Success Story: Pella Region’s IT Pathways Program Shows the Power of Work-Based Learning

Work-based Learning benefits everyone, and the Pella Region's IT Pathways Program shows how.

For employers, it's a structured way to identify talent early and find out whether students are a good fit.

For students, it's a real-world opportunity to explore whether Information Technology (IT) is the right career for them.

For communities, it showcases that great jobs are available locally, making it more likely that young people will end up living and working close to home. The results are impressive: In spring 2026, nearly 68% of apprentices who had completed the program were working full-time for their IT Pathways employers or attending college and working part-time for those employers.

Learn more by watching the video below, and check out the playbook for more background on how the model could be successful for your business and community.

IT Pathways Playbook: How Employer Collaboration Can Jump-Start a High School Talent Pipeline (2.3 MB) .pdf