[Senate Hearing 117-199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-199
GETTING AMERICA READY TO WORK:
SUCCESSFUL ON THE JOB,
APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROGRAMS TO
HELP WORKERS AND BUSINESSES
GET READY TO WORK
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE SAFETY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION,
LABOR, AND PENSIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
EXAMINING SUCCESSFUL ON THE JOB, APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROGRAMS TO
HELP WORKERS AND BUSINESS GET READY TO WORK
__________
SEPTEMBER 22, 2021
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
46-779 PDF WASHINGTON : 2023
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COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS
PATTY MURRAY, Washington, Chair
BERNIE SANDERS (I), Vermont RICHARD BURR, North Carolina,
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania Ranking Member
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin RAND PAUL, M.D., Kentucky
CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
TIM KAINE, Virginia BILL CASSIDY, M.D., Louisiana
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
TINA SMITH, Minnesota MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada ROGER MARSHALL, M.D., Kansas
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado MITT ROMNEY, Utah
TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
Evan T. Schatz, Staff Director
David P. Cleary, Republican Staff Director
John Righter, Deputy Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE SAFETY
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado, Chairman
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
TINA SMITH, Minnesota TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada RAND PAUL, M.D., Kentucky
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
PATTY MURRAY, Washington (ex MITT ROMNEY, Utah
officio) RICHARD BURR, North Carolina (ex
officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
STATEMENTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021
Page
Committee Members
Hickenlooper, Hon. John, Chairman, Subcommittee on Employment and
Workplace Safety, Opening statement............................ 1
Braun, Hon. Mike, Ranking Member, a U.S. Senator from the State
of Indiana, Opening statement.................................. 3
Witnesses
Ginsburg, Noel, Founder and CEO, CareerWise, Denver, CO.......... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Navarro, Naarai, Business Development Representative, Pinnacol
Insurance, Denver, CO.......................................... 13
Prepared statement........................................... 14
Curry, Leah, President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana,
Inc., Princeton, IN............................................ 16
Prepared statement........................................... 17
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Statements, articles, publications, letters, etc.
Hickenlooper, Hon. John:
Apprenticeship and Workforce Delegation Letter............... 44
Murray, Hon. Patty:
Letter from the International Association of Sheet Metal,
Rail and Transportation Workers............................ 45
GETTING AMERICA READY TO WORK:
SUCCESSFUL ON THE JOB,
APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROGRAMS TO
HELP WORKERS AND BUSINESSES
GET READY TO WORK
----------
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in
room 430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John
Hickenlooper, Chairman of the Subcommittee presiding.
Present: Senators Hickenlooper [presiding], Baldwin, Smith,
Rosen, Kaine, Braun, Tuberville, Scott, and Romney.
Also present: Senator Portman.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HICKENLOOPER
The Chairman. The Senate Employment and Workplace Safety
Subcommittee can come to order. Settle down out there.
(Laughter.)
Today, we are holding a hearing on getting America Ready to
Work, looking at successful on-the-job apprenticeship training
programs that have helped workers and businesses build a
trained workforce and remain competitive in the global economy.
I look forward to today's witness testimony and the discussion
that follows.
Ranking Member Braun and I each have an opening statement.
Then, we will introduce the witnesses. After the witnesses give
their testimony, Senators will have 5 minutes for a round of
questions. I think we will have some Senators coming and going
over the process of this. And, there are obviously who knows
how many millions of people watching eventually on recorded
video.
While we are unable to have the hearing fully open, live
video is available on our Committee website at help.senate.gov.
Senator Braun and I have both invited Members outside the
Subcommittee to participate in today's hearing. We look forward
to them being a part of this conversation, as well, and
building a bipartisan coalition to address some of the
challenges we face in building tomorrow's workforce.
As we consider investments in education and workforce, we
need to keep in mind that not everyone is going to go to
college. They do not need to go to college to be successful.
Some people go to college at different times. Only 35 percent
of young people in the United States ever complete a Bachelor's
Degree or higher.
Apprenticeships and other on-the-job training programs are
powerful alternatives that help shift the conversation away
from the traditional, narrow 4-year degree path and toward the
skills needed to find successful careers in jobs that exist
today.
Right now, the three fastest growing jobs in America--wind
turbine technicians, nurse practitioners, and solar panel
installers--many of these jobs involve skills that can be
gained through targeted skills training or on-the-job
apprenticeship training programs. These are also the kinds of
jobs and comfortable incomes, I guess, that can rebuild the
American middle class.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median
base salary for a solar panel installer is about $47,000 a
year. A wind turbine technician earns a median wage of over
$56,000 a year.
We need to make sure that we educate and train these
workers on the specific and in-demand skills in a partnership
with the employers in these fields.
We need to make sure we have programs that provide skills
training for careers that are available now, but also the
careers of tomorrow--coders, to support information technology;
project and marketing coordinators; claims representatives;
workers that can build new, more sustainable and reliable power
grid, just to name a few. These are all careers attainable with
a combination of some classroom training and on-the-job
apprenticeship programs.
Out of necessity, employers, like Toyota, and
intermediaries, like CareerWise, are creating training programs
to build the workforce they need to keep their business and
their partners globally competitive.
Now, our first witness is going to be my friend, Noel
Ginsburg, of I do not know how long, probably over 20, 25 years
now. And he has learned over his 35 years of experience in
manufacturing that workforce development has always been a
limiting factor to economic growth.
Noel has worked for decades to tackle the workforce and
skills gap by, (A), personally supporting 42 low-income kids
through the I Have a Dream Foundation; changing a drop-out rate
of 90 percent to a graduation rate of 90 percent; founding the
Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance to engage
manufacturers across the state in solving these systemic
challenges; chairing the Denver Public Schools Career and
College Readiness Council, as well as the Metro Denver Chamber
of Commerce Board. He has served on the Colorado Workforce
Development Council, the Colorado Opportunities Scholarship
Initiative, and the Colorado Economic Development Council. I
could go on. The list goes on beyond that.
But also, more importantly, he came to me with this idea
about apprenticeships and founded and has led, always as a
volunteer, CareerWise. CareerWise is training apprenticeships
and programs that are not typically associated with traditional
apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship occupations.
CareerWise has worked with over 200 employers across the
Country from New York City to Denver, to Indiana, and to
Washington, DC to build these apprenticeship programs in modern
occupations ranging from software coding to automation design,
to banking, to education, and on and on.
The support CareerWise provides has made it possible for
small businesses that make up the majority of our economy
across many markets to provide equitable opportunities while
improving their bottom lines.
I look forward to discussing how CareerWise and Toyota are
building modern, adaptable apprenticeship programs for the
modern digital economy. I think we have some great examples of
how apprenticeship and on-the-job training will work.
Ms. Navarro just completed a registered apprenticeship
program with Pinnacol Insurance in Denver and became a full-
time journey worker as a business development representative.
Ms. Curry, who is the president of Toyota Motor
Manufacturing in Indiana, will share how Toyota created the 4T
Academy, which connects high school students with career
opportunities in advanced manufacturing.
I am eagerly looking forward to talking about how we, on
this Committee, can support these types of programs and
continue to build on their success.
With that, I will turn it over to Ranking Member Braun for
his opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BRAUN
Senator Braun. Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper.
I have probably most recently come off the pavement of
running a business. And, I can tell you, long before COVID, in
a State like Indiana, I would travel, pledged to visit all 92
of our counties every year that I am a U.S. Senator, and I
learned so much. And workforce was the No. 1 issue, dwarfing
even rural broadband and affordable housing.
Every time I sit down with a business in Indiana, which has
got a great climate, we keep wrestling, with this issue, and
that gap is growing wider rather than kind of naturally
shrinking. And you would hope that when those high-demand,
high-wage jobs are out there that there would be an easier way
to dovetail that basic education you get in high school to
whatever you want to do next, including immediately getting
into the workforce. NFIB, which--who represents a lot of the
startups, the small businesses that turn into larger ones, say
over half of their members grapple with that, even the ones
down with just a few employees.
We are currently looking at reauthorizing the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act. And, I will have to say that
this topic is, maybe along with agriculture, one of the most
bipartisan discussions I have seen here in the Senate. So, we
have a lot of that going for us, as well.
Some of my colleagues are eager to increase the scope and
funding of job training and workforce development through
reconciliation, a process we are going through currently. I
must tell you, I think that to get the proper input from
employers across the Country that we need to be careful there
so that we get it right, and maybe this ought to be a topic
that we do through regular order, and maybe like this. Discuss
it, bring expert witnesses in, and check with where-the-rubber-
meets-the-road employers across the Country.
One way to serve employers' needs is through Industry-
Recognized Apprentice Programs, IRAPs, which allow job creators
to have input and a more active role in what you do. As the
economy changes, IRAPs allow apprenticeship programs to be
flexible and innovative.
Today, you will hear from Leah Curry, President of Toyota
Motor Manufacturing, Indiana based in Princeton, not far from
where I live. They have done an excellent job with their 4T
Academy. I think it is a model that companies across the
Country should aspire to put in place.
I will close with this. When you have the cost of a college
education now eclipsing, in terms of increased rate of cost
growth per year, that of healthcare, you have actually risen to
a new level of kind of having a dubious category of what is
probably for families, along with healthcare, the most
important thing we need to get right.
I served on the Education Committee back in our Indiana
State Legislature and believe a lot of our issues go deeper in
terms of your state boards of education, actually thinking they
are doing things by a lip service, have generally disaggregated
programs that do not hit the sweet spot and have issues of
where you actually stigmatize the pathway. Like, I found in my
own school districts in my home county and one that I served on
where there was no discussion when kids are in middle school,
especially when they get to high school, of what your options
are.
Parents are our main allies in this journey because they
probably had one or two kids that pursued a 4-year degree. Half
of them did not make it to the finish line. A third that did
make it to the finish line got a degree with no market. That is
sad with as much money as we spend on it.
I think this is going to be collaborative, and I think
businesses and parents are the main stakeholders. And higher
education across the Country, which I think is the bailiwick of
states, we can do a few things here. I am looking forward to
them taking the bull by the horns and putting us in a better
place. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Ranking Member Braun.
Now we can get to the witnesses' testimony. I am sure they
are sick of us talking about them, but I will talk about them a
little bit more.
Noel Ginsburg, as I mentioned, is a manufacturing
entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Intertech Plastics and Intertech
Medical. He has been on a 30-year journey to create more
opportunity for young people. I mentioned the Dreamers,
Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation. Forty-two kids that he took
them from almost no chance and gave 90 percent of them a great
chance. He gave all of them a great chance.
That journey has helped him create as Founder and CEO of
our non-profit, CareerWise. And I think it really is one of the
pioneering organizations in American youth apprenticeship. It
is an industry-led, student-centered model that trains high
school students and modern--trains high school students for
modern economy-type jobs in advanced manufacturing, business
opportunities, IT, finance, healthcare, down the list.
On Monday, Mr. Ginsburg was selected to serve on the
Department of Labor's National Advisory Committee on
Apprenticeships, which I know he will do good service there, as
well.
Ms. Navarro, Naarai, it is a--I worked last night
practicing to be able to pronounce a difficult name because
with a name like Hickenlooper, well, you have a certain respect
for the challenges of names. But, Naarai Navarro is a Business
Development Representative with Pinnacol Insurance in Denver,
Colorado. She recently completed the CareerWise program, which
is registered with Pinnacol Insurance in Colorado. Ms. Navarro
owns a community interpreter certification in Spanish, as well
as a property casualty insurance certification.
Because of her apprenticeship, she knows where she wants to
take her career. Obviously, leaning toward additional training,
possibly college, that her employer would no doubt help pay
for.
I also understand your sister, Alexa, has accomplished--has
accompanied you here. Alexa, you can wave. Thank you for coming
all the way out here. Thank you both for being here.
We look forward to all of our witnesses.
Go ahead, Ranking Member Braun, and introduce your witness.
Senator Braun. Leah Curry is President of Toyota Motor
Manufacturing, Indiana, which is based in Princeton, a
community just basically an hour away from where I live.
When they came into the marketplace many years ago, it was
interesting, because I am from the lowest unemployment county
in the state that has chronic issues of getting workforce
right, and there was always that feeling we were having
competition coming in for even a tight labor supply. I love
that. It is a way you raise wages the old-fashioned way.
She is responsible for all production and administrative
functions at the facility that produces the Toyota Highlander,
Sienna, and Sequoia. She started her career there in 1997 and
has received national recognition as a leader in manufacturing
and workforce training.
She will tell us today about the innovative 4T Academy
Program that Toyota began and is working in Princeton, Indiana.
It involves all the local high schools and, to me, is a model
that other companies need to look at across the Country.
The Chairman. Great. So, with that, Noel, why don't you
start with your testimony?
STATEMENT OF NOEL GINSBURG, FOUNDER AND CEO, CAREERWISE,
DENVER, CO
Mr. Ginsburg. Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper, and thank
you for being such an advocate both when you were a business
owner, a mayor, a Governor, and now Senator.
The challenges we have as a Country to address the issues,
Senator Braun, that you spoke so deftly about is that there are
multiple paths to opportunity in this Country. And, because of
that, I left the business that I founded over 41 years ago
because I believe that this model of apprenticeship that I am
going to share can be transformational for our Country, for our
businesses, and for our young people.
When I think back to my history--as the Senator mentioned,
I started my business 41 years ago. I was a junior in college
at the time when I started that business. So, I really knew
nothing about injection molding, so I knew the success from my
business would be founded on the talent that I surrounded
myself with.
Over the ensuing years, when I could not find that talent,
I assumed that the challenge was the schools. So, I went,
knocked on the front door and spent the next 10 years learning
that, in fact, there was a missing piece, and it was not as
much what was happening in the classroom, but the role that
industry played.
It sent me on a journey that ultimately led to going to an
institute in Zurich to learn about how other countries do this;
where 70 percent of young people starting in high school begin
an apprenticeship that leads to a job in a market-driven system
that pays between 45 and $55,000 a year, starting; where you
can start with an apprenticeship and end with a Ph.D.
The second reason is what the Senator mentioned. The
Dreamers that I spent 10 years with as a part of the I Have a
Dream Foundation, we did turn a 90 percent dropout rate into a
90 percent graduation rate. And once you have had that
experience, you just cannot sit back and say that was enough.
For me, it was if we can do that for 42, can we do that for a
city, a state, or maybe even a Country?
I believe, after 5 years in building this model that I will
share with you now, that we actually have the opportunity to
not just talk about the change or the role that business can
play that is in our self-interest, but to partner with their
education system in ways that will transform this Country an
opportunity like for young people that you will hear about
later on in this testimony.
The way our model works. It starts either in the 11th or
12th grade where students will spend 2 days a week in a
business, 3 days a week in a classroom; second year, 3 days a
week in a business, 2 days a week in a classroom; and the third
year, depending on post-secondary options, either full or part
time.
These are registered apprenticeships where the students are
being paid an apprenticeship wage. So, if you think about a
student growing up in the inner city, the difference between
staying in school or not may be whether or not they can put
food on the table. But, in a registered apprenticeship program
like CareerWise, you can do both, and it leads to a future
career that is limitless for these young people because they
have the potential to do anything.
Apprenticeships are unique because they move at the speed
of business. Schools cannot be expected to modify their
curriculum in the tech industry, as an example, where code may
change every year. So, this is a way to blend the learning that
takes place in the classroom with the power of the learning
that takes place in the workplace. Education belongs in both
places.
It is almost as if I am talking about a three-legged stool.
The first is K-12. The second is higher ed. And, yes, we should
make investments in those and continue to do that, but it is
not the only answer. A two-legged stool will not stand up--and
frankly, ours is not in this Country--but a three-legged stool
can. And what is the difference? The difference is industry has
a role to play in education, and in so doing, they are not just
consumers of talent, but they are producers, as well, and that
can be transformational for our young people and for our
businesses.
What makes this possible and why CareerWise is so critical
is the role of intermediaries. This is not natural. Yes, we
have great apprenticeships in the trades in this Country that
have been led by the unions, but it is not the only place where
apprenticeships belong. The secret place is in high school
because there is a cliff that happens. Students are told there
is only one path to prosperity in America. There are two, and
apprenticeship is the option's multiplier. And if you add that
third leg of the stool, you can change everything.
I can tell you, in my own business, Kevin King, a young
apprentice, young African-American man, he designed,
engineered, built, and programmed automation cells that enabled
us to bring product back from China. We are also paying for his
engineering degree. Why? Because it is in our self-interest.
So, the point about what I am sharing with you today is this is
more than just a program. It is something that can change our
Country.
In the words of Jamie Dimon, the CEO and Chairman of
JPMorgan Chase, who brought us to New York--soon after that, we
went to Indiana and to Elkhart to have CareerWise Elkhart
County--and he said something that was powerful. After visiting
Pinnacol Insurance, he said, if each of us would do what
Pinnacol does and take 5 percent of our workforce and make them
youth apprentices, we would change this Country.
That is the reason I left my business. That is the reason I
spend 50 hours a week at CareerWise, because I think we can
change this Country so that 10 years from now, we will not be
talking about the same problems.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ginsburg follows:]
prepared statement of noel ginsburg
Introduction
Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to speak to you about youth
apprenticeship today. My name is Noel Ginsburg. I am the founder and
chairman of the Colorado manufacturing companies Intertech Plastics and
Intertech Medical, as well as the founder and CEO of CareerWise.
Youth apprenticeship has the power to change lives. CareerWise was
founded in Colorado in 2017 to solve two pressing problems facing our
country: first, the need to create more opportunities for young people
to access dignified careers with upward mobility, and second, growing
talent shortages at businesses around the country. In the 4-years since
our founding, we've seen tremendous impact on both young people and the
businesses that have been employing them.
Though there is a history of apprenticeship in this country, youth
apprenticeship is still in its nascent stage. It will require
significant investment at all levels in order to realize its true
potential. I'm here today to share with you our model, the impact that
it has had, and some recommendations for how we can continue to
multiply post-secondary options and paths to high-growth, high-pay
careers, and at the same time create new, diverse talent pipelines to
keep America competitive on the world stage.
Description of the Model
CareerWise works as the intermediary between education and
employers to create opportunities for modern youth apprenticeship.
Modern youth apprenticeship is a strategy for building a more inclusive
economy by creating affordable, reliable, and equitable pathways
directly from high school to good jobs. It is an evidence-based
education and workforce strategy whose success has been proven in
countries around the world. Our model is based on the Swiss system of
youth apprenticeship, in which up to 70 percent of students participate
in an apprenticeship that can lead to a dignified career. CareerWise's
U.S.-based model has attracted interest from more than 30 states around
the country, and since launching in Colorado, already has expanded to
Washington DC, New York, Indiana and Michigan, with several more
communities in the pipeline.
The way the CareerWise model works is that it combines paid,
structured, on-the-job training with related classroom learning. In the
United States, this model has been tested and proven in the skilled
trades. However, our modern youth apprenticeship formally starts in
11th or 12th grade, with some communities providing services even
earlier. By engaging young people while they are still connected to
their schools, modern youth apprenticeship is markedly different. Youth
apprenticeship has the potential to act as a preventative strategy in
addressing the massive attrition that we see out of our education
system. Right now, data shows that out of every 100 students who start
high school, less than a third will end up with a college degree. Add
in the high cost of student debt, and it's clear that the system is not
working for the vast majority of students.
At the same time, businesses across the country currently are
facing a massive labor and talent shortage. This is true in the
traditional trades such as construction, but we're also seeing it in
fields like IT, education, and financial services. Employers report
spending tens of thousands of dollars and months of time to train
workers to fulfill their needs. Even the workers hired from prestigious
schools--graduates with the baseline theoretical knowledge in their
fields--take a significant degree of time and investment to be trained
in the practical execution of the job.
Youth apprenticeship allows students to ``learn while they earn,''
and help support their families while gaining practical skills.
Apprenticeship is different from internship. While interns often are
only in their roles for a short amount of time, performing low-value
tasks, apprentices train alongside seasoned professionals doing
meaningful valuable work over multiple years. The result is a worker
that is ready to step directly into positions of need for business. In
the CareerWise model, those positions are all high-growth, high-wage
roles that offer a path to the middle class for workers while helping
keep businesses competitive.
CareerWise also is an ``options multiplier.'' The occupations in a
CareerWise apprenticeship and the integration of higher education
coursework are intended to ensure that there are no dead ends. By
making investments in workforce opportunities like apprenticeship
alongside investments in education, we can connect the systems to
create cohesive pathways for young people. Apprenticeship can take a
young person from the workplace to a Ph.D., or from the classroom to a
corner office. Modern youth apprenticeship allows us to learn from our
past mistakes in the binary thinking that pitted college against
career. It is a sustainable double-bottom line initiative--it corrects
both the inequitable tracking of traditional vocational education, and
the exclusivity and expense of the ``college-for-all'' movement.
Instead, modern youth apprenticeship formally connects work and
education to meet the needs of both students and employers.
For this reason, CareerWise is a model that can work for all
students. We have added an ``Equity First'' component to our model to
correct for the inequitable racial outcomes that many workforce
programs often see. Our Equity First strategy is designed to provide
additional interventions and supports to students of color, students
from low-income households, and their supervisors, in order to achieve
equitable outcomes in accessing, succeeding in, and realizing upward
mobility through youth apprenticeship. Though just in its pilot phase,
we already are seeing increased interest from business, as well as
improved outcomes across the lifecycle of the program for these
students.
Impact So Far
In the 4-years of CareerWise's work, we've directly impacted nearly
a thousand students at over 200 businesses around the country. You will
hear from one of those young people from Colorado, Naarai Navarro,
later today. I also wanted to highlight the story of an apprentice from
Indiana named Graham Neer.
Graham began his registered youth apprenticeship in 2019 with Kem
Krest, a company based in Elkhart, Indiana, that manages and markets
customer-branded parts, chemicals and accessories on behalf of OEMs.
Graham quickly became an integral part of the Kem Krest logistics team,
playing a key role in purchasing, procurement, sourcing and metrics,
and project coordination. His team at Kem Krest even jokes that he is
the ``Dougie Houser of procurement.'' One of Graham's most impressive
efforts was helping Kem Krest pivot to focusing on PPE production when
COVID hit.
Graham and his family report that his apprenticeship has
transformed him. His mom Megan was impressed when Graham seamlessly
picked up an incoming call from a Fortune 500 executive during a recent
car ride. She has recognized tremendous improvement in the sense of
maturity in her son. Graham also believes that he has built a stronger
resume right now as a high school senior with apprenticeship
experience, than that of a lot of seniors in college. Due to his
apprenticeship, Graham is now headed to Indiana University with a clear
focus and a professional network to back him up.
This is a common story from our apprentices. We've graduated two
full cohorts of apprentices at this point. In the pilot cohort that
graduated in 2020, over two-thirds had positive outcomes. Of the
completed apprentices, more than 85 percent reported learning valuable
hard and soft skills on the jobs. More than 90 percent reported a
growth in their professional network that would be helpful in their
future careers. Nearly all completing respondents believed they would
either earn a full or partial degree by enrolling in a CW
apprenticeship. On average, apprentices were rated as 91 percent as
effective as a full-time worker, despite still being teenagers. Even
during the COVID-19 pandemic, though it was extremely disruptive in
many ways, we actually saw that in a lot of cases, having an
apprenticeship allowed students to stay engaged in school and play
meaningful roles in supporting their families, sometimes as the sole
income earner.
Policy Recommendations
We've seen the impact of youth apprenticeship on individual
students and companies, but what's most transformational is the impact
that youth apprenticeship can have on our Country. It can assist in
rebuilding our economy, growing the middle class, and helping America
maintain its position as the most innovative workforce in the world.
Youth apprenticeship should be a critical strategy for including youth
in the economic recovery. In the short term, implementing high-quality
Modern Youth Apprenticeship programs will allow young people to head
off the disconnection and disengagement that already is taking hold in
the wake of economic and public health crises. It will allow them to
access immediate employment and transferable learning that can keep
them on the path toward upward mobility.
However, there are still steps to take to help our youth
apprenticeship opportunities mature and become more accessible. With
that in mind, I would like to respectfully make the following policy
recommendations:
Establish a National Modern Youth Apprenticeship
Program to equip youth with paid work experience, industry
recognized credentials, postsecondary credits, and pathways to
high-quality careers in key future-ready fields such as IT,
renewable energy, business operations advanced manufacturing,
healthcare, and education.
Y Establish a definition of ``Youth Apprenticeship''
that is universally recognized through the U.S.
Department of Labor (DOL) Registered Apprenticeship
system.
Y Enlist and appoint industry leadership to develop
pathways, curriculum, and credentials that are
consistent and aligned nationally to ensure that
credentials are accessible and portable for
apprentices.
Y Issue interagency guidelines to develop evidenced
based, high-quality youth apprenticeship pathways.
Y Issue clear guidance on the use of Federal K-12,
higher education and workforce funds to support high
quality youth apprenticeship program development and
implementation at the state and local level.
Y Establish clear outcome metrics using common
definitions to ensure program quality for youth
apprentices.
Pass the National Apprenticeship Act and consider
making technical updates to the Act to streamline and expand
the opportunities provided through youth apprenticeship.
Y Recognize the critical role of intermediaries in
implementation of high-quality, replicable programs.
Y Fund direct wraparound supports for students through
intermediaries in order to encourage youth to persist
and successfully complete registered apprenticeship
programs.
Y Reduce administrative burden for the registered
apprenticeship system for employers, state agencies,
and the DOL Office of Apprenticeship.
Y Streamline youth apprenticeship program
administrative reporting requirements to encourage
business adoption.
Y Support state funding for registered youth
apprenticeship and formalize the accrual of
postsecondary education credit and credentialing.
Y Fund career exploration and guidance beginning in
middle school to ensure youth apprentices are selecting
opportunities that meet their interests and aptitudes.
Y Incentivize higher education institutions to award
credit for on-the-job learning and related instruction
activities.
Y Use incentive funds to increase the participation of
small-and medium-size companies to establish registered
youth apprenticeship programs.
Provide funding for innovation in youth
apprenticeship in the National Apprenticeship Act.
Y Promote further innovation in the National
Apprenticeship Act by establishing a youth
apprenticeship innovation fund (a new Sec. 113 in H.R.
447) to demonstrate innovative strategies or replicate
evidence-based strategies that engage intermediaries to
strengthen the transition from high school to post-
secondary education and work in growing 21st century
industries, giving priority to young people who are
low-income, of color, and/or young women, and providing
incentives to industry associations to encourage--and
to small and medium-size employers to establish--youth
apprenticeship.
Enhance interagency efforts to scale youth
apprenticeship.
Y Encourage the Departments of Labor and Education, in
coordination with the Department of Commerce, to create
an electronic tool kit for states and local areas
seeking to accelerate and scale youth apprenticeships.
Y Invest in institutions of higher education, with a
focus on community and technical colleges, to ensure
credit-bearing postsecondary coursework and credential
attainment is provided at no cost for students employed
in registered youth apprenticeships.
Y Develop and clarify the use of a national
apprenticeship tax credit for employer training costs
for youth apprentices.
Formalize the apprenticeship ecosystem and align
Federal agencies to ensure that apprenticeship is viewed as a
cohesive pathway for students.
Y Enhance alignment between our educational system and
workforce systems to better address employer skills
needs and pathways for youth apprentices.
Y Provide apprentices with access to Federal student
financial aid resources, including Pell grants.
Y Provide guidance to states to allow Registered Youth
Apprenticeship activities like on-the-job training to
contribute to high school graduation requirements and
accumulate higher education credit.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I appreciate
your support for youth apprenticeship, and I look forward to a world in
which access to a dignified career and a dignified life is available to
every American.
addendum to testimony of noel ginsburg
Memorandum
TO: Senate HELP Committee
FROM: CareerWise USA (Noel Ginsburg, Founder and CEO)
DATE: April 9, 2021
RE: Request for Workforce Development Policy Ideas
Who We Are
CareerWise is a nonprofit intermediary based in Colorado focused on
building a national network of high-quality, high-impact registered
youth apprenticeship programs for 21st century industries. We currently
operate programs in Colorado, New York City, Indiana, and Washington
DC. Additionally, leaders from 32 different states around the country
have travelled to Colorado to learn about the CareerWise model. We are
also providing consulting services to seven additional communities from
Birmingham, Alabama to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
CareerWise registered youth apprenticeships are designed by
industry for current high school students, bridging the gap between
high school and post-secondary with a ``13th year.'' Graduates either
transition to full time employment or continue working for their
apprenticeship employer while pursuing post-secondary education. In
some cases, graduates have leveraged the insight gained through the
apprenticeship to choose a program of study more closely aligned to
their career goals and increased understanding of occupations in their
chosen field.
In short, CareerWise is an ``options-multiplier'' model of youth
apprenticeship that reaches and serves a diverse student population
(35-43 percent young women and 50-90 percent young people of color,
depending on the geography) and broad array of industries and
occupations, to help employers meet their need for skilled workers,
while also diversifying their workforce.
Key Components of our Evidence-Based Model
CareerWise has created an industry-driven model in coordination
with the education and workforce systems. It is based upon lessons
learned in working with more than 200 employers--ranging from Fortune
100 enterprises, like JPMorgan Chase's corporate headquarters, to
small, advanced manufacturing businesses in northern Indiana, and it
targets the highest-demand industries in our economy, including
healthcare, technology, finance, business services, creative services,
and insurance.
CareerWise works as an intermediary with employers to define the
program's training components and coordinates with both secondary and
post-secondary institutions to identify relevant classroom-based
learning. CareerWise demands that youth apprenticeships offer the
employer a measurable return on investment through active
participation, while carefully guarding the value and benefit for the
apprentices by requiring employers to support credit-bearing, debt-free
training that results in a portable, valuable credential.
Apprentices engage in a 3-year program. The first cohort of
apprentices graduated in 2020 and was rated by employers as 74 percent
productive as a full-time adult in the occupation in which they
apprenticed. In addition, 80 percent of CareerWise apprentices report
high levels of satisfaction with and value in their experience.
The benefits of a youth apprenticeship model linked closely to the
educational system have been demonstrated extensively abroad, notably
in Switzerland, which provides the evidence-based model in which
CareerWise is grounded. The scale of the Swiss effort is
extraordinary--70 percent of Swiss students and 40 percent of Swiss
companies participate in youth apprenticeship. Swiss employers who hire
youth apprentices realize, on average, a 10 percent return on the
investment they make in their apprentices; and return on investment
grows when they convert those apprentices into full-time employees.
We believe that by passing the National Apprenticeship Act and
reauthorizing WIOA with guidance that reflects the lessons learned by
CareerWise, Congress can create the scale and replication of high-
quality modern youth apprenticeship, like the CareerWise model, to
drastically expand opportunity and mobility in our country. Bringing
industry into a leadership role for youth apprenticeship will
strengthen America's economy by meeting modern workforce needs with a
large, diverse, and easily accessible talent pool that is right under
our noses--our high schools.
Recommendations
To realize that ambitious goal, CareerWise recommends that Congress
promote further innovation in the National Apprenticeship Act by
establishing a youth apprenticeship innovation fund (a new Sec. 113) to
demonstrate innovative strategies or replicate evidence-based
strategies that engage intermediaries to strengthen the transition from
high school to post-secondary education and work in growing 21st
century industries, give priority to young people who are low-income,
of color, and/or young women, and provide incentives to industry
associations to encourage, and to small-and medium-size employers to
establish, youth apprenticeships. We look forward to the opportunity to
explore with you in more detail the possibility of a youth
apprenticeship innovation fund.
Based upon our experience in tailoring youth apprenticeship to
address local circumstances, CareerWise also makes six additional
recommendations:
(1) Emphasize the diversity of modern and growing industries
and programs represented by the National Advisory Committee on
Apprenticeships.
a. Refine and reorder Sec.112(a)(2)(B(i) to read: `` .
. . 21st century industry employers or industry
associations that participate in an apprenticeship
program (at least 1 of which represents a women,
minority, or veteran-owned business), including
representatives of in-demand industry sector employers
representing non-traditional apprenticeship industries,
non-traditional or high-skill, high-wage occupations,
as applicable.''
b. Insert in Sec. 112(a)(2)(B)(iii)(III) line 24,
``including a youth apprenticeship program'' between
``program'' and ``under.''
(2) Recognize the critical role of intermediaries in
implementation of high-quality, replicable programs.
a. Sec. 201(d)(1) line 4, insert ``qualified
intermediary and'' between ``with'' and ``two''; in
line 23, delete ``or'' and insert ``and'' after
``services:''; in line 24, delete ``I.''
(3) Reduce administrative burden for the registered
apprenticeship system for employers, State Agencies, and the
Office of Apprenticeship.
a. Revise Sec.113(c)(4) line 16, Insert: `` . . . nationally
recognized program by the Office of Apprenticeship or'' between ``a''
and ``program.''
(4) Support state funding for registered youth apprenticeship
and formalize the accrual of post-secondary education credit
and credentialing.
a. Delete Sec. 113(f)(1)B)(ii)(1), lines 12-18. In line
19, renumber (II) to (1); in line 1 (page 79) renumber
(III) to (II); Insert a new (III) to read: 331/3 shall
be allotted on the basis of the relative number of
disadvantaged youth in each State, compared to the
total number of disadvantaged youth in all States.
b. Delete ``and'' in line 19 (page 139) and ``,'' in
line 23; insert ``; and'' after ``program''; insert a
new Sec. 201(f)(D((iii) to read: ``an existing
partnership with a higher education institution such as
a community college to facilitate post-secondary
transfers and the acquisition of college credit.''
c. Insert a new Sec. 132(e)(1)(F) to read: ``an
assessment of the impact of youth apprenticeship
programs on the attainment of college credentials and
longer term employment prospects of young people,
primarily those of low-income, of color, and young
women.''
(5) Reduce administrative burden on youth apprenticeship
programs and encourage youth to persist and successfully
complete a registered apprenticeship program.
a. Insert a new Sec. 122.(d)(2) Line 16 (page 97) to
read: ``The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is
amended as follows: Notwithstanding Sec. 129.(a)(1)(C)
and Sec. 129.(a)(3) and (a)(4), youth enrolled in
registered youth apprenticeship programs are eligible
to participate in activities carried out under Chapter
2 Youth Workforce Investment Activities.''; Change
current Sec. 122(d)(2) to (3) and renumber accordingly.
(6) Use incentive funds to increase the participation of small-
and medium-size companies to establish registered youth
apprenticeship programs.
a. Insert a new Sec. 202(b)(1)(D)(2)(iv) after line 22
(page 155) to read: ``providing $5,000 per apprentice
for small-and mid-size companies establishing
registered youth apprenticeships to offset the costs of
training supervisors, create and use competency-based
training in the workplace, set up administrative tools
for required reporting, and provide data to
intermediary(ies) for continuous improvement of the
registered youth apprenticeship model.''
b. Insert a new Sec. 202(b)(1)(D)(2)(v) to read:
``providing per-apprentice incentive payments of
$200.00 to industry associations and chambers of
commerce (up to a maximum of $500,000) that (I) gain
member companies' agreement to hire youth apprentices
into formal registered apprenticeship; and (II)
establish a ``skills taskforce'' to provide guidance on
an ongoing basis to local K-16 institutions about what
skills are required to enter and succeed in workplace
training such as registered youth apprenticeship.''
______
The Chairman. Thank you, Noel. I appreciate that.
Ms. Navarro.
STATEMENT OF NAARAI NAVARRO, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
REPRESENTATIVE, PINNACOL INSURANCE, DENVER, CO
Ms. Navarro. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for my
invitation to speak today.
My name is Naarai, and I completed my registered
apprenticeship with Pinnacol Insurance in Denver, Colorado and
became a full-time journey worker as a Business Development
Representative at Pinnacol.
Before my apprenticeship, I did not know what path I was
going to be in. I would probably pick something random and
would have gotten stuck in something that is not fulfilling.
That is what a lot of people my age do. They do not feel like
they have options. But, because of my apprenticeship, I feel
like I do have options. Because of my apprenticeship, I have
experience, confidence, a career path, and the ability to
provide for myself.
Today, I would like to tell you how my apprenticeship has
impacted my life and my family's life.
I grew up in Denver, Colorado with my mom, dad, three
brothers, and one sister. My parents primarily spoke Spanish.
Growing up, I heard from a lot of adults that work experience
was essential to finding a promising career later. I was not
the type of person that wanted to go to college before I knew
what I was passionate about. I tried to figure out what I
wanted to do before spending a lot of money on college.
When I was in high school, I did not know what I wanted to
do for a career. School felt like I was learning things without
a context or a connection to reality, so I tried several other
ways to be in the--to not be in the school setting, such as a
welding class and an internship.
Then, my high school coordinator, Suzy, suggested that I do
an apprenticeship. I need to say a big thank you to her because
I would not have tried an apprenticeship, and I would not be
here today if not for her. On top of that, I would like to
thank Pinnacol and all the amazing people that helped train me
and shape me to be the person I am today.
I did my apprenticeship at Pinnacol Insurance, an insurance
company in Denver. When I began my apprenticeship in my first
semester of my senior year, I spent half of my days in high
school classes and the other half at work. I was attracted to
the apprenticeship at Pinnacol because of the different career
pathways that were open. I started on the marketing team and
the claims team, supporting each team for a year. In addition,
at Pinnacol, about 5 percent of the workforce are youth
apprentices, so I had lots of other young people to learn with.
Through my apprenticeship and my training, I learned a lot
of skills. Time management is a big one. When I was in high
school, there were not repercussions if I showed up late or did
not meet a deadline. However, at work, I needed to meet
deadlines. I had to learn how to manage my time wisely, prepare
before meetings, and ensure my assignments were done on time.
From this, my teachers commented that they noticed I had become
more mature and more responsible at school.
I have also become much more confident about public
speaking. Without my apprenticeship training, I definitely
would not be here speaking with you today. Overall, I like
meeting new teams and learning new things.
In the beginning, it was very stressful for me when I was
going through training and learning lots of new things. But
then, as I grasped those things, I feel accomplished, and I do
not--and I know that I am ready for more and more.
As with my job, learning is an ongoing skill, knowing that
I am expert in those skills, and I can talk to my supervisors
about much more work and to keep gaining experience.
One of my most proudest moments at my apprenticeship was
when two other apprentices and I managed an entire claims
queue. We were the only ones in charge. We scheduled our
meetings and reached out to our supervisors when we needed it.
Through this work, I saw that we were trusted just like the
adults around us.
When I started my apprenticeship, my parents were hesitant
because they wanted me to go to college. But, when I told them
my plan and we went through the pros and cons, they were on--
they got onboard, and I promised them that I would get hired
full time. And recently, I was hired into a full-time role at
Pinnacol, and I am so proud of myself.
I am also leaning toward going to college now that I know
what I want to do with my career. My company will help pay for
my tuition so that I will not have debt. I have earned a
community interpreter certification in Spanish, as well as a
property casualty insurance certification, and I am aiming
toward a Bachelor's Degree.
Because of my apprenticeship, I moved out of my parents'
house and got my own place. Previous internships and jobs I was
employed through set a wage with no opportunity of promotion,
no hope of a real career, or a better future. My apprenticeship
has been very different and allowed me to become a fully
trained, full-time employee, who can provide for myself.
I want this Committee to know that my apprenticeship has
changed my life. Having the opportunity to work and be trained
while still in high school has given me the confidence and
professionalism to succeed in whatever I want to do. It has
been a wonderful experience, and I hope that more businesses
hire high school apprentices so that other students can have
the same opportunity that I had.
Thank you so much for listening.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Navarro follows:]
prepared statement of naarai navarro
Good morning everyone. Thank you for the invitation to speak today.
My name is Naarai Navarro, and I recently completed my registered
apprenticeship with Pinnacol Assurance in Denver, Colorado, and became
a full-time journey-worker as a Business Development Representative at
Pinnacol.
Before my apprenticeship, I didn't know what my path was going to
be. I probably would have just picked something, and gotten stuck in
something that isn't fulfilling. That's what a lot of people my age do.
They don't feel like they have options. But because of my
apprenticeship, I do feel like I have options. Because of my
apprenticeship, I have experience, confidence, a career path and the
ability to provide for myself. Today, I'd like to tell you how my
apprenticeship has impacted my life and my family's life.
I grew up in Denver, Colorado, with my mom, dad, three brothers and
one sister. My parents primarily spoke Spanish.
Growing up, I heard from a lot of adults that work experience was
very important to finding a good career later on. I wasn't the type of
person that wanted to go to college before I knew what I needed from my
education--I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do before spending a
lot of money on college.
When I was in high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do for a
career. School felt like I was learning things without any context and
without any connection to reality. I tried several other ways to not be
in the school setting, such as a welding class and an internship. Then
my high school coordinator, Suzy, suggested that I do an
apprenticeship. I need to say a big thank you to her because if not for
her I wouldn't have tried to do the apprenticeship and I wouldn't be
here today.
I did my apprenticeship at Pinnacol Assurance, an insurance company
in Denver. When I began my apprenticeship, I spent half my days in my
high school classes and half my days at work. I was attracted to the
apprenticeship at Pinnacol because of the different career pathways
that were open--I started on the marketing team and spent a year with
them, and then did a year with the claims team. At Pinnacol, about 5
percent of the workforce are youth apprentices, so I had lots of other
young people to learn with.
Through my apprenticeship and my training, I've learned a lot of
skills. Time management is a big one--when I was in high school, there
weren't really repercussions if you showed up late or didn't meet a
deadline. At work, I need to meet a deadline, so I know how to get up
and prepare before meetings and make sure my assignments get done. From
this, my teachers commented that they noticed that I became much more
mature and responsible at school.
I've also become much more confident about public speaking. Without
my apprenticeship training, I definitely wouldn't be here and speaking
with you today. Overall, I really like meeting new teams and learning
new things. In the beginning, it's always stressful for me when I'm
going through training and learning lots of new things. But then as I
grasp those things, I feel really accomplished and I know I'm ready for
more and more. And then we go through training again, and then my
supervisors at Pinnacol say they know I'm ready for more work and that
I'm an expert, and it feels really rewarding.
One of my proudest moments at my apprenticeship was when two other
apprentices and I managed a full claims queue. We were the only ones in
charge--we scheduled our own meetings and reached out to our
supervisors when needed. Through this work, I really saw that we were
trusted--just like the adults around us.
When I started my apprenticeship, my parents were hesitant because
they wanted me to go to college. When I told them my plan and we went
through the pros and cons, they started to get on board, and I promised
them that I would get hired full-time, and recently I was hired into a
full-time role . . . and they were so proud of me.
I'm also leaning toward going to college now that I know what I
want to do with my career. My company will help pay for my tuition, so
I won't have any debt. I've already earned a community interpreter
certification in Spanish, as well as a property casualty insurance
certification and I'm aiming toward a bachelor's degree.
Because of my apprenticeship, I've been able to move out of my
parents' house and get my own place and my own space. I might be able
to get a new car soon. Other internships and jobs I had before this
were all at a set wage with no opportunity for promotion, no hope of a
real career or a better future. My apprenticeship has been very
different, and allowed me to become a fully trained, full-time employee
with the ability to provide for myself.
I want this Committee to know that my apprenticeship has changed my
life. Having the opportunity to work and be trained while still in high
school has given me the confidence and professionalism to be successful
in whatever I want to do. It's been a wonderful experience, and I hope
that more businesses hire high school apprentices so that other
students can have the same opportunity that I have had. Thank you.
______
The Chairman. Thank you so much, Ms. Navarro. Thank you for
coming. That was very well done.
Ms. Curry.
STATEMENT OF LEAH CURRY, PRESIDENT TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING,
INDIANA, INC., PRINCETON, IN
Ms. Curry. Good morning, Chairman Hickenlooper and Senator
Braun and the Subcommittee. My name is Leah Curry, and I am
President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, where we
produce some of the most technologically advanced vehicles on
the road today. I want to thank this Subcommittee for
conducting this hearing. Workforce development is an extremely
important topic for Toyota, and one I care deeply about since I
have been in the industry for 41 years.
I am pleased to see many Senators on the Subcommittee
represent states where Toyota has significant operations, as
well as workforce development partnerships. Over the years,
Toyota has invested more than $29 billion in the United States.
In fact, in June 2020, we completed our 5-year pledge to invest
$13 billion in our U.S. operations 1 year earlier than
anticipated.
In April, my Indiana plant announced a new $803 million
investment that will create additional 1,400 jobs to build all
new electrified Toyota and Lexus vehicles. With 10
manufacturing facilities overall, nearly 1,500 dealerships, and
180,000 people working across the United States, the workforce
pipeline is of paramount importance to Toyota.
My passion for workforce development is directly connected
to my own experience as a young woman trying to find her way
academically and professionally. Initially, I thought I wanted
to be a chemist. Unfortunately, conducting chemical analyses in
labs was not for me. Instead, when lab equipment failed, I
learned that I liked troubleshooting equipment rather than
doing the analysis, and that really excited me.
I returned to school for industrial electronics. Through an
internship, I was able to learn theory at school and apply it
immediately on the job, a learning style that suited me
perfectly. Despite often being the only woman in the room, I
was not deterred. I persevered and I turned my passion for
machines into a rewarding manufacturing career.
As I reflect on those experiences, a few things come to
mind that are fundamental to how Toyota approaches workforce
development.
First, exposure early in life matters. I came across
industrial electronic by chance after already embarking on a
serious course of study. If I was exposed to the STEM programs
before college, I would have landed on my pathway much sooner.
Since 2010, Toyota has provided 30.5 million to 184 K
through 12 schools in Indiana and across the Country to
implement Project Lead the Way programs that provide students
with STEM education.
Additionally, in the area close to my plant, we have teamed
up with four local high schools to create the 4T Academy, which
is designed to connect upper level students with career
opportunities in advanced manufacturing. These efforts have
significantly increased the visibility of manufacturing career
pathways in our region.
Second, combining classroom learning with on-the-job
experiences is by far the most powerful way to learn. In states
where Toyota operates manufacturing plants, we have
collaborated with community colleges to develop the highly
successful Advanced Manufacturing Technician, or AMT program.
Our AMT students attend school 2 days a week, and they learn on
the job site 3 days. They acquire technical knowledge,
professional behaviors, and the distinct manufacturing core
skills through a focus coop experience.
In Indiana, I partner with Vincennes University.
Nationally, about 400 employers pull talent from 32 chapters in
12 states, and which is known collectively as the Federation of
Advanced Manufacturing Education, or FAME USA. FAME USA is now
led by the Manufacturing Institute, of which I am on the board,
and it is quickly becoming America's premiere homegrown
manufacturing education tech network. Over 1,300 students have
graduated since 2010, with more than 500 since 2020, despite
the pandemic.
Last, I cannot overstate the importance of intentionality
around bringing underrepresented people into STEM careers.
Toyota is collaborating with the National Alliance for
Partnerships in Equity to provide tools to help educators
increase participation and persistence of women and
underrepresented student groups in education paths to prepare
them for advanced manufacturing careers.
As the full Committee considers next steps, I want to offer
two policy suggestions.
First, because exposure early matters, I want to emphasize
the importance of considering workforce development policies in
conjunction with education policies. If the education policies
are not flexible enough to allow students to explore various
pathways, students may ultimately bypass even the best
workforce development opportunities.
Second, I urge the Committee to prioritize reauthorization.
In doing so, the Committee should continue to legislate change
that further increase private sector participation in the
workforce system. The FAME USA system proves that employers
want to and can drive workforce development to new heights.
I appreciate this opportunity to testify before you, and I
look forward to expanding on these comments in Q and A. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Curry follows:]
prepared statement of leah curry
Good Morning, Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Braun, and
Members of the Subcommittee.
My name is Leah Curry and I am President of Toyota Motor
Manufacturing, Indiana (TMMI), where we produce some of the most
technologically advanced vehicles on the road today--the Highlander,
Highlander Hybrid, Sequoia, and the all-hybrid Sienna minivan.
I want to thank the Subcommittee for conducting this hearing and
giving me an opportunity to testify virtually. Workforce development is
an extremely important topic for Toyota and all manufacturers in the
United States. It is also one I care deeply about and try to impact
daily.
Toyota in the U.S. and Indiana
I am pleased to see many Senators on this Subcommittee represent
states where Toyota has significant operations, as well as workforce
development partnerships. In fact, we have workforce development
partnerships in all states represented on this Committee minus two. In
Colorado, in the Chairman's state, we have one program at Cherry Creek
Innovation Campus in Centennial and our manufacturing program has been
replicated at Pueblo Community College in Pueblo. Toyota has been a
part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 60 years and our
economic impact can be felt across the entire Nation.
Over the years, we have invested more than $29 billion in the U.S.
In June 2020, we completed our 5-year pledge to invest $13 billion in
our U.S. operations 1 year earlier than anticipated. In April, my
Indiana plant announced a new $803 million investment that will create
an additional 1,400 jobs to build all-new, electrified Toyota and Lexus
vehicles. It is the third major expansion at my plant in the past 4
years. With ten manufacturing facilities, nearly 1,500 dealerships and
180,000 people working across the United States, you can understand why
the workforce pipeline is of paramount importance to Toyota.
Workforce Training
My passion for workforce development is directly connected to my
own experience as a young woman trying to find her way both
academically and professionally. Initially, I thought I wanted to be a
chemist. Unfortunately, conducting chemical analysis in labs wasn't for
me. Instead, when lab equipment failed, I learned that troubleshooting
machines really excited me. So, I returned to school for industrial
electronics. I started a long-term internship that allowed me to learn
theory at school and apply it immediately on the job. That learning
style suited me perfectly. Despite often being the only woman in the
room, I was not deterred. I persevered and turned my passion for
machines into an incredible manufacturing career.
As I reflect on those experiences, a few themes come to mind that
are fundamental to how Toyota approaches workforce development.
First, exposure early in life matters. I came across the idea of
pursuing technology as a career by chance after already embarking on a
serious course of post-secondary studies. If I was exposed to technical
or STEM programs before college, I would have landed on my pathway much
sooner. Since 2010, Toyota has provided $3.5 million to 184 K-12
schools in Indiana and across the country to implement Project Lead the
Way programs that provide students with more STEM education and career
pathways. Additionally, in the Princeton area, close to my plant, we
have teamed up with four local high schools to create the 4T Academy,
which is designed to connect upper-level students with career
opportunities in advanced manufacturing. This effort has significantly
increased the visibility of manufacturing career pathways in our
region.
Second, combining classroom learning with on-the-job experiences is
a powerful way to learn, particularly in manufacturing. In states where
Toyota operates manufacturing plants, Toyota has collaborated with
local community colleges to develop the highly successful advance
manufacturing technician (or AMT) program. AMT students attend school 2
days a week and learn on the job site of their sponsoring company 3
days a week. They acquire technical knowledge, professional behaviors,
and distinct manufacturing core skills through a focused co-op
experience. Locally, in Indiana, I partner with Vincennes University.
Nationally about 400 employers pool talent from 32 chapters in 12
states in what is known collectively as the Federation of Advanced
Manufacturing Education or FAME USA. FAME USA is now led by the
Manufacturing Institute, and it is quickly becoming America's premier
home-grown manufacturing education network. Over 1,300 students have
graduated since 2010, with more than 500 graduating since 2020 despite
the pandemic.
Last, we cannot overstate the importance of intentionality around
bringing historically underrepresented people into STEM careers. Toyota
is collaborating with the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity
(NAPE) on it's ``Make the Future'' program, which provides tools to
help educators, counselors, administrators, and recruiters increase the
participation and persistence of women and other historically
underrepresented student groups in education paths that prepare them
for advanced manufacturing careers.
Policy Recommendations
As the full Committee considers next steps, I want to offer two
policy suggestions.
First, because exposure early matters, I want to emphasize the
importance of considering workforce development policies in conjunction
with education policies. If education policies are not flexible enough
to allow students to explore various pathways, students may ultimately
bypass even the best workforce development opportunities.
Second, I urge the Committee to prioritize the reauthorization of
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). In doing so, the
Committee should continue to allow for greater private sector
participation in the workforce system. The FAME USA system proves that
employers want to and can drive workforce development to new heights.
I very much appreciate this opportunity today to testify before
you. I am happy to answer any questions you have.
Appendix #1
FAME USA
The Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT) program, created and
established by Toyota Motor North America back in 2010, and the
Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) USA employer
collaborative, stewarded by The Manufacturing Institute, is America's
premier advanced manufacturing education program and network. It
produces global-best, entry-level, multiskilled maintenance technicians
through a concentrated co-op program of study that culminates in
associate degree and an assured ticket to a career in advanced
manufacturing.
The AMT curriculum is delineated by three fundamental components: a
Technical Core, Manufacturing Core Exercises (MCEs), and Professional
Behaviors.
The Technical Core includes many of the most in-demand skills
sought by all manufacturers: electrical, fluid power, mechanics, and
fabrication. Combined, they form the foundation of the global-best
multi-skilled technician able to operate in an advanced manufacturing
setting.
Students also develop a deep appreciation for manufacturing
cultures, including ``lean manufacturing'' practices, that fully equip
the AMT graduate to produce bottom-line company improvements. The MCEs
include Safety Culture, 5S/Visual Workplace Organization, Lean
Manufacturing for Maintenance, Problem Solving, and Machine
Reliability. Each topic is introduced sequentially and reinforced
consistently after introduction. Additionally, these exercises are
paired with real-world experience to increase engagement and skills
retention.
The daily reinforcement of professional behaviors and actions hone
a student's ability to stand apart in today's workforce. This component
complements both the technical core and MCEs and these behaviors are
introduced, reinforced, and practiced daily to ensure the AMT gains the
professional wherewithal to be successful in any environment.
New cohorts start each Fall semester and pursue a five-semester
schedule composed of 3 days of learning at work paired with 2 days in a
shop-floor emulation (known as the ``Advanced Manufacturing Center''
(AMC)) at the college campus. This schedule of paid work alternating
with academic preparation enables students to earn a paycheck that can
defray tuition and fees as they complete an associate degree while
growing personal and professional skills that will greatly accelerate
their manufacturing career.
A K-12 career pathway is supported by local chapters to build
awareness of STEM and manufacturing careers early, while emphasizing
recruitment from underrepresented populations. Additionally, AMT
students earn an associate degree that opens options to related
bachelor's programs thus creating a career pipeline from kindergarten
through post-secondary and into a fulfilling lifetime career.
There are currently 32 FAME Chapters nationally across 12 states.
States with an active FAME chapter include Alabama, Colorado, Florida,
Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas,
Virginia, and West Virginia. These chapters collectively have produced
more than 1,300 graduates for the nearly 400 manufacturing companies
that currently make up the FAME USA network.
The FAME USA network or employer collaborative is unparalleled in
workforce development networks in the United States. With nearly 400
employers pooling talent from the network, there is a wide range of
types of manufacturing companies, of all sizes, from various regions of
the country involved. FAME employers are integral and active
participants at the local chapter level in establishing and sustaining
the initiative in their community. They are in regular and constant
contact with their education partner, in all cases a community college,
to ensure the most up-to-date methods and skills are being addressed.
Employers want to be a part of this network where they can learn from
each other and dramatically improve their talent pipeline in two short
years. The network operates on the pull-system, ensuring employer need
only commit to sponsoring students they eventually will need to hire.
For participating community colleges, a robust network ensures the
consistent need for the program and consistent feedback from the
employer community to remain relevant to the needs of the local
marketplace.
Companies currently involved in the FAME USA network include, but
are not limited to, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Koller Craft, Prince Metal
Stampings, Eastman, TapeCraft, Krono Spam, Trane Technologies, Steel
City Solar, Vestas, Hudson Technologies, Everglades, Micopulse, Steel
Dynamics, Hershey, 3M, Xerox, Flour, Buffalo Trace, SpanOn, UGN,
Adient, Stanley Black & Decker, Delta, Conagra, Gerdau, HEB,
Caterpillar, Pepsico, and KraftHeinz.
FAME USA is managed and supported by The Manufacturing Institute.
To learn more or become a part of the network, visit FAME-USA.com.
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Appendix #3
Toyota's 4T Academy Fact Sheet
Mission:
Provide students with an innovative learning experience that
couples a high-tech curriculum with hands-on learning, while preparing
them for a successful and rewarding career.
The Goal:
To help connect upper-level students at four high schools in the
surrounding counties with career opportunities in advanced
manufacturing. By collaborating with local schools, we are providing
greater visibility to students about real career pathways in the
region.
Curriculum:
The 4T curriculum includes classes on manufacturing, engineering,
computer science, precision machining, Industrial automation &
robotics, industrial maintenance and environmental sustainability. The
high school-based advanced manufacturing curriculum is also dual
credited by Ivy Tech & Vincennes University-Jasper. And as a part of
the 4T program, students will also participate in hand-on job training
at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana.
4T 1st Year success:
2020-2021 (Launch of 4T)
21 Graduating Seniors
7 Hired into Production Positions
3 Enrolled in the Advanced Manufacturing Technician
associate degree program
9 Pursuing secondary education
1 Military
1 Undecided
Partners:
Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana
4 Area High Schools:
Princeton Community High School (Gibson County)
Wood Memorial High School (Gibson County)
South Gibson High School (Gibson County)
Southridge High School (Dubois County)
*New high school coming on board in Fall of 2022 (not
yet released to the public)
Ivy Tech
Vincennes University-Jasper
Toyota Grant:
$1 million was given to the 4T Academy over 4 years to help the
establishment, growth and sustainment of the program.
Appendix #4
Make the FutureTM
Toyota's most recent association with the National Alliance for
Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation (NAPE) began in 2016 when
Toyota's KY FAME team was given the Teamwork award at NAPE's National
Summit for Educational Equity. Since then, NAPE has been advising the
FAME program on the strategies to increase the diversity and inclusion
of their Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT) program.
In 2017 NAPE was awarded a grant from the Toyota USA Foundation to
formalize these practices. As part of the Make the FutureTM
Initiative (MTF), NAPE curated the best practices for increasing the
participation and retention of women and women of color in STEM and CTE
education leading to careers in advanced manufacturing. Make the
FutureTM Phase I included a literature search, resulting in
NAPE's Make the FutureTM Nine Best Practices--Equitable
Recruiting Strategies. This can be found at the webpage: napequity.org/
special-programs/make-the-future. This resource is a synopsis of
programs and practices that excel in attracting females to STEM
careers. In addition, a website was created which contains downloadable
promotional materials; a YouTube Channel of curated videos; a series of
webinars on the nine best practices; a recruitment planning guide; a
social media toolkit and a student facing social media campaign, called
WoManufacturing. The WoManufacturing campaign shares rich, compelling
stories of female Hispanic students in the San Antonio AMT program
which were captured in a series of recruiting videos.
How the San Antonio, TX and Vincennes, Indiana sites were
successful in recruiting female students are the subjects of Make the
FutureTM, Phase II Case Studies. The case studies will
highlight lessons learned at each site, and validate the nine best
practices from the literature review developed in MTF Phase I. The case
studies will be used to inform the field about best practices, and they
will be utilized during the Phase II, Stage II Program Improvement
Process for EquityTM (PIPE) implementation with teams from
two FAME chapters this coming school year.
NAPE's Program Improvement Process for EquityTM (PIPE)
has been successfully implemented with school districts across the
country to close gender gaps in CTE career pathways leading to
nontraditional career fields. PIPE engages teams of educators, industry
leaders, community members, and other stakeholders to: use data to
conduct a performance and participation gap analysis; learn about the
research literature on root causes for these gaps; conduct action
research to identify the root causes in play at their institution;
select and implement an aligned intervention that directly addresses
the identified root causes; and measure and evaluate their success.
This iterative process is being applied to the specific context of
manufacturing, with the intent to increase the enrollment,
matriculation, graduation, and transition to and competitive employment
of women and women of color in advanced manufacturing pathways.
Contact Information:
Project Director: Kathleen Fitzpatrick,
NAPE Senior Program Manager.
Principle Investigator: Mimi lufkin,
CEO Emerita.
______
The Chairman. Thank you so much, Ms. Curry. Thank you for
all that you are doing for workforce.
Now I will ask a few questions. Then, I will turn it over
to Senator Braun, and then we will just rotate back and forth
and interrogate you by a--with a broad cross-section of U.S.
Senators.
Let's start with Mr. Ginsburg. Give me just a--and you have
said this already, but why is it that you think that
intermediaries are so important for small-and medium-sized
businesses that are trying to develop an apprenticeship
program? Why do we need intermediaries?
Mr. Ginsburg. Thank you, Senator. That is an important
question because, I can tell you as a business owner myself, we
struggled to create an adult apprenticeship program for years.
And, it is because, as a small business, we did not have the
resources or the knowledge of what a registered model would
look like, and we did not, frankly, know how to tap the talent
of those who were interested.
Why an intermediary is so important today is that in the
U.S. context, currently, businesses--few businesses are like
Toyota or Pinnacol Insurance that actually understand the roles
that they can play. But, if you are a small business, having an
intermediary that connects the schools, the students, educates
the parents about the opportunities, and links and educates the
businesses, as well as how an apprenticeship operates,
particularly a registered apprenticeship program, which is so
essential to ensure currency for a young person. Once they
graduate, to move, if they do, to another business, with a
registered apprenticeship, what the training looked like. You
know that it is high quality. An intermediary enables all of
that to take place.
At the same time, for a large company, even they do not
always have the resources, particularly around youth, how to
bring a young person into the workplace, because this is not an
internship. They are actually providing productive, valuable
work. That is why during the pandemic, 68 percent of our
students kept working as apprentices because they were
essential workers. An intermediary makes that possible.
The Chairman. Thank you. Thank you, Noel, and I
appreciate--I meant to say at the beginning, make sure you all
try to be concise, but you were naturally concise, so I
appreciate that.
Ms. Curry, I want to ask you a little bit more about how
you partner with local high schools in this--in the 4T Academy.
Specifically, how you could build this partnership when so many
educators are convinced that college has to be the next step. I
mean, how are you able to break down that stigma that you must
go to college to be successful? That is a mantra that many kids
hear all the time in school.
Ms. Curry. Well, thank you, Senator. You know, the key is
really getting awareness to the students and the parents like
you discussed earlier, and also to the teachers. Now, showing
them, bringing them in and showing them what the careers in
manufacturing are like and what types of skills we actually
build in the careers.
Our 4T Academy, with our local high schools, we started
with three. We are going to four. We are going to five next
year. It has been a perfect marriage with a lot of the students
who you--like we heard today, were not--are not sure about what
they want to do, and this marries the perception of what
careers in manufacturing are. They are high-skilled. They are
high-paying. They have great benefits. They build on the
skills.
Like it was spoken earlier, you can go on to get your
degree, so the pathways can go--you can go into Advanced
Manufacturing Technician program. You can go into Engineering.
You can go into Accounting and Finance, Marketing, because we
help pay for those schools while they are working here.
I think the key is that the parents are understanding and
the students are understanding how exciting these careers are,
and that by learning as you are going to school and working on
the job site----
I have seen the faces of these students and their eyes are
sparkling because they are just--they feel like, hey, I have
got--I see what I want to do, and I have not seen this before.
I have not been able to work in an industry that shows me how
they are going to teach me skills in order to be self-
sufficient and add value and have purpose in their life.
The Chairman. Absolutely.
Ms. Curry. It is extremely important to continue that.
Sorry, I am going long.
The Chairman. No, that is Okay. I love the description of
the expressions. We have that expression in front of us. I
wanted to get a question to Ms. Navarro.
You give credit to your high school coordinator. How can
other kids--how do we get the word out to other kids of how
attractive and beneficial this program is?
Ms. Navarro. For me, is we had presentations at school
multiple times on apprenticeships, but there is not always
schools that have a representative there.
How I advise other students from other schools that they
might not have that person there at their school is going to
look for the resources. I say there are students that are shy;
there are students that are timid. Then they do not want to go
because they just--they feel intimidated because of the person
that they are going to talk to. But, like, I tell my brother, I
was like, push onto it. Go do it. No matter what, you will find
the resources.
I know a lot of times, I go to schools and I talk to them,
and I feel like having a person that has done it helps a lot,
definitely. I talked to a lot of apprentices when I was going
on to the apprenticeship. I was talking to apprentices that
were planning to get hired at that point because they were
already 2 years into their apprenticeship and I was 1 year. And
I was like, oh, my God, this is not going to work out. What if
it bombs? Like, I am not doing school. I am going to be doing
this job. What am I going to do?
Then, after I saw it all tied together, now I just want to
be a representative, and I want to go to schools and talk to
students. Like, just do it. Who cares? Like, you are not going
to lose anything.
The Chairman. Thank you. I love that.
All right. Senator Braun.
Senator Braun. Thank you, Senator. First question will be
for Ms. Curry. Up to five high schools it sounds like here
soon. And what did you find when the first high school came
onboard? Were you getting buy-in from the guidance counselors?
Were they into this idea of doing CTE training as opposed to
the 4-year degree?
Ms. Curry. I think most of the guidance counselors now
understand that, getting a skill--if you can teach a skill, no
one can take your skill away from you. You have that skill for
life and you can build on it.
As we were collaborating with them and showed them the
types of training we would give them as the students came here,
they were quick to get onboard. And one of the main things was
how we had to teach--was that we want a broad, diverse
workforce, and we want to go make this awareness to all the
students and let's not pigeonhole certain students into this
program. Let's make it available for everyone. So, once we were
able to come together on really how we wanted to market the
program, it has been very, very successful.
Senator Braun. How did parents react?
Ms. Curry. The parents--we actually had an open house. The
parents came. I spoke to the parents, and they were very
interested in the program. They know about Toyota, but, some of
them have not been in the plant. They have not seen the high
tech robotics and feel--that we have running the program--all
the tooling. And, they were amazed. Because we took them, we
gave them a tour, and they were amazed at the types of careers
that their student, their kids could have, and how we were
going to be partnering with them to teach them those skills.
I think, letting them be a part of it, let them in, feel
it, touch it, see it, hear it, it really helped them understand
what this type of program is about.
Senator Braun. Thank you.
Mr. Ginsburg, we were talking earlier about state boards of
education, the philosophy that you can only be successful
getting a 4-year degree, maybe a 2-year degree. How much do you
think the issue of what you are trying to do, what Toyota is
doing, what Ms. Navarro figured out on her own to maybe do, how
much is higher ed an issue from the top down in terms of policy
to the guidance counselors in high school? And, has it come
along as much as you have seen things move in your own world?
Toyota looks like they are moving the dynamic by being
there in the community, giving opportunity to get in that
direction. How big a deal is higher ed that still believes
mostly in 4-year degrees and still, I think, stigmatizes the
pathways that we are trying to talk about?
Mr. Ginsburg. Well, certainly you are talking about a
challenge that is both cultural in our society at large, as
well as in the education system itself. At the K-12 level, what
I will tell you is they change quickly. What they want is what
is in the best interest of their students. What they do not
always understand is the value of this type of learning and the
career path that it enables.
At the higher ed level, they are actually an important part
of this system, but it is not always aligned to what employers
need. Meaning, you do your general ed first, and then you get
to, what you are specifically interested in.
Industry, and I think Purdue University in Indiana is a
leader on this, they are changing. They are enabling companies
to send their employees to get specific training. Maybe not a
degree, but recognizing that a credential or a certification is
equally valuable. I think that needs to grow in our higher ed
system. It does not move fast, but frankly, I think
apprenticeship can help support and facilitate more students
taking the benefit of post-secondary, but doing it in a way
that is career-aligned, where they are informed about what they
want to do with their future and then are trained to do that.
Senator Braun. Thank you.
Ms. Navarro, it sounds like you put two and two together
fairly quickly to get you to where you are here today, choosing
to get into the workplace. Your particular high school, you
said that they did have information. How long had they been
doing it? And, was that something recently that they did to
make you aware of other options, other than maybe going into
the military or 2-or 4-year degree, or did you have to do most
of this on your own?
Ms. Navarro. For my school, the resources were displayed
out, but we were the pioneers. Me and two other apprentices
were the first ones to get hired at my school as apprentices
for John F. Kennedy High School. Before that, there was
apprenticeships that existed, but they existed with other
schools that were community colleges. But, that was like going
to school and learning there instead of--it was not working at
all.
Most of those resources were also with CareerWise. They
would come to our schools and do boot camps. There was a big
boot camp where they did a bunch of sections where all the
workplaces that were hiring that year were there, and that is
where I met Pinnacol. I gave them my resume, and I was like,
hey, I want to apply. This place sounds amazing. I already
submitted my application. And luckily, that place hired me
because that is the only place I applied to. So, luckily, they
hired me.
But, for the most part, there is a lot of students I have
heard had to do it on their own, but for me, I did have a lot
of resources. Like I said, Suzy was a big resource to me. She
helped me, guided me through everything, took me to my
internship, took me to--if I needed to do a drug test, she took
me there. So, my school had a lot of resources of like taking
all the students into a little school bus, going off together
during lunchtime, to go do all the things that we needed to do
to get hired.
Senator Braun. Thank you.
The Chairman. Great. And Senator Portman, I understand you
have a conflict here, so I was going to switch and give you
priority to ask a few questions.
Senator Portman. Well, thank you, Chairman Hickenlooper and
Ranking Member Braun and all my colleagues here on this
Committee. I always wanted to be on the HELP Committee, and
here I am at the dais. This is unbelievable. Thank you.
(Laughter.)
Senator Portman. Listen, I am here with friends, and the
two of you in particular being employers in your previous
incarnations, and I know everybody on this panel has a passion
for this.
This training issue is huge. Senator Kaine and I have been
trying, so far unsuccessfully, although we came very close in
the so-called--in this Frontier Act, to get a program in place
that many of you are very familiar with. And I know Senator
Braun, Senator Baldwin, and others have worked with us closely
on this, but to get people to the point where they can get
these short-term certificates and have the Federal Government
help them.
We spend so much money as a Federal Government on higher
ed. And I am not against that, but my gosh, shouldn't we be
spending some money on actually training people up for the jobs
that are right there and available now? Where they are not
going to have a big debt, where they are going to be able to go
right into, buying a house and buying a car and being able to
get this economy moving. So, that is what this is about.
Our economy post-COVID-19--or, we are still in this COVID-
19 pandemic, but in this time period, needs this more than
ever. I mean, I cannot tell you an employer that I have talked
to in my home State of Ohio, and I know the same is true in all
of your states, who has not talked about it.
We had a conference call this morning with the oil and gas
industry in Ohio. And what did I hear about, No. 1 issue?
Workforce, No. 1 issue. And it is truck drivers. It is
technicians on the well sides. It is for the disposal wells to
have some way to just find people to do the work. So, this is a
critical issue for our long-term economic health.
Right now, more important than ever, I do think it is about
the entire economy. So, I am not suggesting it is all about
middle skills jobs, which is what economists call these jobs
that do not require a college degree but do require some
advanced-level training. That has been the real problem in our
economy the last several years.
It is about everything right now. Let's be honest. It is
hospitality. It is, executives. It is, so-called white-collar
jobs. But, still, the biggest concern, I think, is among these
middle skill jobs. And this morning, just while I have been
here, I have gotten to hear some really exciting news about
what is going on with your high schools and career and
technical education programs.
Senator Kaine, who you will hear from in a moment, and I
are co-chairs, along with Tammy Baldwin, and probably all of
you are on it, the CTE caucus here in the Senate. We have a
caucus to promote career and technical education. We have
passed some legislation to get the Federal Government funding
increased and to provide more standards for CTE and improve
CTE.
That is all good, but in my view, it is not going to solve
the problem because career and technical cannot provide the
level of training that most of the employers need to be able to
fill these so-called middle-income jobs. And, these are jobs,
like welders and machinists in factories.
One of the people on the call this morning was a
manufacturer who provides something for the oil and gas
industry and he cannot find welders, which is not a surprise,
I'm sure, to anybody on this panel. It is medical technicians
in hospitals; it is truck drivers; it is logistics experts; it
is coders; it is people who can help program these computers
that are now running every factory in America in most of our
lives. So, those are the middle-skill jobs.
Our idea is really very simple, is to provide this Pell
Grant funding not just for a 4-year or 2-year degree, but also
provide it for these relatively shorter term training programs
that gives someone an industry-recognized certificate at the
end of the process. And the success of these programs is
unbelievable, and we have heard about some of this today again.
But, if you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, which
is, after 10, 12 weeks you can actually get a degree that will
give you a job, you are much more likely to stick around.
Unfortunately, with Pell at our--at a higher ed level--and
we have had this discussion in this Committee--most of the
students do not get a degree. Most of the students do not get a
degree. Now, again, I am for Pell at higher ed. I think we can
improve the program, but--that is good, but shouldn't we also
permit it for this other purpose where these students are
pretty much all going to get that certificate? And when they
get that certificate, get a job?
We have all, had the situation where if someone does get
that degree in college, by the way, and then they do not have a
job at the end because they have not developed a skill that is
actually needed in the economy. So, it is connecting that, and
no better way to do it than CTE and this shorter term skills
programs that Senator Kaine and I have been promoting.
The Jobs Act now has 39 co-sponsors, including Ranking
Member Braun. I am grateful that HELP has agreed to some of the
bipartisan changes to improve the bill along the way and allow
it to advance to the Senate floor. Again, we almost got it
done. It was in the manager's amendment for the so-called third
Frontier Bill, or the Endless Frontier Bill. And I would urge
Members to take a look at it. If you can help us with it, that
would be great. And my hope is that we will find a vehicle here
this year to be able to move it forward.
I thank the witnesses for being here today, all of you, and
what you are doing in your home states and encouraging more
young people to step up and take advantage of these programs,
the CTE programs and the short-term training programs.
Every community college in our states is now focused more
and more on this. It is the No. 1 priority of the community
colleges around America, I am told, is to get this Jobs Act
done because they are all doing these short-term training
programs, as are the technical schools. And I think it is the
best way to begin to fill this jobs gap that we see.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
Now, Senator Smith.
Senator Smith. Well, thank you so much, Chair Hickenlooper
and Ranking Member Braun, and to our panelists today for this,
your excellent testimony and this great hearing. And thank you,
Senator Portman, for joining us. I am waiting eagerly for
Senator Kaine to come, as well.
Listen, I constantly hear the stories that you all are
telling when I am back in Minnesota about people who are
interested in pursuing well-paying, high-skill jobs and careers
that are not dependent on a 4-year degree. Folks like Ms.
Navarro, who are ready to hit the ground running, you want to
go out and work and do things. And, people who also want to
pursue a real diverse range of opportunities, as Senator
Portman was saying, from truck drivers and welders to
technology and healthcare and logistics. And, of course,
employers are saying exactly the same thing, that they need
these workers. And, so, that is why this hearing is so
important and why it is so important that we make investments
in this, in these kinds of opportunities for people.
I want to hone in on the--first on the question of
registered apprenticeships, and, Mr. Ginsburg, this is a
question that I will just direct to you. I introduced a bill
called the 21st Century Workforce Partnerships Act, which would
help better prepare students for high-skill, in-demand jobs,
and one of the elements of the bill is that it prioritizes
partnerships between schools and employers that have registered
apprenticeship programs. So, they are employer customized, on-
the-job training, of course, with pay. These registered
apprenticeships seem, to me, really sort of the gold standard
for workforce training. And, of course, the return on
investment is fantastic. Workers who are in these programs are
seeing average wages of, I understand, $60,000 a year, which is
really terrific.
Mr. Ginsburg, could you just speak to us about your
experience and how the registered apprenticeships programs are
beneficial not only to your workers, but also to your business?
Mr. Ginsburg. Thank you for the question, Senator. In fact,
the registered system I think is critical as we move
particularly youth apprenticeship forward, and the reason why
is, it is a quality frame that guides the apprenticeship. It is
advised by industry, so the standards are what industry
contributes.
Senator Smith. Right.
Mr. Ginsburg. What they train to. And if you are a small
company that--like mine, it is valuable because it is a guide.
If you are a company like JPMorgan Chase or Accenture that are
having apprentices now moving into the hundreds, for them, they
do business in all 50 states. With the registered
apprenticeship, the value of that is they know that those
competencies that they helped contribute to create are the same
for all of their branches throughout the Country. That is a
powerful tool to scaling this.
At the same time--and there is something that Senator
Portman said that resonates with me--this is a complex model.
As an intermediary, managing all the various moving elements,
including the registration program, which we support with our
employers throughout the Country, so they can register. If we
do not resource workforce differently than we have in the past,
if the resources are the same, the outcomes will be the same.
I think the next few weeks here, you guys have an
incredibly hard job, but I will tell you that an investment in
workforce to move this forward, I believe will move the Country
forward. So, registration is the key component. At the same
time, without the resources for intermediaries, for chambers,
for associations that will help bring businesses in and then
basically hand hold until they----
Senator Smith. Right.
Mr. Ginsburg [continuing]. Learn the system, we will not be
making any difference, and 10 years from now we will be having
a hearing----
Senator Smith. Yep.
Mr. Ginsburg [continuing]. Talking about the problems we
have.
Senator Smith. We have to do this differently. And I think
that what you are describing and how registered apprenticeships
can work is really a great example of that.
Another thing that I think we have to do differently is to
get into schools, into high schools, sooner. And, so, Ms.
Navarro, I would love to have a chance to talk with you a
little bit about this in my few seconds left. I have been
working on legislation with Senator Graham, actually, that
would pull in after-school providers to help connect young
people with employers, very similar to the kind of experience
that you had. Provide on-the-job training and internships and
career exploration, and then moving into registered
apprenticeships and other kinds of actual--like what you did.
Could you just talk a little bit about how old you were
when you got connected into this and what difference you think
it would make if you had that exposure even earlier in your
educational career?
Ms. Navarro. Great question. So, I started actually my
sophomore year summer. I started two internships my summer of
sophomore and junior year--one with Excel Energy and one with
Emily Griffith Technical College. These kind of lead me into
going into the workforce and going into working instead of
going to college because I really enjoyed my experience.
But, it was 6 weeks, and I was also doing work that was not
very much enjoyable. It was work that they probably left off
for the intern that was going to be there in the summer.
That kind of guided me into, Okay, what can I do that will
be longer? And then I started looking into, well, there is
internships that I can do during the semester, but those are 8
weeks, and it is the same thing again. It will not be that
valuable to me.
Then, I started looking into the apprenticeship, and with
the apprenticeship, I saw it was 3 years. And with Pinnacol,
there is a lot of benefits that is also included with the
apprenticeship, which is certifications that you can get. You
get the registered apprenticeship, and you also get connected
with a lot of people there, new connections that can also help
you for your career. And on top of that, I also--you also get a
coach. The coach helps you, helps guide you through those 3
years, and you meet with them every week and you talk to them
about any problems you have in anything like that.
With Pinnacol, they created such a great structure that
helped me be like, Okay, I can talk to my coach about this. She
is going to help me with college classes. She is going to help
me with--I can just talk to her about life, or anything, and
then I can talk to my supervisors about training that is not
going well.
Then, with Pinnacol, they did the 6-month training that
went with time management, how to do a hand-shake, how to dress
professionally, dress for the day. I did not know how to dress
for the day with my internship. And, now, you look at me. I am
here. I know how to----
Senator Smith. You know what to do.
Ms. Navarro [continuing]. Shake a hand. I know what to do
now. Public speaking and everything. So, with all of those
resources, and with now being 19 years old, here, talking in
front of the Senate, is definitely a big impact of what--now I
want to--I want students to be doing that now. In Colorado, I
want to see all my high----
My little brother, he is 14 years old. I told him, you have
to do an apprenticeship. He is like, I cannot wait until I am a
sophomore and I can start my apprenticeship--my internships,
then go into an apprenticeship, and be exactly like how you are
right now.
Senator Smith. Ms. Navarro, I think you are good organizer.
(Laughter.)
Senator Smith. I really appreciate your feedback.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for letting us go a little long.
Thank you very much.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Tuberville.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper and
Senator Braun for having this. This is much needed. If we had
one of these hearings every week for the next 10 years, it
probably would not be enough.
I spent 40 years in education. I am here today because of
education. I ran for the U.S. Senate for the State of Alabama
because the last 20 years, I have seen our education going in
the wrong direction. Now, we have got the best education system
in the world. We could be much better. For some reason, we will
not change. We will not do the things that we need to do to
make it better for the kids that are coming up.
We are different than the kids nowadays. We were different.
We had different goals. We had different opportunities. Now we
have cyber. We have computer science. We have all those things
going along with it and----
But, the main thing that we need to do, in my perspective
of watching over 40 years, is what Ms. Curry said a little
earlier. We have to expose people to something that they want
to do. Because when I got up every day after I graduated from
college and I went to work coaching and teaching, I loved every
minute of it. I enjoyed it, and I think I did a pretty good job
at it because I liked it. And that is what we have to do with
these kids nowadays.
Ms. Navarro hit it right on the head talking about, just
seeing the smile on her face of she is excited about doing
something. So, we have to do something about education.
When I ran, I talked to groups all across the State of
Alabama--homebuilders, road builders, bridge builders. Coach,
we cannot find people to work. Well, you better start educating
your own because our education system does not educate people
anymore. We indoctrinate. We bring them in and we--we do not
teach the things they need to teach to use their hands. Folks,
we better start teaching people to use their hands instead of
just their brains. We have to do that.
That is what you are talking about today with
apprenticeships and coming in and learning a skill and having a
great life, because you can have a great life, and you can also
have fun doing it. So, I would--I am here today because that is
so----
I want to thank you, Ms. Curry. We have a community
college, Lawson State Community College, in Alabama that has
one of your partnerships. How does this partnership really
work? How do you get involved with a community college?
Ms. Curry. Thank you, Senator. We have actually five FAME
partnerships in your state. And, the coalition, which is the
Federation of Advanced Manufacturing, they--we pull together
small, medium, and large businesses. We actually market to all
the businesses with the school system, and we look at the
curriculum of the school system and we help change that
curriculum to meet the business needs.
We have over 400 companies, small, medium, and large, with
32 different community colleges that are involved in our
Advanced Manufacturing Technician program. And, it is, like I
said, ran by Manufacturing Institute now. It is nationalized.
It is--it works very well because we also teach the teacher,
and we also bring them into our businesses and let them see
what is needed.
To get that partnership, the Manufacturing Institute is the
conduit to help bring more chapters in. And we actually, since
the pandemic--in 2021, we have already initiated nine more
chapters. So, it is definitely something that is out there. It
is very easy to get ahold of on the Manufacturing Institute's
website, and anyone can be a partner, and we can help them with
these types of chapters.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you.
Mr. Ginsburg, I know CareerWise has a tech assistance
contract with Birmingham Promise Initiative in Alabama.
Programs like this one, what are apprentices paid?
Mr. Ginsburg. It differs, but certainly, obviously, at the
minimum wage. But, what we are seeing is around 15, $16 even
before the pandemic because companies saw the value and wanted
to make the investment.
What is more important, though, is they are graduating from
their apprenticeship earning 45 to $55,000. So, it is an
apprenticeship wage. In a registered model, you have to
increase that wage as the competency increases. So, this is a
path not just to the middle class, but actually beyond.
Senator Tuberville. I can remember graduating from college
back in 1976. My parents spent a lot of money for that
scholarship back then. It was a lot of money for what we spent.
My first contract teaching school and coaching was $8,500 a
year. We have come a long way. You are talking 50, 55,000 for
apprenticeship, and we are fortunate to have jobs like this
where people can train on the job.
How many hours a week do they usually work?
Mr. Ginsburg. It ranges from in their first year, 16 hours
a week in the business; second year, 3 days a week; and then it
can go to full or part time, depending on post-secondary
options.
Senator Tuberville. What is your percentage of success?
Success rate, people staying in your programs.
Mr. Ginsburg. Obviously, we are nascent. We just--we have
now graduated two cohorts of apprentices of--nearly 1,000
apprentices are in the program currently, nationally. Over 200
businesses, ranging from small businesses, like the companies
in Goshen and in Indiana, as well as large companies like
JPMorgan Chase in New York. What we are seeing in those two
full cohorts is that the equity promise of apprenticeship is
rising, meaning that it is breaking that cement ceiling that I
believe exists above students that may not come from the same
opportunity or the right zip code, and they are gaining jobs
that pay middle-class wages early on.
I will tell you the percentages are in the 30, 40 percent,
but we are early on. Of those that graduate and matriculate,
another 20, 30 percent will continue on with post-secondary
education, which we view as a win simply because they have
already spent 2 years in the practical learning that takes
place in the workplace that then is married to the theoretical.
What is also important is the companies reporting that an
apprentice is 91 percent as efficient, productive, as a regular
employee. Think about that. A high school student trained
through an apprenticeship, coming out of that apprenticeship is
already 91 percent as effective. The students themselves are
finding almost 100 percent, saying because of their
apprenticeship. Like Ms. Navarro, she has the opportunity to
get a credential and move on to post-secondary education.
Almost all of our apprentices are seeing that. This is a path
of opportunity, a path of options.
Senator Tuberville. Yes. And one thing I would like to say
about it is, it gives them an opportunity to continue their
education and really enjoy it. Probably our panel up here does
not really understand some of our education. If you look at the
direction that we are headed in public schools, as we speak
today, half the kids cannot read over the sixth grade reading
level. And apprenticeships will teach them and encourage them
to continue to learn to read, to learn to write, and do all
those things. So, I think that is another very important aspect
of this point.
Mr. Ginsburg. Senator, you are right on. You are hitting
the nail on the head. What we are seeing with our apprentices
that are not reading at grade level, sometimes many grade
levels below, is once they start an apprenticeship and they can
see where that math is important, that reading is important,
how you write an email or professional letter, they come up to
grade level faster than they would in the classroom. So, you
are 100 percent right.
You are also right, the students, when they find their
passion, like you did, like I was fortunate to do, it
accelerates their life and the potential that they have as a
young person and a contributing member of our Country, of our
society.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you. Sorry for going over, Mr.
Chairman.
The Chairman. No, that is Okay. That was a great last
question and answer. I would not have missed it for the world.
Senator Baldwin.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you so much. I really appreciate our
having this hearing and our witnesses today. Thank you so much
for your participation.
I wanted to make a couple of observations before asking my
questions. Obviously, this hearing focuses on apprenticeship
opportunities, and a lot of discussion about talking to young
people early about how they might progress in their careers and
what opportunities exist. I wanted to just say that I, too, am
hearing from so many of my employers in Wisconsin. We are a
state, by the way, that is a big manufacturing state. The
Ranking Member and I compete.
Senator Braun. Second to Indiana.
Senator Baldwin. Second? We go back and forth between first
and second with regard to the population in our states that are
involved in making things, in manufacturing. And, so, we are
kind of competitive about those things.
But, I want to just suggest that not only are we hearing
today about workforce shortages, but we have some ambitious
plans on a bipartisan basis to pass the Endless Frontiers Act
and deal with supply chain issues and bring manufacturing for
critical supply chain issues--items back to the U.S.
We have a bipartisan infrastructure bill that we hope to
advance that would really scale up our interest in, say,
getting rid of, in drinking water, lead laterals. And we are
going to need a lot more pipefitters and plumbers in order to
get rid of all of our lead laterals in 8 years versus in our
state, at current pace, it would take 70 years to do it.
We need a lot more people, and so my questions are going to
be a couple of things. One is, what obstacles exist to what you
are doing now, Mr. Ginsburg and Ms. Curry, and how do we scale
up the type of activities that you are engaged in to deal with
the workforce shortage issue?
Then I just also wanted to note that there is another
population aside from young people who are coming up, and that
is people who have been displaced from the workforce for a
while. And that can be for any number of reasons--caregiving
for a loved one, incarceration. It can be, their job going away
during the pandemic and they have not returned. And for those
individuals, I think there is a call for other types of
programs.
What I have always been supportive of is having some
scalable transitional job program that allows us to help folks
who have been out of the workforce for a while to identify the
barriers to their employment. We are going to be having to work
on all fronts, assuming that we get our bipartisan bills across
the finish line to create a lot more new jobs.
Let me ask Mr. Ginsburg and Ms. Curry, what obstacles do
you see other businesses having to do with the type of
partnership work that you are talking about, especially small-
and medium-size businesses? And, how do we scale up
dramatically?
Mr. Ginsburg. Thank you for the question, Senator. It is
obviously the most important question, is this just a nice
program or can it change our Country?
Senator Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Ginsburg. Coming from manufacturing, what I learned
early on is you go to the root of the problem and solve it
there as opposed to in the warehouse. Right now, where that
starts is in our K-12 system. What Ms. Navarro shared with you
is the counseling that she got that was not just go to college,
but look at your options.
Part of that is the work that, as intermediaries, we do
with our schools to train them; how we work with employers to
help speak a language and train them in a language that is not
familiar. Yes, it is if you are in the trades, but these are
modern skills and opportunities, and businesses just do not
know how to train necessarily, particularly small- and mid-
size.
Having intermediaries that can help train the businesses,
the supervisors, the coaches; walk them through the registered
apprenticeship model. In time, they will become self-
sufficient. This is not a quick fix, but it is
transformational.
What I would tell you to scale, frankly, is to invest in
industries to build the competency set so they are training to
the contemporary needs of business today, that those are
updated. Whether it is intermediaries like CareerWise or
chambers or associations that will train and recruit businesses
to do this. In the end, they will do it, and it will scale
because it is in their self-interest.
In my company, we are more profitable today. We won
Processor of the Year in the Country, in large part because of
our apprenticeship program. But, it takes resources. If we
continue to invest simply in our K-12 and higher ed system,
without at the same time--I am not suggesting not funding. We
need to invest in our education system. But, if we do not fund
differently in our workforce system, then there will be no
change.
The infrastructure that we need in this Country, whether it
is digital, whether it is energy, whether it is in the trades,
whether it is banking, finance, insurance, it will take an
investment to change our workforce. And, in so doing that,
higher ed will change, K-12 will become independent, but there
is a need for resources to make that happen to scale.
The fact is, if other countries can do this, we can do it
better.
The Chairman. Ms. Curry, did you want to add something to
that?
Ms. Curry. Yes, sure. Our FAME program, we were able to
scale that up by bringing in small, medium, and large
businesses and showing that there is a pathway and then there
is a curriculum and then there is an actual standardized work
on how to do this type of program. And, that is why
Manufacturing Institute was able to take this on and
nationalize the program.
One of the other obstacles I think that students face, and
I am very vocal about this, is the requirements of, in the CTE,
sometimes these requirements change and they change year by
year. And, so, many times, a student may get stuck in one
pathway and they cannot diversify the actual classes that they
want to take.
I think that we need to make it a very--much more flexible
programs within the high schools in that the students can pick
different pathways and they are not shoehorned into that
pathway if they want to change.
Working with our educators and working with the colleges to
make sure that these are recommended and actual certified
programs that are recognized, and that the students are awarded
for these types of pathways in order to get their careers
started is key. So, I really feel like, we have been able to
show that we can scale this program that we have and, it is
really--for me, I think it is the benchmark right now in our
industry for how to make a scalable program and take it
national.
The Chairman. Great. Thank you very much.
Senator Romney.
Senator Romney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to
each of you for your expertise and your willingness to testify
today.
My State of Utah is, as you may not know, is the fastest
growing state in the Nation, according to the Census Bureau
with the information they came out with. Our unemployment rate
right now is just over 2 percent, and one of the reasons for
that is that we have a very well-trained, highly educated,
highly motivated workforce. And businesses that are looking for
people they can hire in a good economic environment, with good
taxes and regulations, they find our state very attractive.
One of the other reasons that we have such an effectively
trained workforce is that we have a very ample apprenticeship
program. A notable example of that is between, for instance,
say, a company called Stadler Rail--they make railcars for
transit purposes--and Salt Lake Community College. And under
their program, students are trained for 3 years. This coming
May, the Stadler apprenticeship program will graduate their
first cohort of 15 students with Associate Degrees--no cost to
the students, of course--during which they will have gained
transferable skills and prospect for high-paying employment
down the road.
Stadler was the beneficiary of the Trump administration's
Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Program, the so-called IRAP
Program, which aimed to expand private industry participation
in workforce training by promoting apprenticeships. I raise
that today because the current Administration has apparently
plans to eliminate this program, or to sideline it, and I would
note that programs such as this, I think, are essential to help
encourage more apprenticeship programs.
Let me start with you, Ms. Curry, which is, do you have any
idea why the Administration would be trying to end this
apprenticeship-promoting program? There are some who suggested
it may be as a result of unions that do not like these
apprenticeship programs, and I am interested in your experience
with union enterprises. How do the unions feel about your
apprenticeship programs at Toyota?
Ms. Curry. Well, I personally do not know how our--the
unions feel about our program, but we work with our skilled
trades unions all the time. They are here onsite doing many,
many of our installations for our equipment.
For me, I think the main thing is that it must be industry-
led, and it must be in collaboration with small, medium, and
large businesses, and with the community colleges. If we--the
fast pace of technology right now, we are working on artificial
intelligence. We are working on HoloLens for Microsoft to
actually train our team members offline.
There are so many different types of technologies that are
moving forward so quickly that it is key for the programs to be
industry-led so that we can help scale up not only the
students, but we can scale up the teachers, the professors, and
we can bring them in and show them how these technologies are
applied. So, I feel like whatever program you pick, it must be
industry-led to be successful.
Senator Romney. Thank you. Mr. Ginsburg, any comment on
that front? I agree with Ms. Curry, which is that linking
individuals in their education to a specific company with real
application in mind makes the education more effective and
creates better opportunities down the road for the student.
Mr. Ginsburg. Clearly, that is essential. And the goals of
the IRAP, I believe, in the beginning and now are important.
How do you streamline the system? How do you make it more
responsive to industry? How do you improve the quality?
At the same time, what I will say, if there is anything
that I observed over the last few years is there was some
confusion about the two, a registered and an IRAP. And, so, at
the end of the day, the objectives of what was set forth I
think can be achieved in either. But, to the point, the
learning that takes place in a business, along with what
happens in the classroom, changes young people's lives and
improves our economy.
I will share that I have a love for Utah because I love to
ski, but we also work with a company of Zions Bank, Vectra,
that has apprenticeships moving today. Actually, Ms. Navarro's
brother works for Vectra as an apprentice, and they are wanting
to expand both to their home market in Utah. Vail Resorts, who
is obviously involved with many of your resorts, same thing.
They are registering their apprenticeships.
Whatever we do, like anything in business, it has to
continue to improve. And, certainly within the current
registered system, there is room for improvement. We should
stay focused on that. And whatever model we use, we make sure
it responds to business, because if it is not industry-led, it
is not scalable.
Senator Romney. Thank you. Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Kaine, you have been waiting patiently.
Senator Kaine. Well, thank you to the Chairman and Ranking
Member for calling this important hearing, and for my
colleagues, and what a great panel of witnesses.
I am so excited about the opportunity in this
infrastructure bill, and I am very excited about the
reconciliation bill we are working on because I view them as
very complementary. The needs for investments in infrastructure
in our Country are massive, and yet the projects do not build
themselves and we need to have the workforce that can carry out
this ambitious infrastructure investment. And yet, there are
challenges right now getting people into, whether it is
infrastructure or construction or manufacturing, there are
challenges.
Just a story, a recent story from Virginia. I was traveling
in the Appalachian Region of Virginia about 3 weeks ago. Now,
this is the part of Virginia that tends to be the hardest hit
economically. Our state is doing pretty well economically right
now. Employment is coming back. But, Appalachia has a set of
persistent challenges.
One of the most notable employers in Appalachia is Volvo
Trucks in Pulaski. They make--if you see an over-the-road truck
in the United States with a Volvo plate on it, it is made in
Pulaski, Virginia in Appalachia.
The plant director at the Volvo plant in Pulaski said to
me, I could hire hundreds more people right now. I want to hire
hundreds more people right now, but I can't. I can't. I can't.
I can advertise everywhere. I can do creative things. I can
offer incentives, but I cannot get people to come and apply for
these jobs.
I was kind of digging into him, what is the challenge? Mr.
Ginsburg, you used a phrase, you said--you are in
manufacturing. You want to solve it in the manufacturing
process, not in the warehouse. And you said, so, that means
this problem, we have to solve it in the school system. And I
think there is a real need. And particularly, in a part of
the--my Commonwealth, and certainly part of the Country, where
we need good jobs for people.
There is a need to get to our guidance counselors and into
the schools really earlier than high school. We really need to
start doing it early in middle school as students are starting
to think about career paths, and to explain the options that
are available to people to make really good livings doing
really cool things.
Most young people, they do not know much about the
workplace. They know what their parents do. They know what
teachers do because they are with teachers every day. But, they
may not know what the spectrum of opportunities are, and yet we
expect them as high schoolers to start picking classes that
will equip them for a future when we have not really given them
the spectrum of what is available.
I hope part of what we might do is really go into the
schools earlier in the students' lives and help them with
career plans and expose to them the breadth of opportunities
that are available.
I come from a manufacturing household. My dad ran an
ironworking and welding shop. And I know Senator Portman raised
the Jobs Act. This is a bill that now has 39 sponsors. It is
very, very bipartisan. Both the Chairman and the Ranking Member
of this Subcommittee are co-sponsors of the bill. And it would
basically say, if college is important enough to warrant giving
a student a Pell Grant if they income qualify, why shouldn't
high-quality career and technical education be similarly valued
so that students and families who want to pursue those
opportunities should be able to get a Pell Grant, too?
We make Pell Grants flexible. We enable students who are
pursuing college programs part time to use Pell Grants. That is
good. We have recently done something that I am really excited
about, we have allowed the reintroduction of Pell Grants to
folks who are in prison who are pursuing college degrees.
Because we want them, when they are released, to be able to get
good jobs and be productive.
But, we do not allow Pell Grants to students who are in
high-quality career and technical education programs if those
programs are not the length of a traditional college semester.
Most high-quality career and technical education courses might
be 8 weeks long, but they are 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 40
hours a week, 320 hours, where the traditional college course
might be, 3 days a week for an hour and a half over a 14-week
semester. The classroom hours in a high-quality career and tech
program are dramatically more intensive than in programs for
which we currently allow Pell Grants.
This has been estimated to add just about, a tiny fraction.
If we were to expand Pell Grants to high-quality career and
technical education, it would just add a tiny, tiny little
fraction, in the single-digit percent, to the Pell Grant
budget. I appreciate my colleagues for their support on this.
I have one question for Ms. Curry.
Ms. Curry, at Toyota--one of the national skills coalitions
continues to talk about the fact that a lot of our workers do
not have foundational digital skills when they come into the
workforce, and that is particularly acute, and there is
inequities among folks in minority communities.
What does Toyota do in training to really, accelerate the
digital proficiency of new workers in your training programs?
Ms. Curry. Our program is very all-inclusive of the
different types of skill sets that you need, whether it is
showing up to work on time. You know, we actually work with the
colleges to make sure we look at the attendance, the soft skill
side, is--working in a team, being able to problem solve. And
then, obviously, with math and English classes, the wide range
of skills that you need to be successful.
We offer mentors, and we also offer people to help them if
they are struggling in a class. And, by doing this, I think
that we can--we make sure that they are successful, because we
give them tutors. We watch their grades. We have the
interaction with them. They are here onsite 3 days--they go to
school 3 days a week; they are here 2 days a week. And--oh, and
we are truly a partner with the college and the professor to
make sure that student is successful.
We do holistically look at the skill sets that is needed to
help you communicate, understand the requirements,
responsibilities that the job requires. We work with them on
their heart, their head, and their hands to make sure that they
can apply all these things to be successful in that pathway.
We recruit from an inclusive environment, and we utilize
our own members to go out into the school systems and show them
that, hey, someone that looks like me is doing this job, I can
do it. So, if you can see it, you can do it.
Senator Kaine. Excellent. Thanks, Ms. Curry. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Rosen.
Senator Rosen. Well, thank you, Chairman Hickenlooper, of
course, Ranking Member Braun. This is a terrific hearing. It
could not be more timely. And, I appreciate all the efforts
that when you think about the whole person, you work on their
heart, their head, and their hands. That is a great--a great
way to think about our workforce. Not just numbers--people.
They are our families. They are our communities and our
friends. So, it is a really timely topic.
But, I want to build on what Senator Kaine really was
talking about. And we are going to talk about maybe some of
those math skills or the hard skills, the things in school,
that I do think we have to get in a little bit earlier and show
kids earlier, in junior high, even, the kind of jobs that are
there. And even for retraining. That is a whole different
issue.
But, I want to talk about cybersecurity and advanced
manufacturing apprenticeships. These are some of the fastest
growing sectors of our workforce, and of course, they are job
creators in Nevada. And, so, far too often, our employers--you
know this--you struggle to fill the open positions because, as
everyone is saying, workers lack the technical skills or the
credentials needed to be successful in these kinds of jobs.
It is why over the past few years I have introduced
bipartisan bills to create registered apprenticeship programs
in cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing that actually lead
to credentials, and hopefully partnering with businesses across
this Country. So, my bills increase those collaborations. They
increase the partnership between small business, community
college and state college, local workforce boards, agencies to
target skills development from the communities where we need to
find this growth.
Mr. Ginsburg, please, can you discuss why it is so
important that registered apprenticeships lead to measurable
skills outcomes and recognized credentials so wherever folks
go, these skills are transportable along with them,
particularly in cybersecurity and our advanced manufacturing
industries?
Mr. Ginsburg. I think what we learned at CareerWise with
our partners--in New York, specifically, because they are all
Fortune 100 companies that do business in at least half the
states in this Country, if not every state in the Country--they
want one model that they can rely on throughout the Country.
What a registered apprenticeship program does, it gives them
that validation, that currency. So, it works for the company,
and it works for the young person. Because if Ms. Navarro went
to another state----
Senator Rosen. Right.
Mr. Ginsburg [continuing]. To another insurance company,
they could see, because of her registered apprenticeship, what
she knows, her competencies, and it gives her credibility more
than just a resume.
Senator Rosen. That is right.
Mr. Ginsburg. It is powerful. And there is something else
that you said that is important. Career exposure early on in a
student's career is important. If you walk into many, even
elementary schools, you will see banners for colleges, not
banners for career.
Senator Rosen. That is right.
Mr. Ginsburg. Ultimately, we need both. It is not an
either-or. But, if all we tell a young person is to be
successful in this Country is to get a 4-year degree and only a
third of them actually do--and with that, there is very little
equity. Apprenticeship, registered apprenticeship, helps build
equity into our system, and starting with youth, and that is
why youth apprenticeship can be so transformational. You get a
student and a young person when their brain is still
developing.
Senator Rosen. Right.
Mr. Ginsburg. Through that, we are shaping them, training
them in a way that will lead to a long-term future for them.
So, yes, registration is key.
Senator Rosen. I could not agree with you more. Even going
down to elementary school, exciting the kids. I have gone into
classrooms with robotics programs and they are building little
robots to do something. Then, they created a website to welcome
me and another one with questions. They had these pods in the
room. These are third graders, like 8, 9. Third, fourth
graders, 8, 9 years old. It was amazing, and they were having
so much fun and they were gaining these skills.
Trying to say, if you like to hike, you like the forest,
you like the city, there are jobs. If you go into biology, you
could be a forest ranger. Whatever those things are. And, I
think when you excite kids and show them a path, you are
exactly right.
I want to talk about the impact, though, with tourism and
hospitality. We have a lot of people who are going to be
displaced across this Country, not just in Nevada that relies
heavily on tourism, but across this Country that are displaced.
And we need to do the same thing to retrain our workers whose
jobs may either change or may not--may come back in a different
form or fashion, or may not come back at all.
We did give robust relief through the CARES Act and the
American Rescue Plan to support keeping people on the payroll
during the pandemic, but we do need to focus on the retraining
and reskilling.
Do you want to speak about some of the--as we go from
elementary school, but those folks in mid-career or might be
adults already, have a family, how do we get them into better
jobs?
Mr. Ginsburg. Well, what you are talking about is the need
for a system, and youth apprenticeship is essentially a
professional education and training system, or a dual education
system in the context of what we learned from our European
friends in Switzerland. And, what that means is that throughout
a person's lifetime, they should be able to retrain, get credit
for prior learning.
Why is that important? All of the work that apprenticeship
starts at the foundation can last a lifetime in terms of the
workforce system that is created.
In Colorado, we have created--the Governor has created an
Office of Professional Education and Training Innovation with
the intent of linking our workforce systems in a way that
supports the worker at any time in their life, and a core
element of that, as an example, is credit for prior learning.
If you are 45 and have been displaced, and someone says, well,
go back to school and get a new skill, well, first of all, they
have to start at the beginning. Why don't we give credit for
prior learning?
Senator Rosen. Right.
Mr. Ginsburg. That is a tool that makes university more
affordable. It recognizes the learning that takes place in the
workplace, which many times is as important as what takes place
in the classroom, and gives people a start into a new career.
We need a more permeable system in this Country, and we
need a workforce system that we invest in. And, it is part of
the infrastructure that I think you are talking about. It is
human infrastructure. The real value is not the machines in my
factory; it is the people. We have to invest in them at all
times in their life.
I wish I could be more specific. Obviously, my focus is on
youth because it is a foundational element. But, you are right.
We need a workforce system that is more permeable, that serves
people throughout their lifetime.
Senator Rosen. I think you are exactly right. Thank you for
being here. Investing in people is always a good investment.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. I can say an Amen to that.
Thank you guys. I know Senator Braun is trying to get back
here, so I will briefly stall because I also know that he can--
you can get tied up on the Senate floor.
I have a letter here from Governor Jared Polis, the
Governor of Colorado, to our entire delegation, describing
CareerWise and the importance of these programs and why we need
to make sure, as the U.S. Senate, that we find the resources
and the funding to make sure that we not only continue them,
but can expand them.
Without objection, I would like to submit for the hearing
record this letter from Governor Polis to the Colorado
delegation.
(The information referred to can be found on pageXX]As I
said, it asks for a shared vision between the Federal
delegation and the state government; and urges support for
robust workforce funding; for reauthorization of the National
Apprenticeship Act; and also asks the Senate to support high-
quality apprenticeship models, such as we have seen today in
both cases; that allow youths and adults to earn while they
learn versus stopping work to upscale or receive additional
training.
I want to thank each of you. I know how busy you are, and
all three of you, you are so impressive in different ways. And
I think it really is a pleasure that you could all join us, and
I could not appreciate your time more.
I guess I do not see Senator--is he close? Okay. Well,
then, we are going to let you off the hook.
We will conclude our hearing today. Obviously, I would like
to thank my colleague, Senator Braun, our Ranking Member, for
helping us organize this.
I want to especially thank our witnesses--Mr. Ginsburg, Ms.
Navarro, Ms. Curry. You guys are doing the real work. You are
changing the way this Country thinks about skills and learning
in such a way that--and this is something we have talked about,
Senator Braun and I have, trying to make sure that we have an
arc that covers a person's entire lifetime and allows people to
have a life that is continually enriched by additional skills
and additional learning.
Any Senators who have additional questions to ask--and I
think Senator Braun does. He is going to be--he is going to
punish me, I am sure, for closing this out. But, he can submit
those questions to the record within 6 days, on September 30th
at 5 p.m. And, the hearing record will also remain open until
then for Members who wish to submit additional materials for
the record.
With that, the Committee stands adjourned. Thank you all.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Jared Polis,
Governor Colorado.
September 21, 2021,
Hon. Michael Bennet,
261 Russell Senate Building,
Washington, DC.
Hon. John Hickenlooper,
SR-B85 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Representative Diana DeGette,
2111 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Representative Ed Perlmutter,
1226 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC.
Representative Doug Lamborn,
2371 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Representative Ken Buck,
2455 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Representative Jason Crow,
1229 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Representative Joe Neguse,
1419 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Representative Lauren Boebert,
1609 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Colorado Congressional Delegation Members:
Thank you for your leadership and continued partnership in putting
Colorado on the path to economic recovery as a result of the impacts of
the COVID-19 pandemic. As Congress debates investments in economic
recovery and growth, I want to reiterate the importance these
investments will have not only for our state and Nation's recovery, but
also in planning strategically for the future. While Colorado is
appreciative of the most recent aid provided by the American Rescue
Plan Act, there exists the continued need for a shared vision between
the Federal Delegation and State government on Colorado's just and
equitable transition to workforce revitalization to strengthen our
economy, create well-paying, local jobs, and improve the health and
well-being of our communities as our state and Nation emerge from the
pandemic.
In Colorado, we are focusing on earn and learn models, such as
apprenticeship, to support faster recovery efforts. Colorado partners
are implementing a high-quality apprenticeship system with more than
6,000 apprentices and an average wage of $29 per hour for Colorado
apprentices. Before the pandemic, employers were struggling to find the
skilled talent they needed. The pandemic has exacerbated the severe
skills gap and apprenticeship is an innovative strategy to address our
skills gaps.
On Wednesday, September 22, 2021, the Senate HELP Subcommittee on
Employment and Workplace Safety, chaired by Senator Hickenlooper, will
discuss apprenticeship and how to support scaling this strategy across
our country. Colorado's efforts regarding youth apprenticeship will be
highlighted during the hearing testimony, which thanks to the
leadership of then-Governor Hickenlooper in this area and continued
under my administration focuses on the expansion of apprenticeship in
industries, such as banking, finance, information technology and
healthcare. Modern apprenticeship is a strategy for building a more
inclusive economy by creating affordable, reliable, and equitable
pathways directly from high school to good jobs. It is an evidence-
based education and workforce strategy whose success has been proven in
countries around the world.
I strongly urge you to support robust workforce funding in
reconciliation and reauthorization of the National Apprenticeship Act
in the Senate for Federal support of high quality apprenticeship models
that allow youth and adults to earn-and-learn versus stopping out of
work to upskill or reskill, and allow businesses to meet their talent
needs.
If Congress fails to act in the near term, economic opportunity
will continue to be stunted by the lack of skilled workers for people
to access dignified careers with upward mobility and meet the growing
talent shortages for businesses across the country.
Thank you again for your continued leadership and consideration. I
look forward to continuing our partnership as we plan cohesively for
the future of our state. My team and I stand ready to continue
collaboration and secure additional relief for all Coloradans as we
emerge from this challenging time.
Sincerely,
Jared Polis,
Governor,
State of Colorado.
______
International Association of Sheet Metal, Rail and
Transportation Workers,
1750 New York Avenue NW Suite 600,
Washington, DC.
September 22, 2021,
Hon. Patty Murray, Chair,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chair Murray:
On behalf of our thousands of union members, the International
Association of Sheet Metal, Air Rail and Transportation Workers
(SMART), urges the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)
Committee to support the expansion of Registered Apprenticeship
Programs and invest in pipelines into these programs by swiftly passing
the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021 (H.R. 447).
SMART is one of North America's most dynamic and diverse unions.
Our members produce and provide the vital services that move products
to market, passengers to their destinations and ensure the quality of
the air we breathe. With the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning
Contractors' National Association (SMACNA), SMART jointly sponsors the
International Training Institute (ITI). The ITI operates 150 registered
apprenticeship training centers across the U.S. and Canada serving over
14,000 apprentices. The ITI supports registered apprenticeship and
advanced career training for union workers in the sheet metal industry.
Registered apprenticeship programs are the `gold standard' for our
Nation's workforce. These programs provide participants with state-of-
the art training that results in valuable skills and credentials that
help them secure employment and opportunities for advancement in a
rewarding career. These programs are unique in that students ``earn-
while-they-learn.'' Students earn wages from their employers during
training while receiving college credit toward their degree. These
programs provide on-the-job learning and job-related classroom
training, setting students up for success. This model of training and
skills development helps meet industry demand, reduces unemployment
rates across the country and actively promotes diversity and inclusion
in the workplace.
A skilled and trained workforce is essential to helping rebuild our
crumbling infrastructure and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Congress should increase support for registered apprenticeship programs
to help grow the U.S. economy and its trained workforce. While the
registered apprenticeship model is a proven success, the law has not
been meaningfully updated since it was enacted 83 years ago. H.R. 447--
the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021 provides an opportunity to
modernize this important law. In February, the House passed this law,
and we urge the Senate to follow.
H.R. 447 invests more than $3.5 billion over 5 years in expanding
opportunities and access to registered apprenticeships, pre-
apprenticeships and youth-apprenticeships in the U.S. It would codify
and streamline existing standards that are vital to support
apprentices, and would, for the first time, include youth
apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. The House Education and
Labor Committee estimates the bill would result in the creation of
nearly 1 million new registered apprenticeship opportunities and yield
$10.6 billion in net benefits to U.S. taxpayers.
We urge the Senate HELP Committee to increase support for the
registered apprenticeship model by passing H.R. 447 as approved by the
House. Taking this step will build a highly skilled, trained and
productive workforce, help the U.S. recover from the COVID-19 pandemic
and revitalize our economy.
Sincerely,
Mike Harris,
Program Administrator,
International Training Institute.
______
[Whereupon, the hearing was adjourned at 11:41 a.m.]
[all]