Yorktown Passes Apprenticeship Training Requirement To Bolster Local Workforce
By JOHN JORDAN
YORKTOWN, NY — The Town Board of Yorktown recently passed a law amending its Town Code to require contractors and subcontractors bidding on construction projects valued at more than $500,000 to have apprenticeship agreements in place.
The law, which passed the Town Board by a 4 to 1 vote, requires that the apprenticeship programs be appropriate for the type and scope of work to be performed and be registered with the New York State Commissioner of Labor. The town held a public hearing on the local law to amend Chapter 78 of the Code of the Town of Yorktown, entitled “Procurement for Goods and Services,” and later approved the measure on Aug. 5.
Yorktown Supervisor Ed Lachterman said he believes Yorktown is the first municipality in Westchester County to have such an apprenticeship training requirement. Edward Cooke, vice president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester & Putnam Counties, noted that Westchester County has apprenticeship language in its procurement policies, but he knows of no other locality to mandate apprenticeship training in Westchester. He said he hopes that other local governments will follow suit. Putnam County also has apprenticeship requirements as part of its bidding process.
Supervisor Lachterman, who was the sponsor of the legislation, said that the apprenticeship requirement came after discussions with several building trades representatives, including Mr. Cooke, Anthony Ascencao, business manager of Laborers Local 60, and Louis Picani, president of Teamsters Local 456, over an extended period of time.
“The apprenticeship programs not only provide paid on the job training, but there is also no student debt involved with it,” he said. “It is helping our kids build skills that will not only help build them up but will help build our nation the way technology is moving.”
In addition, he noted that the apprenticeship programs will provide firms with a skilled workforce, a level playing field for all firms in the bidding process and opportunities for Yorktown students enrolled in the programs. The town also requires contractors to pay their workers prevailing wages, but has not, to date, entered into Project Labor Agreements with the building trades.
Supervisor Lachterman said that with the new apprentice training requirement in place, “it opens the door for more PLAs, which can be very beneficial to the town as well.” He said that several sewer contracts, which could go out to bid by the beginning of 2027, might be subject to the new apprenticeship training requirement.
The new law requires the contractor to have the apprenticeship training program in place at the time of bid submission, while subcontractors must have the apprenticeship training program in place within 90 days of the date of the award of the construction contract.
“Yorktown has an excellent model that will help stimulate opportunities in careers in the building trades for each resident and those in the surrounding communities,” Mr. Cooke said.
Also on Aug. 5, the Town Board approved a zoning amendment expanding the permitted uses at the Jefferson Valley Mall.
Under the newly updated zoning rules, the mall complex can now welcome craft breweries, amusement centers and indoor recreation facilities.
The expanded zoning scope is designed to facilitate growing interest from entrepreneurs looking to establish modern experience driven businesses at the mall. Among the proposed commercial uses are indoor trampoline parks and golf simulators, town officials stated.
Published: September 17, 2026.