WRTP | BIG STEP names David D. Polk new CEO

The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership | Building Industry Group Skilled Trades Employment Program (WRTP | BIG STEP) has named David D. Polk its new chief executive officer. Polk most recently served as director of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards, where he oversaw record growth in registered apprenticeships statewide beginning in 2022, according to a press release from WRTP | BIG STEP, and has also served as board president of the National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors. Polk is a graduate of WRTP | BIG STEP’s pre-apprenticeship training program, which prepared him for a registered plumbing apprenticeship with Plumbers Union Local 75. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cardinal Stritch University and served as associate dean of apprenticeship and trade director at Milwaukee Area Technical College. “Coming back to WRTP | BIG STEP as CEO feels like coming home,” Pol