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Portman, Valley Business Leaders Discuss Workforce Needs
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, says the country needs to do a better job managing how its workforce training dollars are spent to ensure that those enrolled in these programs today are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow.
"We need to reform the federal worker retraining programs," Portman said after participating in a roundtable discussion with representatives from the business and education communities at Choffin Career Center Monday. "It's one piece of this, it's not the only piece."
Portman says that the federal government spends about $15 billion a year on worker retraining programs, but these programs often fail to properly certify workers for those positions that are most in demand.
The senator visited manufacturing sites in Columbiana and Youngstown yesterday, along with America Makes: The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute in Youngstown. "I got a feel through the day about what employers are actually looking for," he said.
Portman says this region does a better job of fostering cooperation between its workforce development agencies, educational institutions and businesses, compared to other areas across the state. "But, there's more that can be done to ensure that we are cooperating to proved the workforce we need. If we don't do that, we're not going to see the economic growth that we want. It's that simple."
Portman said there are essentially three approaches related to workforce development. First, the status quo, he reminded guests, is not acceptable since more money is being spent each year even though the number of credentialed workers is falling. "There are 47 different programs spread over about nine different departments and agencies. There's a lot of duplication."
Another non-starter is the idea that government should pull out of workforce development altogether, and consolidate the agencies. "I don't think that's a good idea either, because I think there's a national interest in having a trained workforce," and the federal government has a role and responsibility in helping to develop that workforce.
What Portman favors is a streamlined version of federal programs that help make these programs more accountable, which is outlined in the senator’s Career Act, a bill he's co-sponsored with Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado.
The bill would put in place outcome measurements to monitor the success rate of these retraining programs and whether they helped a worker gain employment. "That's not being done now," Portman says. "The General Accounting Office says only four or five of the 47 programs are being tested on that basis. Just like in the private sector, if you're not looking at your outcomes, you're not measuring your performance, you can't succeed."
Ohio manufacturers are especially frustrated because of what they see is a lack of qualified workers in the employment pool, evidenced by more than 100,000 unfilled jobs, but 400,000 unemployed across the state.
In the Mahoning Valley and western Pennsylvania, efforts such as the Oh-Penn Collaborative has helped harness collective action to attract young people into the trades and training programs.
Dale Foerster of Starr Manufacturing Inc., Vienna, said small companies rely on training programs because they simply don't have the budget for a separate human resources department, and training is costly. Starr, which is part of the Oh-Penn collaborative, works closely with institutions such as the Trumbull and Mahoning County career and technical centers.
"Incumbent dollars are important," Foerster says. "We don’t have the ability to train them ourselves."
Foerster said she would like to see more money spent on purchasing better equipment, so prospective workers can get the experience and training they need on machines used across industry.
Other programs helped along by state and federal funding are working, participants observed.
Butch Taylor, business agent for Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 396, said that oil and gas exploration has helped draw more interest to the union's apprentice programs. The five-year program includes 10,000 hours of training in the classroom and the job site.
"By the time they're journeymen, they have the skills they need," Taylor says.
Still, it's difficult to find people willing to take on a position in manufacturing today, said Tom Humphries, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, which hosted the discussion.
"They need human resources," Humphries says of local manufacturers. "They need people with good training and a good work ethic. Bottom line."
Humphries says the workforce development programs in place are good programs, but there aren't enough people in this region taking advantage of them. "We have tens of thousands of people who are unemployed or underemployed, why aren't they working? There are jobs. There are training programs. We need to connect the two."
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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