committee was to recognize the importance of registering all apprentices with the State and Federal Departments of Labor.
The LEJATC experienced a lot of growth in the early years. In August 1965, the apprenticeship office was moved to the Republic Building in downtown Louisville. In 1967, classes were moved to Englehard Vocational School. In 1968, the electrical program was changed to a four-year curriculum. In June 1975, classes were held at Detrick Vocational and in December of that same year, the apprenticeship office moved to the Nolan Building on Gardner Lane. In August 1977, classes were held at the Jefferson State Vocational Facility.
The Journey
In June 1984, after 28 years of using space at various vocational schools, the Louisville Electrical JATC purchased its own building at 1021 South Floyd Street. In 1988 the Program shifted from a four-year program back to five due to changing technology in the electrical construction industry. August 1998 brought the management of the Central Kentucky JATC (now known as the LEJATC Central Kentucky Campus) under the Louisville Electrical JATC authority.
In September 1999, the Program made the transition from a nighttime classroom schedule to a daytime schedule. Under this new schedule, apprentices would receive their related electrician training one day every other week for eight hours each day. This format is still used today.
In July 2002, the Program moved into its new 20,000-square-foot Training Facility at 4315 Preston Highway. In March 2012 construction of Annex 1 was complete and the the LEJATC began conducting training in its new 8,000-square-foot hands-on facility at the Louisville location.
In 2013 the LMS Blended Learning approach consisting of online coursework, interactive elements, and classroom training was incorporated into the program. This change allowed the JATC to further expand the scope and depth of the already top-of-the-line training to include even more hands-on experience.
In 2015 a new 10,000-square-foot training facility was added creating the LEJATC Central Kentucky Campus at Buck Place in Lexington.
In 2018 Annex 2 was completed on the Louisville Campus providing an additional 6,000 square feet of hands-on training space.
Today and Beyond…
Today the LEJATC serves 69 counties in Kentucky and 7 in Southern Indiana. We accomplish this from two campuses encompassing 44,000 square feet of training space divided across four buildings. We train over 400 apprentices per year, provide continuing education services to over 1,600 additional Qualified Electrical Workers, and support more than 40 Electrical Contractors.
The Educational Services span from the National Electrical Code to Medium Voltage Terminations and Splicing, Leadership Training to PLC Programming, Conduit Bending to Solar/Photovoltaics, and Copper/Fibers Systems to Electric Vehicle Charging (EVITP).
Our Instructional Staff is in a perpetual state of learning through attending multiple professional and technical courses every year. To stay abreast of emerging technologies, curriculum, and hands-on training areas are reviewed annually to keep relevant presentation methods, tools, and equipment in the hands of the students. The world is changing faster than ever, and we are determined to stay on the leading edge of that change.
Our passion for the electrical industry, dedication to our members, and an eye on emerging technologies allow us to remain where we have been for years…
…The Leaders of the Electrical Education and Training Industry!
