During the Fourth of July, many fire up the grill for a barbecue.

For the first time in decades, a new meat cutter apprenticeship program is underway in Minnesota.

The program at St. Paul College was started by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. It’s designed to bring skilled meat cutters into the industry, which has lost jobs over the years due to a lack of training in the workforce.

“Hopefully, we put these folks into the different stores with their employers and they recognize that value and want to get behind what we’re doing here,” James Westin with UFCW Local 1189 said.

Bryan Greene with Festival Foods in Hugo is taking part in the two-year program.

“Hopefully, we get more meat cutters to go through it to make the industry stronger than what it currently is,” Greene said.

A meat cutter can start out around $30 an hour and, with experience, can earn $70,000 to $80,000 a year.