Kings Engineering recently hosted a special family day to welcome seven new apprentices and their families to the Rutherford-based company.
The Kings Family Day is a long-running way to celebrate new apprentices and provides a forum for their families to better understand the new role and to meet their colleagues and supervisors.
The day featured inductions, talks from senior leaders, site tours and an overview of support programs available to apprentices.
Kings General Manager Greg Hurney said the beginning of an apprenticeship is a major milestone in the life of young men and women.
“It’s one of the highlights of the year for the entire team at Kings and we all take great pleasure in helping them develop their skills as a tradesperson, and seeing them grow as young adults in our community,” he said.
“The new apprentices include two young locals - Sean Ayscough and Noah Ambrum – who entered the Kings Apprentice and Work Experience Initiative through the Youth Express KauKan program.
“KauKan is a Wonaruah word meaning ‘one who is able’ and the KauKan program helps support businesses and provide employment for Indigenous people. We’re delighted we can provide a meaningful employment pathway for local people and I’d like to thank Youth Express for helping us to do this,” Mr Hurney said.
“Kings is a wonderful local success story and we’re proud we can share the journey with these talented young apprentices.”
Lori Parish, Kaukan VTEC Program Manager said the relationship with Kings has given Kaukan VTEC participants the opportunity to secure a career and their dream job.
“These young Aboriginal men had a desire to secure an apprenticeship and therefore they are role models in their local community,” she said.
“Their success can inspire other young Aboriginal youth to succeed.”
The new apprentices welcomed at Rutherford are: Lauren Vanderclay – Electrician, Corey Gunn – Electrician, Cooper Owen - Plant Mechanic, Zane Folpp - Plant Mechanic, Noah Ambrum – Fitter, Sean Ayscough - Machinist, Brayden Hughes- Boilermaker, Dylan Walsh will also join Kings as a boiler maker at its Wallerawang operation.
Kings Engineering employs around 100 locals in the Hunter Valley and Lithgow regions. For more than 90 years the company has assisted the mining, transport, power, electrical, aluminium, agriculture, construction, rail, manufacturing and food processing industries.
