The purchase has been under negotiation for some months following the announced withdrawal by RMIT from apprentice training in Victoria, and comes as Printing Industries had been advising employers of apprentices to hold off signing any apprentice training transfer applications that have been circulated to printers with staff on RMIT courses now run by private training organisation CLB.
Bill Healey, CEO, Printing Industries says, “This is an integral component in building a workforce development strategy for the printing industry with an initial focus on Victoria because of the situation created by RMITs pending 2013 withdrawal from apprenticeship training.”
Healey says, “Intech will become a strategic asset for the industry with the scope of the programs it offers evolving over time to reflect the changing needs of printing businesses. This will allow us to provide accredited training around the country.”
Garry Cobbledick, managing director, CLB told Australian Printer, “CLB congratulates the PIAA on its acquisition of Intech Australia, the IPMG print training business, and endorses its motivations for entering the industry. However, with this acquisition the PIAA has now become a competitor in the print training market and has lost its independent voice. The peak body has become partisan. It now faces a major conflict of interest as it cannot be a player and an umpire in the same game. Any pronouncements the PIAA now makes about training need to be seen as the partisan pronouncements of a player fighting for market share and profit, just like every other player in the market.”
Former chief executive of PrintNZ, the peak industry association for the New Zealand printing industry, Joan Grace will head Intech as general manager of education, employment and training, she is currently focusing on working with the Victoria Government to have funding for apprenticeship training in 2013.
Grace says, “We have also completed all the requirements with the Australian Skills Qualifications Authority (ASQA) accrediting body.”
She says that negotiations were well advanced for arrangements to provide the Intech RTO with access to highly qualified trainers across Australia – including Victoria.
Gary Bender, current general manager, Intech, will be responsible for apprentices in Queensland
Intech was established in 1988 by IPMG company Inprint to initially deliver a high technology training module for all print machining apprentices in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Northern New South Wales.
It became an RTO in 2001 and expanded its role in the development and delivery of in-house training for apprentices, staff and clients of IPMG, and the general printing industry.
Bender believes the sale would build Intech’s enterprise focused operation into an industry specific and industry owned Registered Training Organisation.
He says, “The acquisition of Intech will enable the industry to take greater control of its own future and develop its own industry-specific RTO with a co-ordinated approach to raising the standards of vocational education and training nationally.”
Bender says, “Since its inception, Intech has established and built a reputation as Australia’s leading national registered and accredited private provider of education and training for the printing industry and was perfectly positioned to transition into industry ownership.”
Cobbledick says, “For apprentices and employers considering their future, a number of key questions still remain. Firstly, having warned apprentices against signing up with CLB last week, can the PIAA now confirm that it is taking apprenticeship enrolments in Victoria? If so, what is the price for the apprenticeship programs, and what is the delivery model? Also, how many full time employed trainers does the PIAA have in Victoria, and where will the training occur?”
He says “Based on our review of government websites, the PIAA still has no funding contracts in Victoria and will not be able to offer cost competitive apprenticeship programs for many months to come, if at all.”
“CLB reiterates its offer to the PIAA to work together for the benefit of the industry as a whole. We look forward to working constructively with everyone who is committed to the future of print training in Australia.” Cobbledick concludes
Printing Industries is also launching a new job service seeking to match employers with potential apprentices and will run off a new website recently launched as part of the Apprenticeship Advisor and Mentoring program.
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