Visual Connections has officially launched its newly expanded careers program, Sign & Print Career Connections.
The program is a collaborative venture that from 2024 will see Visual Connections and ASGA joined by FESPA Australia, the Flexible Packaging & Label Makers Association (FPLMA), the Lithographic Institute of Australia (LIA) and the Visual Media Association (VMA).
The program aims to attract new talent to the industry by providing advice and support to students, parents, teachers and careers advisors, and by involving Years 10, 11 and 12 students in trade shows, try-a-trade activities, careers expos and industry taster days.
The careers program has been running for more than 10 years with a focus solely on the sign and graphics sector, with Visual Connections and the Australian Sign & Graphics Association (ASGA) working with Australian Schools Industry Partnership (AusSIP) to design, pilot and deliver the program.
Its outstanding success in growing apprentice numbers in that sector – enrolments in the Certificate III for Sign & Graphics grew from just over 200 in 2015 to more than 700 in 2023 – has provided ample proof of its effectiveness, leading to an approach from Visual Connections to other associations to expand its benefits to the entire sector including general and commercial print, labels and packaging, wide-format digital, textile printing, signage, display, engraving, routing and graphics.
The program is also supported by a growing number of industry sponsors, including Amari Visual Solutions, Ball & Doggett, Cactus Imaging, FUJIFILM Graphic Systems, Graphic Art Mart, Mulford Plastics, ORAFOL, Pozitive Sign & Graphics Supplies, Signarama, Starleaton, Böttcher, FPLMA and MacDermid Graphic Solutions are partner sponsors.
Visual Connections CEO Peter Harper said the expansion was a ‘no brainer’, and the new name and brand is designed to provide a clear, strong identity under which all partners can unite.
“It’s great to end 2023 with this collaboration well underway, a new visual identity launched, and our plans for the 2024 program already taking shape,” he stated. “We thank our sponsors for their generous support, and are also grateful to our partners for the value they are already adding to the initiative. We look forward to expanding the reach and benefits of the program to the whole sector in 2024, and to making a real contribution to attracting vital new talent to our industry.”
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