Dientes Community Dental Care has been named the 2025 Employer Champion by the Santa Cruz County Workforce Development Board, receiving the Workforce Achievement Award for community impact.
Based in Santa Cruz County, Dientes seeks to provide dental care to patients who are on public insurance or uninsured. Dientes gained recognition for its innovative apprenticeship program, which offers paid training to newly hired dental assistants.
The program’s training phase allows new hires to address skill gaps and learning needs before onboarding, providing patients with a consistent quality of care. The program also improved employee retention and reduced turnover, according to a news release from Workforce Santa Cruz.
“Selecting Dientes as our 2025 Employer Champion was especially meaningful for our Workforce Development Board,” said Board Director Andy Stone. “Dientes has proactively partnered with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Workforce Santa Cruz County to create the Dental Assisting Apprenticeship Program to address the increasing demand for skilled dental assistants and provide local workers with an opportunity to earn while they learn.”
Support for Dientes’ apprenticeship program comes from Workforce Santa Cruz County’s on-the-job training. The program is funded in part by 2014’s federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
More information on the Workforce Achievement Award and past recipients is available on the Santa Cruz County Workforce website.
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