[Senate Hearing 117-396]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                    S. Hrg. 117-396

                  CONNECTING WORKERS AND COMMUNITIES:
                      PREPARING AND SUPPORTING THE
                           BROADBAND WORKFORCE

=======================================================================

                                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

                             SECOND SESSION

                                   ON

EXAMINING CONNECTING WORKERS AND COMMUNITIES, FOCUSING ON PREPARING AND 
                   SUPPORTING THE BROADBAND WORKFORCE

                               __________

                              MAY 3, 2022

                               __________

 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                    
48-907 PDF                   WASHINGTON : 2023  


 Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------     
       
        
          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, Ranking 
TINA SMITH, Minnesota                    Member
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            RAND PAUL, M.D., Kentucky
PATTY MURRAY, Washington (ex         TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
    officio)                         MITT ROMNEY, Utah
                                     RICHARD BURR, North Carolina (ex 
                                         officio)
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                               STATEMENTS

                          TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022

                                                                   Page

                           Committee Members

Hickenlooper, Hon. John, Chairman, Subcommittee on Employment and 
  Workplace Safety...............................................     1

Braun, Hon. Mike, a U.S. Senator from the State of Indiana.......     2

                               Witnesses

Gillum, Brent, President and CEO, LightStream, Buffalo, IN.......     4
    Prepared statement...........................................     6

Hendricks, Dan, Director, Denver Joint Electrical Apprenticeship 
  and Western Colorado Electrical Joint Apprenticeship, Denver, 
  CO.............................................................     9
    Prepared statement...........................................    11

Holcomb, Ron, President and CEO, Tipmont REMC/Wintek, Linden, IN.    12
    Prepared statement...........................................    14

Turner Lee, Nicol, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies and 
  Director of the Center for Technology Innovation, Brookings 
  Institution, Washington, DC....................................    23
    Prepared statement...........................................    25

                          ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Hickenlooper, Hon. John:

    Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), Jonathan 
      Adelstein, President and CEO, Statement for the Record.....    44

    Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC), Statement for the 
      Record.....................................................    46

 
                  CONNECTING WORKERS AND COMMUNITIES:
                      PREPARING AND SUPPORTING THE                         BROADBAND WORKFORCE

                              ----------                              


                         Tuesday, May 3, 2022,,

                                       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 9:35 a.m., in 
room 430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John 
Hickenlooper, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.

    Present: Senators Hickenlooper [presiding], Rosen, Smith, 
and Braun.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HICKENLOOPER

    Senator Hickenlooper. The Subcommittee on Employment and 
Workplace Safety will come to order. Today, we are discussing 
the broadband workforce, specifically how we can recruit and 
support workers to help build the broadband infrastructure of 
the future.

    Ranking Member Braun and I will each have an opening 
statement, then we will introduce the witnesses. After the 
witnesses give their testimony, Senators will each have 5 
minutes for a round of questions.

    While we are unable to have the hearing fully open to the 
public or media for in-person attendance, a live video is 
available on our Committee website help.senate.gov. We are at a 
critical time in our quest to expand access to high speed 
broadband internet to literally every American. We are at a 
critical time in our quest to implement our bipartisan 
infrastructure bill, now law, and this is going to be a 
historic investment in our national connectivity and will 
provide the resources and the tools necessary to get us where 
we need to go.

    But we can't fully achieve these goals if we do not have a 
skilled, well-trained workforce ready to deploy broadband 
across the country. And we know that we don't have enough 
broadband workers now and that has been true well before the 
infrastructure law was passed. This critical need for skilled 
laborers, tower climbers, technicians to help build the 
broadband infrastructure in communities has only gotten worse.

    We also know that we have workers who want those jobs and 
are ready to go through the rigorous on the job training that 
leads to fulfilling careers. We are making critical investments 
in getting high speed internet to more Americans. We also need 
to be making critical investments in our workers, and in the 
successful programs that give them the skills to succeed.

    I am delighted to welcome our excellent witness panel who 
are working to identify current gaps and help create a pipeline 
of good jobs that will take us into the future. We can work 
with high schools to strengthen STEM education, educate 
counselors about the proven benefits of apprenticeship 
programs. Help remove or at least diminish the stigma that goes 
when kids don't go on to college. We can help workers, whether 
current telecommunications professionals or those looking for 
change.

    We could help them to upskill and reskill, to specialize in 
broadband technology. And we can help programs like Dan's to 
recruit not only workers, but employers looking to hire 
apprentices. I think it is moments like these when we know we 
are on the cusp of something big, of something that we have 
been referring to as the great transition.

    The careers of the future are being built right now, and we 
need to seize the moment to create the appropriate promising 
pathways for workers of all ages so that every person in the 
future will have a fair shot at creating their version of the 
American dream and be part of what we are all trying to build 
for our Country.

    This effort is so important. I look forward to hearing from 
all of our testimony from the witnesses today about how we can 
make--how we can create a plan and then make progress in the 
weeks and years ahead. Before we start, I want to ask unanimous 
consent to enter two letters into the hearing record from the 
Wireless Infrastructure Association and the Independent 
Electrical Contractors. Any objections? Hearing none, then so 
entered.

    [The following information can be found on page 44 and 46 
in Additional Material.:]

    Senator Hickenlooper. I would like to welcome today's 
witness panel. Dan Hendricks, Director of the Denver Joint 
Electrical Apprenticeship and Western Colorado Electrical Joint 
Apprenticeship. These are programs in Denver and in Colorado--
in Grand Junction, in Colorado.

    Then Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow in Governance 
Studies, Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation 
at the Brookings Institute--Institution. And now, I would like 
to turn it over to Ranking Member Braun to say a few remarks 
and to introduce Mr. Gillum and Mr. Holcomb.

                   OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BRAUN

    Senator Braun. Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper. This is an 
interesting discussion because we are two of the rare Senators 
that have actually spent a lot of our career, mine mostly, in 
running a business. John as well has done that, and he knows 
what workforce is about. When I travel the state, and I visit 
all 92 counties every year, it is one of the fun parts of the 
job, workforce, workforce, workforce. And then when you don't 
hear that, it is rural broadband and, or affordable housing.

    It is interesting that across my state and I think probably 
across most states, a common theme. You look at Purdue 
University found over 56 percent of rural residents aren't 
happy with their internet service. I can attest to it. I think 
it was over the Thanksgiving break, I was real happy to have 
the whole family together and we were going to download a 
movie. Well, that was my job.

    I started it when I thought it would take maybe a few 
minutes of delay. And I think it was it was either Friday or 
Saturday evening. Well, the end result was we couldn't download 
it. The kids were all gone. And I think the movie came up on 
Monday. That is how bad internet is in many places. We have 
spent a decent amount of money on it. I am happy to say that in 
our own state we have raised it as a priority. Did a matching 
grant. I think put over $250 million out there. Telecom and 
REMCs are running with it.

    That is the kind of entrepreneurism I think we need, but it 
is not going to probably be enough. You are not going to get 
young families, you are not going to get people to start 
businesses in a place that has internet service like I just 
described.

    Ironically, I am just a mile North of my hometown that I 
grew up in that is now a giga city. Well, you probably if you 
were going to err on the side of maybe wanting to run a 
business out of your home in the country or start one there, 
you would have to make the decision, maybe to move in town, so 
that is not good.

    How do we solve it? I think a lot of it has to do with, I 
was on our education committee back in Indiana as a state 
legislator for 1 year, and I remember raising my voice that we 
need to look at workforce training, career and technical 
education to be an equal offering to kids as they go from 
middle school to high school. Made calls into my own school 
districts. Some of that work was even being stigmatized.

    Not everyone is going to end up being an astronaut or a 
heart surgeon. And we need to make sure now that parents have 
had a graduate or two--since 50 percent of those that pursue a 
4-year degree don't make it to the finish line, have debt and 
time lost.

    Another third end up getting a degree that does not have a 
market. For us to staff the needs of telecom, the needs of 
rural broadband, the things that we need to do, they require 
better high school curriculum, and I think we are getting 
there. As I visit states or counties across the State of 
Indiana, especially rural schools are taking that to heart.

    K through 12 education, especially middle school, is where 
it needs to start. Parents need to be involved. Maybe we can 
get them two jobs that average out there with that basic 
training coming out of high school, a little bit of polishing 
up, $77,000 plus. That is far better than many 4 year degrees 
pay, and you have got the certainty of a job to boot.

    I introduced the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce 
Act with Senator Klobuchar that would give the freedom to use 
529 savings accounts to cover the cost of high quality 
workforce training, or maybe a certificate. Congress should 
also add flexibility to Pell Grants. When you do that, you get 
rid of the stigmatizing that a lot of times happens from higher 
education and the institution of education. So a lot of things 
play into this. I feel confident that probably the solution 
will come from the bottom up, the grassroots. I see it 
happening across school districts.

    I see states taking the bull by the horn. We at the Federal 
level need to make sure that where we can, we enable, and we 
don't impede progress. It is a big need, and I am glad we are 
addressing it today. I will introduce two witnesses from 
Indiana. Brent Gillum. He is the President and CEO of 
LightStream headquartered in Buffalo, Indiana. I think that is 
up in White County. Actually had a customer up there when I ran 
my own business.

    That is why I knew where Buffalo was. Brent was raised in 
rural Indiana, and after leaving the military in 2000, he 
started with LightStream in 2007, became its President and CEO 
in 2017. He is passionate for rural broadband and sits on the 
Political Action Committee for NTCA, the Rural Broadband 
Association, as well as the Board of Directors for the Indiana 
Rural Broadband Association and White County Economic 
Development.

    Ron Holcomb is the President and CEO of Tipmont REMC/
Wintek. Ron joined Tipmont REMC as CEO in the summer of 2013. 
He has led three utilities as CEO and provides management 
consulting to utilities across the country.

    Ron is a 30 year veteran of the electric utility industry 
with experience in power supply, advanced grid technologies, 
essential service operations, economic development, and value 
driven growth initiatives for combined electric and 
telecommunication utilities. Thank you all for being here 
today.

    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Thank you, Senator Braun. So 
we will now have each of you speak for 5 minutes, hopefully. 
Try to--and the best advice I can give anybody in these 
hearings is as always try to keep your answers as concise as 
possible, because that allows us to get more questions in, 
which usually almost always leads to more robust discussion. So 
I would just start from the left. Mr. Gillum, why don't you go 
ahead first and give us your opening remarks.

  STATEMENT OF BRENT GILLUM, PRESIDENT AND CEO, LIGHTSTREAM, 
                          BUFFALO, IN

    Mr. Gillum. Okay, thank you. Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking 
Member Braun, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to testify about workforce development in the 
telecommunications industry. I am Brent Gillum, President and 
CEO of LightStream, a small rural broadband and voice provider 
based in Buffalo, Indiana.

    LightStream first began providing telephone service in 1956 
as Polaski White Rural Telephone Cooperative and is now a fiber 
based gigabit internet and telecommunications provider serving 
many parts of Northern Indiana.

    My remarks today are on behalf of LightStream with input 
from NTCA, the Rural Broadband Association, which represents 
LightStream and approximately 850 other rural community based 
carriers that offer advanced communications services throughout 
the most sparsely populated areas of the Nation.

    The landscape of LightStream is 168 square miles of mostly 
flat farmland with several interwoven rivers, lakes, and 
streams. 90 percent of the serving area is original 
cooperative, averaging 25 premises passed per square mile. 10 
percent of the serving area is a competitive environment, 
averaging 310 premises passed per square mile.

    Since 2010, LightStream has constructed 28 percent of our 
serving area with a worldwide--a world class fiber network. The 
remaining 72 percent is under construction now and will be 
complete no later than 2023.

    A reflection of our efforts, LightStream was awarded one of 
four providers by NTCA in 2021 as a Smart Rural Community 
Showcase Award winner. Access to broadband is the backbone of a 
21st century economy and deploying networks capable of 
delivering this vital service to every American household has 
become a national priority.

    This hearing comes at a time when Congress and the 
Administration are working toward implementation of the 
landmark bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, 
which, among other things, created the $42.5 billion Broadband 
Equity access and Deployment Program within the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration.

    Through this program and other Federal and state efforts 
like it, millions of Americans stand poised to gain 
connectivity for the first time, while others will see 
necessary upgrades made to their networks in order to keep pace 
with the ever increasing customer bandwidth needs. However, the 
increased demand for skilled telecommunication workforce comes 
at a time of an already limited labor market in every state 
around the country.

    This requires us, as a matter of national policy, to have a 
strategic approach to meet workforce needs for broadband 
network infrastructure deployment, programing and systems 
management, network maintenance, Internet of Things, and 
cybersecurity among other supported positions.

    Just as with broadband deployment, no single mode can 
provide a one size fits all solution to solving workforce 
shortages. In partnership with Congress, state and local 
governments, educational institutions, and others, we can 
develop a skilled telecommunications workforce with the help of 
providers of all sizes deployed--to deploy robust networks and 
help keep them resilient and more secure.

    We can achieve this goal by one, understanding the 
workforce needs by quantifying vacancies and project projected 
demand. Two, addressing barriers to telecommunication job 
pathways, particularly access to educational or training 
facilities in rural communities.

    Three, creating a workforce development opportunity in 
secondary and post-secondary schools by developing a new and 
leveraging existing curriculum, STEM programs, apprenticeships, 
and online learning.

    Four, forging local partnerships with industry, Government, 
educational institutions, and other economic development 
organizations. Community based providers like LightStream are 
deeply committed to the customers we serve. Given our 
experience and success in serving the most rural areas, we are 
one of the critical components of any strategic--any strategy 
seeking to achieve the national broadband workforce goals.

    We look forward to working with the policymakers and other 
stakeholders to build a strong telecommunications workforce so 
we can ensure that all Americans have access to affordable, 
reliable connectivity. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Gillum follows:]
                   prepared statement of brent gillum
    Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify about workforce 
development in the telecommunications industry. I am Brent Gillum, 
President and CEO of LightStream, a small rural broadband and voice 
provider based in Buffalo, Indiana. LightStream, which began as the 
Pulaski White Telephone Cooperative, first began providing telephone 
service in 1956 and now provides fiber-based gigabit internet and 
telecommunications services to many parts of northern Indiana.

    My remarks today are on behalf of LightStream, with input from 
NTCA--The Rural Broadband Association, which represents LightStream and 
approximately 850 other rural community-based carriers that offer 
advanced communications services throughout the most sparsely populated 
areas of the Nation. These cooperatives and small commercial companies 
serve the most rural parts of the United States, reaching areas that 
contain less than 5 percent of the U.S. population, but which are 
spread across nearly one third of the U.S. landmass. To give a further 
sense of the rural nature of this terrain, the average density of an 
NTCA member serving area is roughly seven subscribers per square mile.

    The landscape of LightStream is 168 square miles of mostly flat 
farmland with several interwoven rivers, lakes, and streams. 90 percent 
of the service area is the original cooperative that averages 25 
premises passed per square mile. 10 percent of the service area is a 
competitive environment that averages 310 premises passed per square 
mile.

    LightStream began constructing a fiber network in 2010 that started 
with connecting two hospitals for improved healthcare in our 
communities. Since then, we have worked strategically on building a 
fiber network that reaches across our entire serving area. Through 
2021, we've completed 50 square miles with 271 miles of fiber that 
passes 5,500 addresses. We have a remaining 120 square miles to 
complete at an estimated 357 miles of fiber that will pass nearly 4,000 
addresses.

    As a reflection of our efforts, LightStream was awarded as one of 
four providers by NTCA in 2021 as a Smart Rural Community Showcase 
Award winner. NTCA's SRC program is a network of communities supported 
by providers who are committed to creating opportunities in their 
communities through high-quality broadband service. Showcase Awards are 
given to those SRC members that best exemplify the program's goal of 
driving growth in rural communities. Because of access to gigabit speed 
internet, our rural area benefits from opportunities in education, 
healthcare, development, and more.
                                Overview
    Access to broadband is the backbone of the 21st Century economy, 
and deploying networks capable of delivering this vital service to 
every American household has become a national priority. To do so, 
however, the telecommunications industry urgently needs an expanded 
trained workforce so that the United States can remain competitive in 
the ever-expanding range of sectors that rely on advanced broadband 
services. This requires us, as a matter of national policy, to have a 
strategic approach to meet workforce needs for broadband network 
infrastructure deployment, programming and system management, network 
maintenance, Internet of Things (IoT), and cybersecurity, among other 
supporting positions.

    Yet, at a time of historic commitment by Congress and the 
administration to expanding broadband resources, our Nation faces 
historic labor shortages across numerous sectors. The 
telecommunications industry is no different in this regard and faces 
additional challenges as industry experts expect additional impending 
vacancies due to retirements to exacerbate shortages.

    LightStream has experienced substantial changes in personnel over 
the past 3 years resulting in a more inexperienced staff. We have added 
more employees to help with the construction of our network, as well as 
utilize more contractors and subcontractors. There is more work than 
available staff.

    We applaud Congress and the administration for passing and signing 
into law the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), 
which among other things created the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, 
Access, and Deployment Program within the National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration (NTIA). Through this program and other 
Federal and state efforts like it, millions of Americans stand poised 
to gain connectivity for the first time, while others will see 
necessary upgrades made to their networks in order to keep pace with 
ever-increasing consumer bandwidth needs. These investments will 
greatly improve the delivery of telemedicine, virtual education, 
advanced agriculture technology, security, and businesses alike. 
However, the increased demand for a skilled telecommunications 
workforce comes at a time of already limited labor market in every 
state around the country. In short, the ultimate success of these 
efforts to expand the availability of broadband will turn substantially 
on ensuring skilled workers and sufficient supplies are available to 
build these networks.

    A concerted effort by industry, government, and educational 
interests will be needed to develop a skilled workforce able to meet 
this challenge and fulfill this national mission by deploying next 
generation wired and wireless networks. To develop the 
telecommunications jobs needed in the short-term and mid-term, Congress 
could help by bolstering the capabilities of post-secondary education, 
including 2-year and 4-year colleges, and other institutions and 
providing support for employers to expand registered apprenticeships 
and associated technical instruction and certification costs. As a 
long-term matter, efforts to engage students at the secondary level 
will be important, as well.
                   Understanding Workforce Shortages
                            Identify Demand
    While workforce shortages in the telecommunications industry are 
well documented, it is important to note labor shortages in 
construction and technicians are compounded by workforce constraints 
that affect vendors that supply telecommunications equipment, 
contributing to larger supply chain issues. And, once a network is 
built, broadband providers need a strong and stable workforce to manage 
and maintain that network, including cybersecurity specialists, 
computer specialists, and electrical power line installers. It is 
necessary for a coordinated effort between Federal, state, and local 
governments, the telecommunications industry, and educators to quantify 
the demand in order to train a new workforce to keep track with the 
Nation's deployment goals and for providers to be able to meet program 
requirements.

    We welcomed the IIJA's inclusion of a provision to direct the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Labor to 
establish an interagency working group, which includes NTIA and the 
Department of Education, to prepare a report to Congress recommending 
steps to take to address the workforce needs of the telecommunications 
industry by January 14, 2023. While the interagency working group 
continues its work, we hope a goal of the group is to quantify these 
shortfalls in order to effectively and efficiently close the gap.
                           Overcome Barriers
    For many prospective telecom industry workers, a first step is 
access to local or regional schools that offer the right training and 
education for telecommunications professionals. Even where distance 
education can supplement classroom instruction, prospective workers in 
telecom need tactile, hands-on experience in supervised field or lab 
settings to acquire the skills needed to deploy and maintain the 
physical network plant facilities. Preceding all of this, however, is a 
need to enlighten students to the broadening career paths that are 
available in the telecom industry and establishing the educational 
structures in which students can gain access to the education and 
training necessary to pursue them. This can help resolve issues of 
prospective students or workers who may be unfamiliar with the 
telecommunications sector and its career opportunities, and so may not 
seek a path to the industry.

    LightStream has explored skilled workers for several years with 
little success. The closest post graduate school with a specific 
telecommunications program is a trade school located more than 3 hours 
from our headquarters. To help gain interest, we started a scholarship 
offering in 2020 that has yet to receive an applicant. Additional 
resources for these programs would be instrumental to companies like 
LightStream that serve rural America.

    Moreover, attracting workers to live and work in rural or remote 
areas poses its own challenges. Rural providers are committed to 
``growing their own'' and encouraging local talent to stay. Locally 
based workers who live in the communities they serve ensures rapid 
responses to service disruptions. Broadband operators and their 
customers want to be sure that technicians are available and do not 
need to travel long distances before work on the network can begin. 
This is necessary to ensure that customers do not experience 
inconvenient service disruptions that can affect everything from work, 
to healthcare, to educational endeavors.
                   Creating Development Opportunities
    Exposing students to telecommunications job pathways at an earlier 
point in their education could increase interest in the profession, 
starting in middle school and continuing through high school. We could 
do this by leveraging existing STEM programs. For high school students 
specifically, including an emphasis on these jobs through electives, 
advanced placements courses, and post-secondary education opportunities 
will help to build a strong, resilient workforce for the industry while 
also minimizing the amount of debt students may need to take on to 
further their education.

    Other measures Congress may consider would be to promote the 
``learn and earn'' model, whether through paid apprenticeships or 
internships. The Federal Government can assist in supporting such 
programs or individual students in seeking these training programs. It 
could also look to support individual state efforts, like those with 
reimbursement programs for employers who pay for their employees to 
further their trade by being reskilled or upskilled.

    Last, taking lessons learned from the last couple years where 
millions of Americans have worked and learned from home, educators 
should consider a coordinated remote or a hybrid-learning model to 
further extend opportunities to students who may not be able to 
relocate due to a limited income or a desire to remain in their 
communities while they further their education. Additionally, an all-
remote option may be well-suited for professionals looking to 
complement current skills, especially those living in rural communities 
without access to a local trade school, community college, or other 
accredited training and certificate programs. These virtual classroom 
experiences will often require some complementary hands-on experience 
that can be provided through apprenticeship or internship 
opportunities, or lab work. Nonetheless, making higher education more 
accessible to everyone through online learning where appropriate may 
help to bolster the telecommunications workforce, especially in rural 
areas.
               Establishing a Workforce Development Plan
                          Forging Partnerships
    We need like-minded organizations to promote and facilitate 
training and employment opportunities within the skilled trades of the 
telecom industry. In addition to government partners, educational 
institutions, and telecommunications providers and the greater 
industry, opportunities with state and local development offices or 
non-governmental organizations should not be overlooked in the larger 
strategy to meet workforce needs. These organizations could provide 
additional support, such as tuition relief or stipends for students 
training for jobs within the telecommunications industry. Furthermore, 
educational programming should look to incorporate industry 
professionals in teaching coursework or developing curricula. It is 
often the first-hand experience that proves most valuable once in the 
field, especially, if those students are paired with a career 
professional who has spent decades learning the trade.

    Finally, we should be creative in meeting students and prospective 
workers where they are and creating the pathways necessary to bring 
them into rewarding careers in the telecom industry. It is those 
principles that many successful programs already in place across the 
country use to address workforce needs, and these should be viewed as a 
model for expanded efforts. By way of example, a group of local rural 
providers in Kansas took note of student preferences to enjoy 
traditional 4-year college experiences, such as sports and access to 
campus amenities. That group of rural broadband providers worked with a 
local technical school to provide students at the 2-year school with 
campus ID and access to services at a nearby 4-year college. And, at 
the same time, those providers identified promising students and 
offered support for tuition and book fees. Partnerships like these can 
be expanded and can include partnerships among government and non-
governmental parties. Another example is a not-for-profit development 
organization in Vermont that has explored stipends for students 
transitioning from an existing job to the telecom industry. These 
stipends are intended to ensure that students training for telecom 
positions do not suffer a wage gap if they need to reduce work hours in 
order to attend school.

    While no single model can provide a ``one size fits all solution,'' 
the rural broadband industry has taken positive steps to formulating a 
menu of possibilities. As Congress considers funding programs to 
bolster a telecommunications workforce, it should allow for flexible 
program funding in order to accommodate innovative models that safely 
and effectively fill workforce needs. It is through this increased 
coordination and support from Federal, state and local sectors that we 
can develop these programs and, in turn, create a robust, energized and 
motivated workforce. And, along with it, the many industries that will 
improve and thrive with broadband connectivity.
                               Conclusion
    The telecommunications industry has documented great workforce 
needs across the industry from network construction and maintenance to 
cybersecurity. In partnership with Congress, state and local 
governments, educational institutions, and others, we can develop a 
skilled telecommunications workforce to help providers of all sizes 
deploy robust networks and help to keep them resilient and more secure. 
We can achieve that goal by (1) understanding workforce needs by 
quantifying vacancies and projected demand; (2) addressing barriers to 
telecommunications job pathways, particularly access to educational or 
training facilities in rural communities; (3) creating workforce 
development opportunities in secondary and post-secondary schools by 
developing new and leveraging existing curricula, STEM programs, 
apprenticeships, and online learning; and (4) forging local 
partnerships with industry, governments, educational institutions, and 
other development organizations.

    Community-based providers like LightStream are deeply committed to 
the customers we serve and, given our experience and success in serving 
the most rural areas, we are critical components of any strategy 
seeking to achieve the Nation's broadband workforce goals. We look 
forward to working with policymakers and other stakeholders to build a 
strong telecommunications workforce so we can ensure that all Americans 
have access to affordable and reliable connectivity.
                                 ______
                                 
    Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you very much. Appreciate your 
taking the time and coming here to testify. Now, we will go 
just in alphabetic order. Mr. Hendricks?

 STATEMENT OF DAN HENDRICKS, DIRECTOR, DENVER JOINT ELECTRICAL 
     APPRENTICESHIP AND WESTERN COLORADO ELECTRICAL JOINT 
                   APPRENTICESHIP, DENVER, CO

    Mr. Hendricks. Thank you, Senator. My name is Dan 
Hendricks, Training Director for the Denver Joint Electrical 
Apprenticeship and the Western Colorado Joint Electrical 
Apprenticeship. I am also a master electrician in the State of 
Colorado. I started my electrical training in the U.S. Navy. 
This was a great start to my career, but for many people, this 
is not an option.

    I want to talk to you today about a nearly unknown option 
that is available. There is no better way to learn a skilled 
trade than in a registered apprenticeship, and millions of 
people barely know they exist. Last year, our apprenticeship 
started a trades program in partnership with Sheridan High 
School. There, a high school senior named Tyson heard about 
apprenticeships for the first time.

    Tyson is now working in the field, and in a few years will 
be a highly skilled craftsman. We need more Tysons. Thousands 
more, across the country. Our apprentices receive thousands of 
hours of on the job training, coupled with hundreds of hours of 
related instruction before they can be considered journey 
workers. Both aspects are vital, and the interaction of the two 
are what makes an apprenticeship unique.

    The contractors who provide the on the job training 
opportunities for our apprenticeships know this system works. 
They know when they request an apprentice from the 
apprenticeship, they can count on getting a quality worker, a 
worker whose training they had a part in crafting, even if that 
person has never worked for them. Any contractor, regardless of 
size or contribution level, has access to highly trained 
apprentices.

    In many cases, the apprenticeship can provide training a 
small, disadvantaged contractor could not afford. In the 
construction industry, it is very hard for contractors to make 
an investment in the future. All are operating on a very thin 
profit margin. However, the contractors that support my 
apprenticeships have made that investment. They know if you 
want journey workers now, you needed to invest in apprentices 4 
years ago.

    We find ourselves in the situation we are in due to our 
society deciding investments in teaching the skilled trades 
weren't profitable. Can you imagine a citizen of the United 
States not knowing you could go to college? It is unthinkable. 
Yet, I speak to people all the time who don't know 
apprenticeships still exist.

    Here you have a program where you learn a trade, earn a 
wage, gain benefits, and work toward a lifelong career all at 
the same time, all without needing to go into debt, and people 
don't know it exists. Our apprenticeship spends a great deal of 
time attending high school job fairs and going to community 
centers and workforce events, all in hopes of recruiting 
applicants to our program. Invariably, each interaction starts 
with an explanation of what an apprenticeship is.

    Our apprenticeship is currently under capacity. We have 
room for 600 apprentices. We have 360. Only 10 of those are 
apprentice technicians specifically trained in this broadband 
arena. We could have 60 future journeyman technicians training 
right now. I am sure the country could use an extra 50 
technicians trained in fiber optics splicing, distributed 
antenna systems, or building and maintaining microwave towers.

    We have so few because we don't have the jobs to put them 
on to support and reinforce the training they would receive in 
the classroom. Projects that demand registered apprenticeship 
utilization are an investment in the future journey workers we 
all know we need.

    Finally, not only are journey workers needed for their 
skills on the job, but they are also needed to teach the next 
generation of apprentices. We need to incentivize those who 
have achieved this skill level to stay in the industry. They 
should receive a sustainable wage anywhere they choose to work. 
An apprenticeship completion certificate and a journeyman card 
are portable credentials.

    Armed with these and other credentials they receive in the 
apprenticeship, a journey worker who has completed our program 
can work anywhere in the country. This makes them valuable as 
the skills go with the journey worker wherever they are needed. 
Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Hendricks follows:]
                  prepared statement of dan hendricks
    I would like to introduce you to a debate that has gone on for 
years in the Construction Trades Community. The debate centers on the 
title, Journeyworker. Some will tell you the ``journey'' portion of the 
word comes from the French word Journee' meaning, day. They were 
dayworkers or someone who was paid a wage for a day's work. Some will 
tell you the ``journey'' portion comes from the act of a craftsperson, 
when they had reached a certain skill level, leaving the home of their 
teacher and journeying to the next village to set up their own 
business. In both cases these craftspeople had reached a certain skill 
level to be able to charge a fee for the work they provided or the 
things they could build. Regardless of which argument is correct, we 
need more of these people. More of the people with the skill level to 
build the projects we need and to command a sustainable wage for doing 
so.

    My name is Dan Hendricks. Training Director for the Denver Joint 
Electrical Apprenticeship and the Western Colorado Joint Electrical 
Apprenticeship. I started in the U.S. Navy. I am here today to talk 
about the period before a person becomes a Journeyworker. I am here to 
talk about the time and effort it took to learn those skills and the 
system set up to train Journeyworkers. There is no better way to learn 
a skilled trade than in a Registered Apprenticeship. Our own 
apprentices receive thousands of hours of on-the-job training coupled 
with hundreds of hours of related instruction before they can be 
considered Journeyworkers. Both aspects are vital and the interaction 
of the two are what makes an apprenticeship unique. All our apprentices 
receive an OSHA 10 card at the beginning of their apprenticeship. This 
means they have received 12 hours of safety training in the classroom. 
That classroom training is then reinforced on the job. Our trade can be 
hazardous and this training and the reinforcement of it can and does 
save lives.

    The contractors who provide the on-the-job training opportunities 
for our apprentices know this system works. They know when they request 
an apprentice from the apprenticeship, they can count on getting a 
quality worker. A worker whose training they had a part in crafting 
even if that person has not worked for them before. Any contractor 
regardless of size or contribution level has access to highly trained 
apprentices. The contractors are partners in developing the training 
the apprenticeship requires. In many cases the apprenticeship can 
provide training a small, disadvantaged contractor could not afford. 
Equipment can't be taken out of production for the time it would take 
to train an apprentice to use it. The apprentice may have however had 
the opportunity to train with it at the apprenticeship. This makes the 
apprentice immediately productive. Employers know apprenticeship also 
leads to greater retention which leads to less retraining. In all it is 
estimated Registered Apprenticeship returns $1.46 for every $1 spent.

    In the construction industry it is very hard for contractors to 
make an investment in the future. All contractors are living on a very 
thin profit margin. However, the contractors that support my 
apprenticeships have made that investment. They know if you want 
Journeyworkers now you needed to invest in apprentices 4 years ago. 
Tyson. We find ourselves in the situation we are in due to our society 
deciding investments in teaching the skilled trades weren't profitable. 
Can you imagine a citizen of the United States not knowing you could go 
to college, get a degree in a chosen field, and better your life by 
doing so? It is simply unthinkable. Yet I speak to people all the time 
who don't know apprenticeships still exist. Here you have a program 
where you learn a trade, earn a wage, gain benefits and work toward a 
lifelong career all at the same time, all without needing to go into 
debt, and people don't know it exists. Our apprenticeship spends a 
great deal of time attending high school job fairs and going to 
community centers and workforce events all in the hopes of recruiting 
applicants to our program. Invariably each interaction starts with an 
explanation of what an apprenticeship is. I spend much of my time at 
these events talking to the counselors and teachers, so they know 
enough to explain it to future students or clients. If we want 
Journeyworkers we need to talk about apprenticeships in the same manner 
we talk about colleges. It's just a different way to a great career.

    Our Apprenticeship is currently under capacity. We have room for 
600 apprentices. We have 360. Only ten of those are Apprentice 
Technicians specifically trained in this broadband arena. We could have 
60 future Journeyman Technicians training right now. I am sure the 
country could use an extra 50 technicians trained in fiber-optic 
splicing, distributed antenna systems, or building and maintaining 
microwave towers. We have so few because we don't have the jobs to put 
them on to support and reinforce the training they would receive in the 
classroom.

    Regardless of the promise of a great career, if there isn't a 
paycheck to sustain them while they learn their trade then many people 
must choose a different path. Projects that demand registered 
apprenticeship utilization are an investment in the future 
Journeyworkers we all know we need.

    Finally, not only are Journeyworkers needed for their skills on the 
job, but they are also needed to teach the next generation of 
apprentices. We need to incentivize those who have achieved this skill 
level to stay in the industry. They should receive a sustainable wage 
anywhere they choose to work. An apprenticeship completion certificate 
and a Journeyman card are portable credentials. Armed with these and 
the other credentials they receive in the apprenticeship, such as BICSI 
Installer. A Journeyworker who has completed our program can work 
anywhere in the country. This makes them incredibly valuable as the 
knowledge and skills go with the Journeyworker wherever they are needed 
most.
                                 ______
                                 
    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Thank you very much. 
Appreciate it. Again, I know you are as busy as any of us. This 
young person has to commute 300 miles between his two jobs, his 
two offices, so thank you for taking the time as well. Mr. 
Holcomb?

   STATEMENT OF RON HOLCOMB, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TIPMONT REMC/
                       WINTEK, LINDEN, IN

    Mr. Holcomb. Good morning. My name is Ronald Holcomb, and I 
am the President and CEO of Tipmont/Wintek. Thank you to 
Senator Braun for the invitation today, Senator Hickenlooper 
for Chairing the Subcommittee, and all the Members of the 
Subcommittee for your service.

    Tipmont/Wintek is a premier provider of energy and 
communication services in North Central, Indiana. Founded in 
1939, Tipmont is a member owned cooperative providing electric 
and broadband services to over 28,000 consumers. In 2019, 
Tipmont acquired Wintek Corporation, a fiber internet services 
company, to serve as a foundation to build fiber to the home 
broadband in our electric service area.

    The need was great, and our customers overwhelmingly 
supported the project. Ask my kids who are in their late 
twenties to choose between an excellent broadband service and a 
heated home, they will take the internet and wear a coat. That 
is why in America today, workforce development and broadband 
development are inextricably linked. It is difficult to have 
one without the other.

    Reliable broadband--without reliable broadband, many people 
will choose to live elsewhere, especially those with technical 
skills and interests. In rural America, this is a persistent 
problem. It starts with our inadequate definition of broadband. 
In rural America, broadband is usually defined by the 
technology a carrier can deliver. It should mean a service that 
meets consumer's needs without limit.

    Broadband is a doctor reading radiological studies in real 
time. It is an entrepreneur with basement servers as a startup. 
It is a family of four online all at the same time. That 
broadband was not available to our electric customers, so we 
chose to provide it. To do so, we have built a broadband 
workforce, but like many companies, we face challenges to build 
our team.

    Rather than pursue prospective employees with deep 
experience, we seek motivated people in our own community and 
invest in their education and development. While this approach 
is often slower than we may like, it offers stability and 
strengthens both the company and the community. With broadband 
career outreach programs, we build tomorrow's team, today, 
sparking career interest early, creating a culture of industry 
focused apprenticeships, and building a talent pipeline.

    But regardless of how employees join our broadband team, 
they all agree, if it is not fiber, it is not broadband. We 
learned this lesson from our customers. Just ask Susan 
Benedict, a customer with an interior design business. From her 
back porch, Susan can see Lafayette, Indiana, an area with 
200,000 people and Purdue University. But DSL is the only 
service available to her. Susan's time spent offline when it 
fails has created a 25 percent loss of her business.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Sara Huffer lost access to life saving 
technology for stroke victims because their home connection was 
too slow. As COVID-19 hit, we heard from teachers who drove 
thumb drives to kids without internet access or families who 
sent their children to live with relatives who had better 
service.

    Rural Americans are used to work arounds because when it 
comes to comparable infrastructure, they are often left behind. 
So why is that? For the last few decades, rural broadband 
policy has applied a private sector business model to a public 
infrastructure deficiency.

    If real broadband were profitable, this model would likely 
work, but generally it is not profitable. So it is time to 
admit that our model needs some reform, one that prioritizes 
human ROI over corporate ROI. For example, at Tipmont, we are 
committed to world class infrastructure, coupled with an 
obligation to serve.

    That means infrastructure investment returns do not drive 
infrastructure investment decisions. Everyone has access. And 
you won't find a better investment than fiber broadband. In 
2018, we commissioned to produce a study that found communities 
and the State of Indiana would receive $4 of return on every $1 
invested in fiber broadband. If every Indiana co-op built this 
infrastructure, our collective return would be $12 billion over 
20 years.

    We are grateful for the broadband access that support our 
work for--sorry. We are grateful for the broadband grant 
program to support our work. Without them, the sustainable 
business risk would certainly be higher. But as we have 
learned, these programs have pitfalls, from inconsistent speed 
requirements to flawed coverage data that prioritizes carriers 
over consumers.

    Despite the challenges posed by grant funding, acquiring a 
talented workforce, and the many other challenges posed by a 
project of this scale and scope, it is deeply satisfying to be 
part of something this meaningful to the people that we serve. 
Most internet providers on the American Customer Satisfaction 
Index score are somewhere in the 60's. Tipmont/Wintek is at 85.

    The last time I checked that beats Chick-Fil-A. So if only 
we could have some chicken sandwiches along with our internet 
packages. But jokes aside, that score represents years of hard 
work of dedicated people. We have connected 4,000 customers 
since 2019, and today we will connect 10 more.

    So thank you very much for your indulgement to--because I 
ran--I did not run overtime. They are mine, so we are good to 
go.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Holcomb follows:]
                   prepared statement of ron holcomb
    Good morning. My name is Ron Holcomb, and I am the President and 
CEO of Tipmont Wintek.

    It is an honor to be invited to provide testimony to the U.S. 
Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety on the subject 
of the broadband workforce and barriers to broadband expansion.

    On behalf of our entire team at Tipmont Wintek, I would like to 
thank Senator Braun for the invitation to testify, Senator Hickenlooper 
for Chairing the Subcommittee, and all Members of the Subcommittee for 
their work to pursue strategic and sustainable solutions on today's 
topics.
           Tipmont Wintek: Empowering People and Communities
    First, I would like to offer some background on Tipmont Wintek and 
our mission.

    Tipmont Wintek is a premier regional provider of energy and 
communication services in north-central Indiana--a team of 110 that is 
collectively empowering people and communities with state-of-the-art 
essential services.

    Tipmont is a rural electric membership corporation, or REMC, 
founded in 1939. Today, as a member-owned cooperative governed by a 
board of directors, our REMC provides electric service to over 25,000 
people in eight Indiana counties.

    In January 2019, Tipmont acquired Wintek Corporation, a technology 
company in Lafayette, Indiana, which had provided leading-edge 
technology solutions for nearly a half-century. In addition to electric 
service, Tipmont Wintek also builds state-of-the-art, fiber-to-the-home 
broadband service in the REMC's electric-service area, along with 
customized business technology solutions.
             Workforce Development = Broadband Development
    I have been asked here today to discuss workforce development and 
broadband development. In America today, these are indivisible notions.

    If a community wants to attract top talent, it must provide 
broadband access that is uncomplicated and uncompromised. This 
expectation is especially true for young workers.

    Just ask my kids, who are in their late 20's, what they would do if 
asked to choose between excellent broadband and heat in their homes. 
They would take the internet and put on a coat.

    If a community lacks fast, reliable and affordable broadband, 
people will simply choose to live elsewhere. This has been a problem 
for years in our largely rural service area and in much of rural 
America.
                    The Real Definition of Broadband
    The problem begins with an inadequate definition of broadband.

    In rural America, ``broadband'' means whatever technology a carrier 
can deliver. Satellite internet is called broadband. DSL is called 
broadband. Constrained wireless technology? That is called broadband, 
too.

    What these definitions are missing is whether the service 
adequately meets a customer's need.

    If a doctor needs to read radiological studies from their home in 
real time, that is broadband. If an entrepreneur needs basement servers 
for a startup, that is broadband. If a family of four needs to be 
online all at once, that is broadband.

    At Tipmont Wintek, we define broadband as whatever our customers 
need to pursue their goals.

    That level of broadband was not available to them, for reasons I 
will discuss in a bit, and that is why we made the choice to build a 
superior broadband option for our service area.
              Broadband Workforces Face Unique Challenges
    To accomplish our mission, Tipmont Wintek has built a broadband 
workforce encompassing everyone from high-school graduates to engineers 
who have master's degrees.

    As we built this team, we found a unique catch-22: Inferior 
broadband in our communities can make it hard to entice the technical 
professionals and tradespeople we need to build something better.

    This is why we must find people inspired to improve the quality of 
life in the very communities they call home. We are among many 
businesses today that face challenges in finding these people.
              Building and Nurturing a Broadband Workforce
    It can be difficult to get any person to apply let alone the right 
one.

    For example: Tipmont Wintek recently opened a position on our 
construction crew. The requirements were a high-school diploma or 
equivalent GED, along with a valid driver's license. We spoke with 
eight candidates on the phone and invited them all for in-person 
interviews. Only two showed up. Of the other six, one pursued a 
different opportunity and five never returned our calls about 
scheduling a follow-up.

    As a not-for-profit, we also struggle to compete with wages offered 
by for-profit companies and contractors, particularly in areas of 
skilled-trade labor. Escalating wages is a case of supply and-demand 
imbalance for these skills in the market, which I do not believe will 
correct anytime soon.

    Despite these challenges, Tipmont Wintek has thrived by reframing 
its approach to talent acquisition. Rather than pursue a ``perfect'' 
employee, we prioritize the development of the right people and their 
potential.

    At Tipmont Wintek, we seek proactive problem-solvers with 
insatiable curiosity--the kind who crave continuous education and 
diversified responsibilities.

    One such person is Peter Burr. A U.S. Army veteran, Peter joined us 
in 2021 as a Construction Specialist. His work involves outdoor 
engineering to run fiber along customers' properties to their homes.

    Peter had no experience with fiber-optic engineering but excelled 
at project management. We leveraged that skill and gave Peter plenty of 
field time with established fiber engineers. He has since taken on 
responsibility for electrical engineering tasks as well as our co-op's 
electric solar initiatives. These were new to Peter, too, but we 
equipped him with classes and external resources that set him up for 
success.

    In Peter's own words: ``It has been encouraging to see how Tipmont 
Wintek develops people within their own organization. I am helping meet 
the company's long-term goals while directly benefiting from their 
trust in me to learn and acquire new skill sets.''

    We also reassessed the education levels of applicants relative to 
their promise and potential fit with the company.

    In the past, many Tipmont Wintek broadband positions required a 
specialized, 4-year engineering degree. To retain essential expertise, 
some still do. But for more entry-level positions, we now consider 
candidates with 2-year degrees in computer-related fields and an 
eagerness to jump in and learn.

    Our local Network Operations Center has become a proving ground 
through which to develop and diversify the skills and experiences of 
our broadband workforce. We give our team members meaningful projects 
in customer service, cybersecurity, system analysis, network 
engineering, computer programming, and more. It challenges, engages and 
motivates them while building a clear, comprehensive picture of our 
broadband mission.

    As broadband needs evolve, so will the need to expand activities 
that develop a strong, engaged broadband workforce. One potential 
solution may be a state-facilitated broadband apprenticeship program 
like the Rural Electric Apprenticeship Program (REAP) facilitated by 
Indiana Electric Cooperatives (IEC). REAP is a 4-year program requiring 
612 hours of comprehensive classroom instruction and at least 8,000 
hours of on-the-job training. REAP has certainly benefited our co-op, 
and IEC has discussed a broadband equivalent.

    Dustin Manns, one of our electric linemen, says his REAP experience 
provided him ``an opportunity to create professional value and become a 
better person.''

    What Dustin says is a crucial notion at the front of our minds as 
we develop people: We can build all the skills we want, but it will 
mean nothing if the process does not reflect both a person's career 
goals and Tipmont Wintek's values of innovation, public service heart, 
impact, respect and passion.

    Of course, finding the right people is half the battle. We must 
retain them with genuine professional fulfillment. There are many 
elements to this, but fueling their drive to learn more is chief among 
them.

    That is why Tipmont Wintek prioritizes continuing education and 
training. That is why we send our broadband team to Cisco to earn the 
latest top-tier certification on complex network equipment. Helping our 
IT professionals keep pace with ever-changing technology is especially 
critical.

    Building a broadband workforce has not been without growing pains 
or a bit of trial and error. But Tipmont Wintek has found a formula 
that works for our employees and, most of all, for our customers.
                Developing Generational Broadband Talent
    We also have started building tomorrow's team today.

    Generation Z is transforming today's workforce. They want to make 
the world better, and their values inform their decisions. Deloitte's 
Global 2021 Millennial and Generation Z Survey showed that, in the last 
2 years, 49 percent of those in Generation Z made choices about their 
work, and their employer, based on alignment with their personal 
values.

    It is our obligation to channel this passion and purpose into 
fulfilling careers. To that end, Tipmont Wintek has developed numerous 
broadband career outreach programs that reach a wide continuum of ages.
                    Sparking Interest at Early Ages
    Tipmont Wintek sponsors and participates in both the Next 
Generation Workforce Expo and the Construction Career & Education (C2E) 
Expo, which serve eighth graders through 12th graders.

    Facilitated by Greater Lafayette Commerce, the Next Generation 
Workforce Expo features experiential activities that address facets of 
the manufacturing industry.

    Tipmont Wintek's role is to discuss broadband and energy careers as 
they relate to manufacturing, the importance of broadband access for 
manufacturers, and the manufacturing industry's essential need for 
cybersecurity.

    At the C2E Expo, which focuses on construction infrastructure, 
Tipmont Wintek initiates spirited, influential conversations with young 
people about everything from fiber broadband and electric engineering 
to careers for those overseeing the fiber installation process.

    These expos engage those who may not plan to attend college after 
high school but want to flourish in meaningful technical careers.
               Hands-On Pathways to Broadband IT Careers
    Tipmont Wintek is also collaborating with Faith Christian Schools 
in Lafayette, Indiana, to develop a pathway program in Career Technical 
Education, or CTE, which will be open to 600-plus students from an 
eight-county area.

    This hands-on, comprehensive CTE curriculum will start in the 2022-
23 school year and inspire students to consider a career path in energy 
or broadband IT.

    It will begin with an overview of basics about the energy and 
broadband fiber services Tipmont Wintek provides. Our professionals 
will visit classrooms to discuss their experiences with students--
helping them envision careers and hear first-hand from those who have 
thrived. Students can job-shadow our electric engineers, broadband 
fiber engineers, and others. They will also tour our state-of-the-art 
data center, which provides technology solutions for hundreds of 
businesses in Indiana and beyond.

    This is a pilot program, but we are confident that we will be able 
to expand this experience to additional schools in our service area, as 
well as the Greater Lafayette Career Academy.
           Complementing Career Interest with Civic Awareness
    As great as it might be for us, we realize not everyone wants to 
pursue careers in broadband or energy. By participating in a local 
Junior Achievement Finance Park, Tipmont Wintek emphasizes the broader 
civic importance of affordable, reliable and equitable broadband.

    At the Finance Park, seventh and eighth graders perform interactive 
budgeting exercises. We did such things, too, when we were younger. If 
you had internet in these exercises, it was likely under ``leisure'' or 
``entertainment.'' Today, broadband access is no less essential than 
electricity. Our participation in the Finance Park helps young people 
understand: Equitable broadband access is a lifelong engine that moves 
everyone down a positive path.
                    A Pipeline of Phenomenal Talent
    We also foster productive partnerships that have brought tremendous 
talent to our doorstep.

    Ivy Tech Community College is a statewide system in Indiana with a 
large campus in our service area. Tipmont Wintek's broadband leadership 
team provides Ivy Tech instructors in the School of Information 
Technology with practical feedback in the IT field that informs their 
curriculum.

    In return, we gain access to a pool of bright, motivated students 
whose talent we can develop. Several students through this pipeline 
have become assets on our broadband team. Among them: David Flint, a 
U.S. Army veteran who joined us as he pursued his associate degree in 
Network Infrastructure and is now a Network Engineer; Mallory Herbert, 
who applies network engineering expertise toward consulting solutions 
for our business internet customers; and Dylan Popp, who started with 
us as a Network Technician and, in January, advanced to our team of 
Network Engineers.
            Industry Apprenticeship & Community Partnership
    These broadband workforce outreach programs address several goals.

    They create a culture of industry-focused apprenticeships. It is 
Tipmont Wintek's duty to provide a model for what young people can do 
with their futures and build relationships to get them there. For 
example: As we continue to develop these outreach programs, a high-
school senior could work beside the professionals who inspired them 
through a post-graduation internship and then perhaps gain full-time 
employment with us.

    These programs also affirm Tipmont Wintek's position as a community 
partner. It is our obligation to invest in a community's people and 
prosperity, which includes encouraging our youngest citizens.

    Last but certainly not least, these programs can keep Tipmont 
Wintek's broadband workforce vital by introducing individuals to 
exciting combinations of new skills, perspectives, voices and 
expertise.

    Tipmont Wintek's workforce outreach programs create meaningful 
outlets that can propel Generation Z, and other world-changing 
generations to follow, into the broadband workforce.
                  The Perils of Insufficient Internet
    No matter what their generation is, everyone on Tipmont Wintek's 
broadband team agrees: If it is not fiber, it is not broadband.

    Wireless solutions have a place in select mobile applications and 
rural research, such as gathering, sending and analyzing agricultural 
data. Beyond that, it suffers from issues with network capacity, signal 
interference and dropped connections.

    No one can run a successful business off inferior wireless 
technology. Just ask Susan Benedict, a Tipmont electric cooperative 
customer who owns an interior design business.

    Susan can see the city limits of Lafayette, Indiana, from her back 
porch. This metro area of 200,000 people is home to Purdue University, 
a major international research institution. And yet the best anyone 
would do for Susan's internet access was a DSL phone line.

    DSL struggles with reliability. DSL speeds are generally poor--20 
Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload . . . maybe. Susan told us her time 
spent offline--and in battles with customer support--created a 25 
percent loss for her business.

    The story of Dr. Sara Huffer, a neurologist who lost access to 
life-saving technology because of poor internet, is particularly 
upsetting.

    Dr. Huffer's hospital system received telemedicine equipment that 
allowed her to assess a stroke patient's condition as soon as they 
arrived at the ER. This equipment helped medical professionals more 
quickly provide clot-busting medication to rural patients who lacked 
access to specialists. The faster someone gets this medicine, the less 
likely they are to suffer permanent disability or death.

    But Dr. Huffer's hospital had to discontinue this program--largely 
because her DSL home internet connection was too slow to access it. 
Now, people in Dr. Huffer's community lose time they do not have when 
faced with a life-threatening medical emergency.

    In the wake of COVID 19, so many across our service area shifted on 
a dime to online-only interactions. This upended life even for those 
with reliable broadband access. Those without it faced a full-blown 
threat to their livelihoods, educational development, and health and 
wellness.

    We heard from teachers who drove all over their district, 
delivering thumb drives loaded with resources for kids who could not 
get online. Families sent children to live with relatives who had a 
more reliable internet connection. Professionals drove to a McDonald's 
parking lot so they could use free WiFi to connect to work meetings.

    These people are used to pulling together solutions. That is 
because they are used to being left behind.

    When you look at the struggles faced by Susan Benedict, Dr. Sara 
Huffer, and countless families, children, educators, and professionals, 
you see a rural broadband market in crisis.

    You see people who need broadband that meets their needs without 
compromise.
         America's Broadband Policy Does Not Work For Everyone
    America's rural broadband market design applies a private-sector 
business model to a public-infrastructure deficiency. It is time we 
admit that this is not working.

    This policy presumes an open, competitive process in the private 
sector will provide customers with numerous options for robust service. 
Although the private sector has its place in broadband policy, its 
business model relies upon investments that shareholders find 
acceptable. This model works in sizable towns and cities but rarely in 
areas with low population density and high fixed costs.

    In rural America, the demand for fast, affordable and reliable 
broadband far exceeds the supply. What little supply there is lacks 
both an obligation to serve people and robust performance standards as 
defined by consumers' needs.

    In April 2022, the Center for Regional Development at Purdue 
University published Home Broadband Survey Results: Connecting Indiana. 
This study surveyed more than 16,000 people from 20 counties in mostly 
rural Indiana and reported the following findings:

          Nearly 30 percent of respondents said they do not 
        have internet service because it is not available to them.

          Nearly half of the people said their internet service 
        was not reliable enough to work from home, which jeopardizes 
        their livelihoods.

          More than 40 percent of respondents had students in 
        their home, ranging from pre-kindergarten all the way to 
        college age. Unreliable internet can cause students to struggle 
        with e-learning, making it difficult to develop necessary 
        skills that lead to successful careers.

          Nearly 10 percent of those surveyed had seniors 65 or 
        older in their home, whose reliance on telehealth and 
        telemedicine is threatened by a lack of reliable internet 
        access.

    If rural broadband were profitable, America's broadband policy 
would suffice. But in most cases, it is not profitable. The results 
relegate rural America to second-tier status. We must consider 
alternatives.
                Our Calling to Provide Better Broadband
    Tipmont Wintek provides security, comfort and convenience through 
essential services. When it came to fast, reliable and affordable 
internet, our longtime electric customers lacked all three. That is why 
we chose to do what no one else would and bring them essential 
broadband access they deserve.

    When Tipmont Wintek builds, we meet everyone's needs through equal 
access to superior technology. For co-ops like ours, this is simply 
part of our intrinsic obligation to serve.

    Balancing the priorities of people, purpose and a sustainable 
business model is a hallmark of cooperatives. It transformed 
electrification in rural America, and we knew we could do the same in 
the space of rural broadband internet.
           There is No Better Broadband Investment Than Fiber
    But first, we needed to understand the impact of this investment on 
the communities we serve.

    In 2018, Tipmont commissioned Purdue University to study and 
calculate the societal economic return of a fiber-broadband investment 
in the counties we serve. We did this because we measure success both 
by our own financial health and the prosperity of our customers' 
communities.

    The study found that for every dollar Tipmont invested in fiber-
optic broadband technology for a community, that community and the 
State of Indiana would receive $4 in return benefits. These returns 
came through tax revenue, telemedicine, K-12 and adult education, 
consumer savings, farm income, and multiplier impacts.

    In expanding this study to cover the territory of all Indiana 
electric co-ops, the result was staggering. If every co-op in Indiana 
built broadband, the statewide net present value benefit of that 
investment would be $12 billion over 20 years.

    Tipmont Wintek launched its broadband project without capital 
support, but we estimated that a 20 percent capital contribution could 
significantly increase sustainability and reduce project risk. In other 
words: That capital support would have made our decision much easier.

    Bridging this capital gap triggers a project launch. Therefore, 
broadband grant funding is of utmost importance. But what return does 
the taxpayer see once Federal or state grants enter the picture?

    Consider the Tipmont Wintek case. Per the 2018 study, a $1 
investment in broadband yields a societal economic return of $4. Now, 
factor in a 20 percent grant capital contribution. A utility like 
Tipmont Wintek then contributes 80 cents of every investment dollar 
while Federal or state grant programs contribute 20 cents.

    Taxpayers put in 20 cents and get $4 back. That is a 20 to 1 
return. Investments in America do not get better than that.
                 Pitfalls of the Grant Funding Process
    Capital support from grant funding has been pivotal to Tipmont 
Wintek's fiber build. We are grateful to have received over $20 million 
in funding from the State of Indiana and $1 million in Federal funding.

    However, there are areas of concern we discovered in the process.

           1. Unreliable Self-Reporting of Coverage

        At all government levels, broadband grant programs too often 
        rely on outdated or inaccurate data to determine an applicant's 
        eligibility.

        For example: Service coverage data provided by the Federal 
        Communications Commission (FCC) for use in Federal and state 
        grant programs came from internet service providers (ISPs) that 
        self-reported.

        Unsurprisingly, these ISPs overstated their service coverage. 
        For example: If an ISP served just one customer, often a 
        business, it could mark an entire census block as ``served.''

        Allowing any broadband provider to self-report broadband 
        coverage and quality as a barometer for grant funding is like 
        asking the fox to count the hens. It does not make sense and 
        often denies people equitable access.

           2. Disingenuous Application Challenges

        Many broadband providers then used this unreliable data and 
        overstated coverage as a basis to challenge grant applications 
        from competing providers (who often offer superior service).

        For example: In Round 2 of the State of Indiana's Next Level 
        Connections (NLC) Broadband Grant Program, other ISPs 
        successfully challenged 371 of Tipmont Wintek's census block 
        applications--claiming they already received Federal funding to 
        provide coverage in that census block.

        Even if the providers who issued these challenges met Federal 
        grant program requirements, there was no transparency as to 
        what they intended to build or how long it would take them.

        This is an inordinate amount of effort expended on blocking 
        competition rather than serving customers in need.

    Thankfully, the FCC recently has announced a new coverage 
verification process, with new maps scheduled for fall 2022. These maps 
will hopefully be based on efforts to gather accurate data from 
everyday Americans' self-provided speed tests rather than data reported 
by carriers.

    I cannot overstate the importance of accurate coverage data to 
address rural broadband inequity, and I appreciate the efforts 
undertaken to obtain actual data.
           Ideas to Improve Federal Broadband Grant Processes
    While we appreciate any grant program advancing equitable broadband 
access, Tipmont Wintek has found state programs more successful than 
Federal programs in helping address a rural digital divide.

    Here are key reasons and rationales as to why.

           1. The application process for state programs is less 
        prohibitive and cumbersome.

        Federal programs impose onerous requirements before the 
        application process even begins--registration on the System for 
        Award Management website, a Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number, a 
        Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code, an Authorized 
        Representative Request. Many also require a legal opinion, 
        environmental analysis, credit thresholds, and details on 
        equipment sourcing, contractors, engineering services, or 
        bidding.

        The application guide for the latest round of the United States 
        Department of Agriculture's ReConnect Loan and Grant Program 
        runs 273 pages. On average, application guides for state 
        programs are 20 to 30 pages.

        A one-size-fits-all application process also overlooks specific 
        circumstances of rural areas in need.

        For example: The FCC's Rural Development Opportunity Fund 
        (RDOF) only allows bidding at the census block group level 
        while ReConnect requires geographically contiguous projects. 
        Existing infrastructure and communities do not conform to these 
        arbitrary groupings, making it difficult to piece together 
        projects.

           2. Conditions of state programs are clearly defined.

        ReConnect defines sufficient broadband speed as 100 Mbps 
        download / 25 Mbps upload (or 100/25). RDOF defines the same 
        thing as 25 Mbps download / 3 Mbps upload (or 25/3).

        Why are these definitions different? Moreover, why are they so 
        different? And why does neither address a consumer's real 
        needs?

        Purdue University's Home Broadband Survey Results: Connecting 
        Indiana study from April 2022 published results of 5,000 speed 
        tests from rural addresses in 20 Indiana counties. Over 60 
        percent of those tests--or more than 3,000 individual internet 
        connections--failed to meet the FCC's minimum speed threshold 
        of 25/3.

        ReConnect-and RDOF-funded projects also often deliver speeds 
        just above these speed definitions. These are not solutions for 
        equitable broadband access in rural America. They are stop-gaps 
        that slow economic growth, require early and costly 
        replacement, and prolong unnecessary suffering.

        Grant funding should prioritize broadband speed that is 
        symmetrical and scalable to the customers' specific needs.

        I cite the same Purdue study from April: ``As more and more 
        homes remote work and e-learn, symmetrical connections are 
        needed--when upload speeds are as fast as download speeds.''

        Has your voice or video ever lagged for an agonizingly long 
        time in an important Zoom meeting? Has your child become 
        frustrated that their computer cannot keep pace with the tempo 
        of e-learning? These are the perils of a broadband connection 
        that is not symmetrical, and they jeopardize confidence, growth 
        and even livelihoods.

        As for scale: If the consumer needs a gigabit, or 1,000 Mbps, 
        we need to provide that. If they need two gigabits, we need to 
        provide that.

        Speed thresholds in state broadband grant programs reward 
        symmetrical, scalable connections. For example: The State of 
        Indiana's NLC program prioritizes connections with symmetrical-
        speed minimums of 100 Mbps upload and download.

        Tipmont Wintek's entry-level in-home fiber internet package 
        exceeds this minimum by 150 percent, and we have been grateful 
        to receive $20 million from NLC since 2019--including $3 
        million last month for new projects to begin in 2022.

           3. Communication with state program facilitators is strong 
        and consistent.

        Beyond application deadlines, timelines for Federal broadband 
        grant programs are nebulous. For example: Applications for the 
        latest round of ReConnect grants were due March 9, 2022, but we 
        do not yet know a decision deadline. That makes it hard to 
        forecast resources when supply chain interruptions have already 
        complicated scheduling for broadband builds.

        Outside of webinars, Tipmont Wintek staff also have never 
        spoken directly with those administering Federal broadband 
        grant programs. If we reach out, we are lucky to receive a 
        reply. We once spent months trying to contact a representative 
        of ReConnect . . . only to learn we now had a new 
        representative.

        Tipmont Wintek also recently partnered with Tippecanoe County--
        one of eight counties we serve--to pursue a grant from the 
        National Telecommunications and Information Administration's 
        Broadband Infrastructure Program. We did not receive the grant 
        and were not told why. Were we somehow ineligible? Did an 
        incumbent internet service provider (ISP) challenge our 
        application? Was our application simply not as competitive?

        Facilitators of state broadband grant programs provide a 
        comprehensive timeline of key dates and deadlines, regular 
        contact, and constructive feedback if an application is not 
        accepted.

           4. State programs improve processes and outcomes with 
        accurate, manageable data.

        Reporting is necessary in any broadband grant program. However, 
        Federal program reporting is overly burdensome.

        The Rural Development Reporting & Compliance User Guide for 
        ReConnect is 103 pages. By comparison, we submit a 10-page 
        quarterly report for each project with the State of Indiana's 
        NLC program.

           5. Administrator feedback in state grant challenge phases 
        allows for productive adaptation.

        Administrators of state broadband grant programs often request 
        applicant feedback on their policies and processes to implement 
        changes in future rounds of funding. For example: The State of 
        Indiana's NLC increased its minimum speed threshold for 
        sufficient broadband based on feedback and data from Tipmont 
        Wintek and other applicants.

        With each new round, the NLC process becomes more efficient and 
        productive. By comparison, after three rounds of the ReConnect 
        program, there have only been minor updates to the process.

           Broadband Grants Are Best Managed at State Levels
    To Tipmont, the ideal use of broadband grant program funds, as well 
as those provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, incorporates a 
strategic, swift-moving combination of Federal, state and local 
administration.

    It is important to involve state administrators in conversations 
and decisions, and they should play a lead role in broadband grant 
management and disbursement.

    I express these concerns about Federal broadband grant programs not 
to criticize them or their facilitators. I share them in the hope that 
it can lead to streamlined processes and improved outcomes that 
accomplish our shared mission of equitable broadband access.
               Fiber is the Premier Broadband Technology
    The only way to truly fulfill our shared mission is through fiber-
to-the-home broadband.

    Building fiber infrastructure from the ground up is not simple or 
quick. It requires months of planning, engineering and construction. We 
must pursue easements and right-of-way agreements. But as the saying 
goes, the right way and the hard way are often the same.

    Tipmont Wintek has chosen fiber because there is no better future-
proof broadband technology. The fiber lines we are laying today will 
work just as well decades from now. Service upgrades require only 
updated electronics on both ends of the connection.

    Purdue's Home Broadband Survey Results: Connecting Indiana study 
from April reinforced that we have chosen the right materials to serve 
our customers.

    The study found that fiber-optic broadband technology such as that 
offered by Tipmont Wintek provides the largest ``bang for the buck'' 
when it comes to internet cost, speed and satisfaction.

    Fiber was a runaway winner in all points of comparison to 
satellite, DSL, cable, fixed wireless or cellular data. And yet of the 
88 percent surveyed who have home internet, only 5.5 percent connected 
using fiber.

    Many providers fail to give people what they need in today's world 
to remain truly connected and competitive. But Tipmont Wintek is 
determined despite the risks.

    Our customers love it.

    We have seen all-time highs in our score on the American Customer 
Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a national benchmark to assess customers' 
feelings about products or services they use. Compared to other service 
providers--who often land in the high 60's on a 100-point scale--our 
customer satisfaction is much higher.

    Tipmont Wintek recently scored an all-time high 85 out of 100. That 
is enough to beat Chick-fil-A, which almost always tops the ACSI. If 
only we could include chicken sandwiches in our monthly packages.
               4,000 People Connected . . . and Counting
    Jokes aside, that ACSI score is the result of demanding work from a 
lot of dedicated people. This work is reciprocated by the trust that 
our customers have placed in us to deliver for them on broadband as we 
have for electricity. This work also reflects our commitment to 
continue evolving broadband workforce development even further.

    Since 2019, Tipmont Wintek has connected more than 4,000 people to 
our fast, reliable and affordable fiber broadband. By the time this day 
is over, we will have connected 10 more.

    The stories we hear today are much happier.

    One of our customers has a child with a disability. Their spouse 
stayed home with the child while they worked a job with preferable 
health care benefits. Once Tipmont Wintek fiber broadband became 
available to them, the spouse who stayed home was able to take a job 
and work remotely.

    In just one home, our fiber broadband created employment, increased 
a family's income considerably, contributed to workforce development, 
and created new paths for resources to assist with raising a child.

    Then there is Kassie Coverdale, who traded an engineering job she 
enjoyed for a career she was passionate about--her own professional dog 
training business. Just as that was taking off, COVID-19 hit. Thanks in 
part to our fiber broadband, Kassie did not miss a beat. She 
transformed her hands-on approach into a successful online business.

    Multiply those stories by several thousand. These are the sorts of 
generational differences that a fast, reliable and affordable fiber-to-
the-home connection can make.

    This is how to help America's best and brightest talents consider 
making a home in rural communities.

    This is what you can accomplish by building a broadband workforce 
that develops people and potential.

    This is why we must reframe our definition of rural broadband and 
rethink broadband policy.

    This is the way we can empower all rural American families, 
children, businesses, entrepreneurs, and educators through broadband--
and improve their quality of life by ensuring their broadband service 
meets them where they are.

    Thank you again for inviting me to testify before the Subcommittee 
today. I look forward to answering any questions you may have and 
continuing this conversation further.
                                 ______
                                 
    Senator Hickenlooper. You bet. Close enough for Government 
work----

    [Laughter.]

    Senator Hickenlooper [continuing]. thank you also for 
coming such a long way.

    Mr. Holcomb. Thank you.

    Senator Hickenlooper. Appreciate your comments. Dr. Turner 
Lee, you came from probably--had the shortest commute, but I 
think you probably have the deepest experience on this specific 
aspect of how we are going to address these challenges on the 
workforce. So why don't you give us your opening remarks as 
well?

  STATEMENT OF NICOL TURNER LEE, SENIOR FELLOW IN GOVERNANCE 
 STUDIES AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION, 
             BROOKINGS INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, DC

    Ms. Turner Lee. Well, thank you so much for having me, 
Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Braun, and distinguished 
Members of the Subcommittee. This is an important issue of the 
day, and I am here to speak about how we actually create new 
paying--high paying jobs in the broadband sector.

    I am Dr. Nicole Turner Lee, the Director of the Center for 
Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, where my 
work focuses on these telecommunications and technology 
industries, but also how we solve the digital divide in the 
process. So excited to actually testify. Let me just say this, 
I laud, as everyone has, the bipartisan infrastructure bill as 
the most historic and landmark that we have had in this country 
in a long time.

    Having high speed broadband access is fundamental for 
Americans to work, study, participate in religious or cultural 
activities, and socialize in parallel with traditional 
infrastructure. If executed properly, the bill should 
accelerate internet access for millions of Americans who 
currently live without it and in turn spur massive economic 
growth, granting access to millions for 21st century jobs as 
well as creating new career paths.

    In my written testimony this morning, I just want to 
propose solutions on how we embolden an equitable and expansive 
workforce in the broadband sector of the U.S. economy. And 
before I do that, let me level set with some data.

    Brookings researchers in 2021 found 160,000 broadband jobs 
would be created through the bipartisan infrastructure bill. 
And of these telecommunications equipment, installers, and 
repairers are projected to require an additional 36,000 new 
positions and an additional 12,000 in the areas of other 
installer and repair roles. These jobs are just mirroring the 
hard head jobs I call them.

    We are not necessarily talking about the indirect 
opportunities that exist. The University of Massachusetts 
Amherst found that jobs directly created from new broadband 
funding will make up only 25 percent of the total number of 
jobs created by these moneys.

    Previous Brookings research found that 77 percent of 
workers in infrastructure jobs are going to be employed in 
operation of the physical assets, not necessarily the 
construction or design alone.

    Meaning most of the infrastructure jobs that we are talking 
about today are long term careers in a broad variety of roles, 
and those are offerings that are going to be historically 
competitive with equitable wages, up at least 30 percent higher 
than other industries, and particularly useful for low income 
workers and women who are starting their careers for the first 
time.

    It also provides a suite of social service supports that I 
think we as a country are battling with, particularly for those 
folks, and it has been mentioned by our distinguished Members, 
without a 4-year degree. Getting access to these broadband jobs 
and careers are imperative, and particularly at a time when we 
have the money to do so.

    Another final recommendation, a note that I would share 
before I go into to recommendations, is that ultimately doing 
so will help us close the digital divide and potentially result 
in people in our communities, both urban and rural and tribal, 
from being moved as consumers of technology to producers and 
innovators who are prepared to accelerate this Nation's digital 
competitiveness.

    Let me share some recommendations that I think complement 
my colleagues. First and foremost, we need to aggressively 
apply apprenticeships and credentialing programs. I think it 
has been said that apprenticeships are a gateway to careers and 
we as a country know how to do this with urgency. Just 
recently, the Department of Labor partnered with the White 
House and Department of Transportation on a 90 day trucking 
apprenticeship challenge.

    We need similar challenges when it comes to broadband, 
engaging in other practices like community based hiring, 
private sector sign-ons, and accelerated career tracks. The 
Wireless Infrastructure Association and other industry partners 
in 2012 actually developed the first registered apprenticeship 
program for critical occupations and tower technicians, 
wireless technicians, utility workers, along with leads and 
foremen.

    Second, we need to engage community colleges to provide 
pathways to these occupational resets. It is important that we 
have community colleges work with the private sector to develop 
partnership agreements, competency tracks, so that we can train 
the next broadband workforce.

    Third, we need a digital service corps for new entrants, 
for people who need a pre step into a registered apprenticeship 
program. We need to partner with the Corporation for National 
Service to create a service corp for people to engage in 
experiential learning at a local level so that they understand 
the importance of this new economy.

    It can also help us promote diversity, equity, and 
inclusion for marginalized workers who do not have a network 
in. I cannot agree more that we have to address the needs of K 
through 12 students, and I would implored the U.S. Department 
of Education to develop an office of innovation in school 
districts dealing with this occupational skill setting.

    Finally, as I close, we need to update our Government labor 
statistics. Right now, we do not have an understanding of the 
taxonomy of new jobs, nor do we have the right occupational 
classifications.

    It is important for us to work with the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, the Census, and OMB to ensure that we are actually 
codifying these jobs correctly as we place moneys into training 
and placement. Thank you so much, and I look forward to the 
questions.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Turner Lee follows:]
                 prepared statement of nicol turner lee
    Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Braun, and distinguished 
Members of the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Subcommittee on 
Employment and Workplace Safety, thank you for the invitation to 
testify on the important issue of how the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act (IIJA) can sustainably and equitably create new, high-paying 
jobs in emerging industries, particularly from those created by major 
investments to expand universal broadband access. I am Nicol Turner 
Lee, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies and Director of the Center for 
Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. With a history of 
over 100 years, Brookings is committed to evidence-based, nonpartisan 
research in a range of focus areas. My research expertise encompasses 
data collection and analysis around regulatory and legislative policies 
that govern telecommunications and high-tech industries, along with the 
impacts of digital exclusion, artificial intelligence, and machine-
learning algorithms on vulnerable populations. My forthcoming book, 
Digitally invisible: How the internet is creating the new underclass 
will be published by Brookings Press later this year.

    The IIJA is a historic, bipartisan step to ensure that every 
American is equipped with the necessary tools, resources, and 
structures to participate in a 21st century economy. \1\, \2\ The 
legislation includes high-speed broadband as one of the many critical 
infrastructure assets, which is both significant and transformative as 
getting online has become more of a necessity, instead of a luxury in 
these times. \3\ Having high-speed broadband access is fundamental for 
Americans to work, study, participate in religious or cultural 
activities, and socialize, in parallel with more traditional 
infrastructure. In other words, it is a pathway to first-class, digital 
citizenship. If the IIJA is executed properly, the Nation should be 
able to accelerate internet access for the millions of Americans who 
currently live without it. In turn, it will spur massive economic 
growth--granting access to millions of new 21st century jobs, as well 
as creating new career paths for livable earnings within industries 
enabled by direct access to more robust networks, in addition to 
industries indirectly benefiting from existing and emerging platforms.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\  ``Fact Sheet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal,'' The White 
House, November 6, 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/
statements-releases/2021/11/06/fact-sheet-the-bipartisan-
infrastructure-deal
    \2\  Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Public Law 117-58. 
U.S. Statutes at Large 135 (2021): 429--1467.
    \3\  https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Infrastructure 
percent20Investment percent20and percent20Jobs percent20Act percent20-
percent20Section percent20by percent20Section percent20Summary.pdf

    In my written testimony, I propose solutions on how we can embolden 
an equitable and expansive workforce in the broadband sector of the 
U.S. economy. But first, Congress must implore the Department of Labor 
(DOL) to create taxonomies of the skills needed to fill vacancies in 
this and related technology sectors. Currently, there exists ambiguity 
in how we identify and define such opportunities, including fiber 
optics, 5G or wireless, and other related broadband infrastructure 
opportunities. Further, the U.S. must engage in national skilling 
through the creation of policies and norms that engage workers in not 
just job opportunities, but career paths, especially for those 
individuals without 4-year college degrees. \4\ These milestones can be 
attained via lucrative training and placement opportunities, including 
apprenticeships and industry credentialling in the existing and 
emerging careers in wireline and wireless broadband, as well as 
supportive industry roles in data analyses, customer service, 
cloudware, and more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\  Sam Sabin, ``5G Worker Shortages Could Provide Many Americans 
with Chance to Return to Work,'' Morning Consult, May 6, 2020, https://
morningconsult.com/2020/05/06/5g-wireless-workforce-shortage-
coronavirus

    More important, Federal and state governments must consider 
empowering the broadband workforce as a critical element of the IIJA, 
starting with the enlistment of education and community partners like 
community colleges, and K-12 schools who are critical to fueling the 
21st century workforce. Congress might also support funding to the 
Corporation for National and Community Service for a national Digital 
Service Corps, where several under-skilled workers can engage in more 
experiential learning of these trades while receiving a modest stipend 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
as part of their pathway into jobs, and then long-term careers.

    My main point of my testimony is that the Nation has a huge 
opportunity in the creation of new, high-paying jobs to build critical 
infrastructure like broadband access. These efforts should be an 
accelerant for entry, and involve deliberate and strategic efforts 
around equity, ensuring that no citizens are excluded based on their 
demographic background, geographic residence, or lack of competency in 
fairly nascent fields.
         The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Careers
    An additional reason for accelerating high-speed broadband access 
is to help close the national digital divide that separates millions of 
Americans from fully participating in the digital economy. The global 
pandemic has surfaced the importance of online connectivity as millions 
obliged the calls for physical social distancing and transitioned 
online for remote work, school, health care, government services, and 
regular communications with friends and family members. As technology 
becomes more ubiquitously available and affordable for Americans of all 
socioeconomic levels, it has become a game changer for how citizens 
transact and interact in their daily lives, and will be foundational to 
the development of inclusive economic growth in the U.S. \5\ Yet new 
online dependencies have widened the Nation's digital divide, leaving 
some people of color, older and low-income populations, and those from 
rural (and some urban) areas unable to consume certain products and 
services. These vulnerable groups were greatly impacted by the 
pandemic's social isolation at its onset, which restricted many people 
from applying for unemployment benefits, engaging in virtual education, 
or scheduling and receiving a vaccination. \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``Building for the Future: Advancing Digital 
Competitiveness through Broadband Access and Adoption,'' https://
www.brookings.edu/testimoneys/building-for-the-future-advancing-
digital-competitiveness-through-broadband-access-and-adoption.
    \6\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``Why America Needs a `Tech New Deal' to 
Build Back Better,'' TechTank (blog), January 12, 2021, https://
www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/01/12/why-america-needs-a-tech-
new-deal-to-build-back-better.

    In February 2021, my testimony before the U.S. House of 
Representatives Committee on Economic Disparity & Fairness in Growth 
went into more detail about the $65 billion toward high-speed broadband 
from the $1.2 trillion IIJA appropriation, and indicated that we needed 
a coherent and collaborative strategy to effectuate change, or a ``Tech 
New Deal.'' This is important because the IIJA appropriated funds are 
more than quadruple the support granted in 2009 for the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which allocated $4.7 billion 
toward online access. \7\ In this new traunch of funding, Congress has 
authorized $2.75 billion through the three Digital Equity Act programs 
to promote digital inclusion and increase broadband adoption--some of 
which must be used explicitly to consider and fund state, local, and 
community workforce development programs. \8\ The National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. 
Department of Commerce, along with the Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC), are responsible for distributing these funds--first 
to states that are charged with developing broadband infrastructure and 
digital equity plans as part of their receipt of the funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``Building for the Future: Advancing Digital 
Competitiveness through Broadband Access and Adoption,'' https://
www.brookings.edu/testimoneys/building-for-the-future-advancing-
digital-competitiveness-through-broadband-access-and-adoption.
    \8\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``Why America Needs a `Tech New Deal' to 
Build Back Better,'' TechTank (blog), January 12, 2021, https://
www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/01/12/why-america-needs-a-tech-
new-deal-to-build-back-better.

    Of the entire 2020 funds, the Digital Equity Act most likely will 
house the funds for local workforce development programs, but the 
remaining $62.25 billion in high-speed broadband assets can also be 
thought of as stimulating workforce development. These moneys not only 
will support short-term infrastructure needs: they are a prerequisite 
to supporting the long-term development and deployment of new, 
economically transformative technologies as well. For example, select 
areas in Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, DC, and more have already 
deployed 5G networks. According to Verizon, one of the major internet 
service providers offering 5G, networks are enabling download speeds of 
1 Gbps and latency rates of less than 30 ms, which will allow a vast 
range of new technologies--autonomous vehicles, smart home devices, 
telehealth monitors, agricultural or environmental sensors, virtual 
reality systems, and more--to be connected to the internet. \9\ But the 
design and development of 5G overall has been estimated to attribute 
$13.2 trillion to the global economy, and create an additional 22.3 
million jobs across the world. \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\  Verizon. ``What Is the Latency of 5G?,'' February 2, 2020, 
https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/5g/5g-latency; Larry Downes, 
``5G: What is it good for?'' The Washington Post, February 3, 2022, 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2018/06/05/5g-what-
is-it-good-for.
    \10\  ``The impact of 5G: Creating new value across industries and 
society,'' World Economic Forum, January 2020, https://www.weforum.org/
docs/WEF--The--Impact--of--5G--Report.pdf.

    That is why to harness the massive potential for job creation, 
broadband must be a part of a broader strategy of 21st century 
inclusive economic growth, especially in the production of new 
opportunities for individuals with or without a 4-year degree. Given 
the disproportionate access to broadband and the platforms and 
applications that it enables, an equity framework should be applied to 
such decisions on where to build and who to serve--at least, in the 
first iteration of broadband build-out and digital equity programs. The 
IIJA has indicated that unserved, followed by underserved, communities 
will be top priorities for new government spending. Simultaneously, 
these must be the same communities where programs investing in job 
creation, placement, and training for careers in these lucrative 
industries are focused first, offering a compounded benefit and 
multiplier of Federal resources. Only this way can we ensure that all 
individuals--regardless of their educational status--can fruitfully 
work and earn in the existing and emerging communications ecosystems 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
or, at minimum, be offered opportunities to learn the necessary skills.

    As mentioned, my own research offered a comprehensive framework to 
ensure the achievement of described milestones, which was encased in 
the concept of a ``Tech New Deal.'' \11\ Parts of the Tech New Deal 
assert that ``No Child Be Left Offline'' to guarantee the closing of 
the ``homework gap'' because every K-12 student would have options for 
affordable broadband service, an internet-enabled device, hot spot, and 
relevant training resources for parents and other caregivers. \12\ My 
research also presented the concept of Digital Service Corps to aid in 
closing the digital divide within their local communities, which will 
be discussed later in the testimony. Further, the creation of new 
broadband jobs should not solely happen among telecommunications and 
technology providers. There should be both critical interests and 
investments from industries benefiting from the technology ecosystem--
from banks to retail companies. In sum, the Federal Government must 
develop policies that invite and reimagine public policies that include 
diverse industry stakeholders, as well as representatives from state 
and local workforce development boards, and civil society organizations 
to chart a path for how technology spurs economic growth and shifts in 
service delivery for citizens. \13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``Why America Needs a `Tech New Deal' to 
Build Back Better,'' The Brookings Institution, TechTank, January 12, 
2021, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/01/12/why-america-
needs-a-technew-deal-to-build-back-better.
    \12\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``No Child Deserves to Be Left Offline This 
School Year--Here's How Congress Can Help,'' The Brookings Institution, 
TechTank, August 2, 2021, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/
08/02/no-childdeserves-to-be-left-offline-this-school-year-heres-how-
congress-can-help.
    \13\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``Why America Needs a `Tech New Deal' to 
Build Back Better,'' The Brookings Institution, TechTank, January 12, 
2021, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/01/12/why-america-
needs-a-technew-deal-to-build-back-better.

    Without a concerted, whole-of-society effort, the Nation and these 
industries will lose generational opportunities to advance these 
sectors. The digital divide will continue to complicate matters for 
populations without broadband access. \14\, \15\ These are the reasons 
why the U.S. needs coordinated national, state, and local level 
approaches to expediting skilling and job training for the broadband 
workforce to avoid the slower rollout of the broad infrastructure goals 
and the current shortage of available workers post-pandemic. \16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\  Nicol Turner Lee, ``Bridging Digital Divides between Schools 
and Communities,'' The Brookings Institution, March 2, 2020, https://
www.brookings.edu/research/bridging-digital-divides-between-schools-
and-communities
    \15\  Harmeet Kaur, ``Why Rural Americans Are Having a Hard Time 
Working from Home,'' CNN, April 29, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/
29/us/rural-broadband-access-coronavirus-trnd/index.html.
    \16\  Joseph Kane, ``Biden Needs to Create an Infrastructure Talent 
Pipeline, Not Just More Jobs,'' The Avenue (blog), January 29, 2021, 
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2021/01/29/biden-needs-to-
create-an-infrastructure-talent-pipeline-not-just-more-jobs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Jobs and the Broadband Workforce
    In 2021, Brookings Center for Sustainable Development estimated 
160,000 broadband job-years alone will be directly created from the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. \17\ Of these, 
telecommunications equipment installers and repairers are projected to 
require an additional 36,000 new positions to be filled (23 percent of 
the total), with an additional 12,000 new positions created in other 
installer and repairer roles (8 percent of the total). Particularly in 
this set of critical initial-deployment positions, as it stands today, 
there are not enough available trained workers to fill these in 
broadband occupations--mirroring the huge vacancies in cybersecurity 
jobs that also required a specialized approach to recruitment and 
training. An added challenge in fulfilling broadband roles is the 
geographic distribution of workers with these skills do not often match 
locations where jobs are most needed, like rural areas that will be 
laying fiber optics. \18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\  One job-year is equal to one job for 1 year. For example, ten 
job-years could be 10 jobs for 1 year, or 1 job for 10 years.
    \18\  Marcela Escobari Strauss Dhruv Gandhi, and Sebastian, ``How 
Federal Infrastructure Investment Can Put America to Work,'' Brookings 
(blog), March 17, 2021, https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-Federal-
infrastructure-investment-can-put-america-to-work.

    Yet these 160,000 broadband jobs are the beginning count of the 
human capital needed to advance the IIJA's broadband provisions. 
Projections sourced from the University of Massachusetts Amherst 
demonstrate that jobs directly created from new broadband funding will 
make up only 25 percent of the total number of jobs created by these 
moneys. Including indirect and induced jobs into the calculation 
demonstrates that the $65 billion in broadband funding alone will 
likely create 650,000 new job-years in the United States, including 
84,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector. \19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \19\  Robert Pollin and Shouvik Chakraborty, ``Job Creation 
Estimates Through Proposed Economic Stimulus Measures'' (Political 
Economy Research Institute: University of Massachusetts Amherst, 
September 2020), https://peri.umass.edu/component/k2/item/1297-job-
creation-estimates-through-proposed-economic-stimulus-measures.

    Previous Brookings research also backs these broadband-specific 
assumptions. Indeed, the vast majority (77 percent) of workers in 
infrastructure jobs are employed in the operation of physical assets, 
rather than their construction or design. \20\ The 650,000 job-years 
created by the IIJA's broadband funding provisions will be no 
different: most of these infrastructure jobs are long-term careers in a 
broad variety of roles, most of which are positions where ``you don't 
have to wear a hard hat'' to carry out employment functions. \21\ 
Infrastructure jobs have also offered historically more competitive and 
equitable wages--up to 30 percent higher than other industries--
particularly for low-income workers and those starting careers for the 
first time. And in some instances, workers have collective bargaining 
rights, especially for the roles embedded in the trades.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\  Joseph Kane and Robert Puentes, ``Beyond Shovel-Ready: The 
Extent and Impact of U.S. Infrastructure Jobs,'' May 9, 2014, https://
www.brookings.edu/interactives/beyond-shovel-ready-the-extent-and-
impact-of-u-s-infrastructure-jobs.
    \21\  Joseph Kane and Jack Mills, ``Harnessing the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act to Train the next Generation of Workers,'' The 
Avenue (blog), February 23, 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-
avenue/2022/02/23/harnessing-the-infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-
act-to-train-the-next-generation-of-workers.

    For policymakers and stakeholders across Federal, state, and local 
governments, this should be welcome news--but equitably getting workers 
to the career ladder will undeniably pose challenges, especially for 
women and people of color who are underrepresented across these jobs. 
\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \22\  Joseph Kane, ``Five Ways Regional Leaders Can Prepare Future 
Infrastructure Workers Now,'' The Avenue (blog), September 16, 2021, 
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2021/09/16/five-ways-
regional-leaders-can-prepare-future-infrastructure-workers-now.

    While stakeholders should focus on a holistic view of broadband 
jobs, of particular interest to my work are the new remote or hybrid 
economic opportunities opened up in the technology sector to currently 
unserved or underserved Americans. Powered by the ``Great Transition,'' 
these stable and good-paying 21st-century jobs rank fourth in projected 
employment growth over the last year, and demand for emerging tech jobs 
(including in AI and cloud development) have grown over 200 percent in 
the past 5 years. Demand for these jobs is expected to continue in the 
next decade, with a projected growth rate twice the national jobs rate. 
\23\ Demand from employers for qualified tech employees is currently 
outstripping the supply of qualified candidates, a clear sign of an 
``ongoing labor supply problem.'' \24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \23\  CompTIA, ``State Of The Tech Workforce: Cyberstates 2022'' 
(Computing Technology Industry Association, March 2022), https://
www.cyberstates.org/pdf/CompTIA--Cyberstates--2022.pdf.
    \24\  ``CompTIA Jobs Report: Tech Hiring Eases Amid Labor Supply 
Constraints,'' My TechDecisions, March 4, 2022, https://
mytechdecisions.com/news-1/comptia-jobs-report-tech-hiring-eases-amid-
labor-supply constraints.

    Thus, reskilling and upskilling for workers offers an opportunity 
to fill the skills gap while maximizing the economic opportunities 
offered by (and to) newly connected Americans. Recent research from 
Jason Jabbari, Wenrui Huang, and Michal Grinstein-Weiss has empirically 
demonstrated the success of a mixed non-traditional reskilling program 
containing both education and apprenticeship elements. LaunchCode, a 
St. Louis organization, offered flexible and no-cost part-time evening 
programming for students interested in reskilling to tech-oriented 
jobs. After passing a workforce readiness check by staff, participants 
began paid, full-time apprenticeships, supplementing their learned 
technical skills with soft skills in the workplace. Not only did this 
program model lower barriers to participants, but it empirically 
improved economic outcomes for participants who completed 
apprenticeships, and increased the post-program odds of employment in 
STEM fields by 12 percentage points. \25\ This combination of no-cost 
education programs that enable equity through apprenticeship programs 
and experiential soft skills training present promising models to 
pursue in the future, and could be incorporated into other similarly 
minded programs. \26\, \27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \25\  Jason Jabbari Grinstein-Weiss Wenrui Huang, and Michal, 
``Apprenticeships Increase Employment, Earnings, and Optimism in the 
Technology Sector,'' TechTank (blog), January 27, 2022, https://
www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2022/01/27/apprenticeships-increase-
employment-earnings-and-optimism-in-the-technology-sector.
    \26\  ``Six Ways to Tackle the Cloud Skills Shortage'' (Deloitte), 
accessed April 27, 2022, https://www..deloitte.com/us/en/pages/
consulting/articles/cloud-computing-skills-shortage.html.
    \27\  ``Using Modern Apprenticeship to Reskill America'' (IWSI 
America, February 1, 2019), https://www.iwsiamerica.org/itstime.

    While the creation of tens of thousands of good-paying broadband 
infrastructure jobs is a great start, IIJA moneys will also create 
sizable second-order demand for jobs like data analysts, customer 
service representatives, and more. These efforts to close the digital 
divide should result in people and their communities being moved from 
consumers to producers and innovators, who are prepared to accelerate 
our Nation's global digital competitiveness.
      Encouraging greater participation in the broadband workforce
    To maximize the benefits of these IIJA investments, a holistic 
approach encompassing multiple aspects of workforce development is 
integral. To this, I have a few proposals to offer to the Committee: 
(1) apply apprenticeship and credentialing programs in the IIJA to 
provide development opportunities; (2) engage community colleges to 
provide pathways to occupational skill reset; (3) create a Digital 
Service Corps for new entrants; (4) increase pipeline investments for 
youth programs to support the next generation; and (5) update 
government labor statistics practices.

    1. Apply apprenticeship and credentialing programs in the IIJA to 
provide development opportunities.

    Skilled jobs in fiber optic installation, data analytics, and 
customer service provide livable wages and employment security for 
workers. The number of positions in these fields will only continue to 
grow as our Nation's broadband infrastructure continues to evolve, 
especially in wireless or fiber jobs, or related security and network 
management fields. Employing credentialing systems or adopting other 
industry models for apprenticeships can be useful starting points. For 
example, the DOL partnered with the White House and Department of 
Transportation on a 90-Day Trucking Apprenticeship Challenge to 
increase participants in the Registered Apprenticeship Model, and fill 
the transit gaps due to increased demand. \28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \28\  U.S. Department of Labor, 90-Day Trucking Apprenticeship 
Challenge, available through Apprenticeship.gov, 90-Day Trucking 
Apprenticeship Challenge Apprenticeship.gov

    Whereas the skillsets for some of the broadband jobs may require 
more proficiency in logistics and installation (which do not require a 
college degree), the creation of apprenticeship programs around 
technology could have various worker incentives, like community-based 
hiring, private sector sign-ons, or accelerated career tracks. Here is 
also where the aforementioned $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act and $2 
billion in tribal grants can support workforce development efforts, by 
ensuring access to local technology in computer labs, or partnerships 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
between community-based organizations and workforce development boards.

    Finally, existing Registered Apprenticeship models can help 
motivate career opportunities. In 2012, DOL joined with the Wireless 
Infrastructure Association and other industry partners to set up the 
Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), 
the first Registered Apprenticeship Program in the telecommunications 
industry that seeks to ``define career paths in a growing number of 
critical occupations, including tower technicians, wireless 
technicians, and utility workers, along with leads and foremen.'' \29\ 
Opportunities like these create valuable opportunities for retraining 
and career growth, preparing workers for a workforce with growing 
demands for workers in broadband and telecommunications. They should be 
continuously supported and upgraded to keep up with the innovation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\  ``TIRAP: Helping Build Our Nation's Telecommunications 
Workforce,'' TIRAP, accessed April 27, 2022, https://www.tirap.org.

    In February 2021, the Biden administration called on the DOL to 
reinstate the National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships (ACA), 
appointing a diverse set of stakeholders across industries and 
educational institutions to establish and maintain a registered 
apprenticeship program. \30\ Going forward, the ACA seeks to chart the 
course in creating equitable access for workers to find their place in 
the National Apprenticeship system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \30\  ``Fact Sheet: Biden Administration to Take Steps to Bolster 
Registered Apprenticeships,'' The White House, February 17, 2021, 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/
17/fact-sheet-biden-administration-to-take-steps-to-bolster-registered-
apprenticeships.

    Overall, the White House, Federal and other local agencies, the 
private sector, and community colleges recognize the importance of 
apprenticeship and, in some instances, occupational credentialing 
programs, to create pipelines of workers for infrastructure and related 
support jobs. But to be effective, measurements to evaluate and track 
the general progress and inclusivity of such programs must be employed, 
in addition to evaluating the existing difficulties workers face in 
accessing apprenticeship programs (e.g., transportation, safety 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
apparel, computers, etc).

    2. Engage community colleges to provide pathways to occupational 
skill resets.

    Community colleges have always played an integral role in building 
our workforce and bridging gaps between labor demand and skills 
required. They are affordable and flexible means for those seeking to 
acquire new skills or pivot into new careers. According to research by 
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York evaluating community college 
engagement with statewide employers, community colleges engage with 
more than 100 employers across a range of sectors. \31\ Such employers 
are involved in curriculum advisory committees and provide mentoring 
support to students, seeking to help students find their place in the 
local economy. Community colleges have played integral roles in 
workforce retraining initiatives, taking for example the Automotive 
Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative and the Wisconsin 
Regional Industry Skills Education, Shifting Gear Initiative, and other 
educational programs launched through partnerships with employers and 
community colleges to reform adult education and integrate industry-
specific fields and skillsets into existing curriculums. \32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \31\  Jaison R Abel et al., ``Employer Engagement by Community 
Colleges in New York State,'' November 2018, https://
www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/outreach-and-education/workforce-
development/nys-employer-engagement-community-colleges-report.pdf.
    \32\  U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult 
Education, ``Integrating Industry-Driven Competencies in Education and 
Training Through Employer Engagement,'' Washington, DC, 2011

    In the broadband sector, community colleges can bridge labor gaps 
and train/retrain the future broadband workforce. Through the 
facilitation of partnerships between community colleges and local 
businesses in the forms of articulation and guaranteed work agreements, 
the telecommunications and technology industries can ensure the 
creation of a relevant curriculum based on the type of job or career, 
incentives that motivate worker entry of diverse candidates, relocation 
expenses, and even other individual and family supports, including 
transportation vouchers, life insurance, and bilingual training. Like 
with apprenticeships, evaluation data and analyses should ongoing to 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ensure that programs are effective and inclusive of all populations.

    What is also important is that community colleges not be entirely 
perceived as the gap between high school and a 4-year institution. 
Their engagement in the fulfillment of the IIJA workforce needs must 
position these opportunities as respectable, long-term, and with some 
potential for promotion and/or further certifications.

    3. Create a Digital Service Corps for new entrants.

    In the 1930's, former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created 
the New Deal, a series of projects to stabilize the market and improve 
the country's economy, especially through infrastructure projects, such 
as the Rural Electrification Administration and the Tennessee Valley 
Authority which brought electricity to rural areas previously 
unconnected to power grids. Meanwhile, job programs like the Works 
Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps employed 
millions of Americans to build schools, hospitals, roads, and other 
improvements across the country. \33\ The New Deal programs played a 
major role in reducing poverty and modernizing infrastructure during 
the Great Depression. \34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \33\  ``Civilian Conservation Corps,'' HISTORY.com, accessed April 
27, 2022, https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/civilian-
conservation-corps.
    \34\  U.S. House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. 
``President Harry S. Truman's Fair Deal Proposal to a Joint Session of 
Congress.'' Accessed April 27, 2021. https://history.house.gov/
Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/President-Harry-S--Truman-s-Fair-Deal-
proposal-to-a-Joint-Session-of-Congress.

    In order to build and expand a broadband workforce that can meet 
future workforce demands, Congress could immediately allocate funds to 
the Corporation for National Service which is responsible for the 
Nation's civic service workers. The agency could initiate a national 
Digital Service Corps similar to the CCC, which would recruit paid 
volunteers to assist in the adoption, utilization, and infrastructure 
development. \35\ Digital Service Corps members could fill existing 
gaps in the broadband workforce and help build out much-needed 
infrastructure to advance broadband deployment. They could also earn 
moneys while doing so, and engage in experiential learning around 
digital assets from installing fiber optics to providing internet 
training to seniors once the networks are built. Currently, there are 
no mechanisms to drive the supply of broadband workers, and leveraging 
the existing Federal agency can make employment in these emerging 
industries part of the policy imperatives of the IIJA. A national 
Digital Service Corps can also promote diversity, equity, and inclusion 
by including marginalized workers, too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \35\  AmeriCorps, accessed April 27, 2022 https://
www.americorps.gov.

    4. Increase pipeline investments for youth programs to support the 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
next generation.

    To ensure inclusion in our future broadband and technology 
workforce, investments in youth programs and other education 
initiatives are needed to improve the pipeline. Among White, Black, 
Latino, tribal, and other vulnerable populations, the adverse impacts 
of not being connected severely limit their prospects of gaining access 
to new opportunities. When learning moved online, many K-12 students, 
and those from community colleges, were not connected to the internet. 
In fact, 34 percent of parents said their child encountered at least 
one technology-related obstacle to completing schoolwork in time, with 
27 percent having to do work on a cellphone,

    16 percent without computer access, and 14 percent using public 
WiFi. Among Black teens, 25 percent were unable to complete their 
homework due to a lack of digital access compared to 4 percent of White 
teens and 6 percent of Hispanic teens, while 24 percent of teens with 
family income less than $30,000 struggled compared to 9 percent of 
teens living in households earning $75,000 or more a year. \36\ Digital 
disparities pose educational setbacks with long-term learning impacts, 
and they leave many children on uneven footing, limiting their earning 
potential going forward. According to a 2020 analysis of U.S. Census 
Bureau data by McKinsey and Company, while online schooling may have 
set white students between four to 8 months behind in math, students of 
color may be six to 12 months behind. \37\ Such setbacks can cost 
students $61,000 to $82,000 in lifetime earnings. Deprived of everyday 
technology, many of these future workers are slated to struggle to 
adapt to new coding skills and other aspects of technology work going 
forward.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \36\  Katherine Schaeffer, ``What We Know about Online Learning and 
the Homework Gap amid the Pandemic,'' Pew Research Center, accessed 
April 27, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/10/01/what-
we-know-about-online-learning-and-the-homework-gap-amid-the-pandemic/.
    \37\  Emma Dorn et al., ``COVID-19 and Learning Loss--Disparities 
Grow and Students Need Help'' (McKinsey and Company, December 8, 2020), 
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-
insights/covid-19-and-learning-loss-disparities-grow-and-students-need-
help.

    Pipeline investments in digital inclusion, device access, and 
technology literacy are necessary to bridge the digital divide and 
resolve such inequities, providing our future workforce with the 
knowledge and access they need to access careers in broadband and tech. 
The U.S. Department of Education should establish an Office of 
Innovation in every school district with 21st-century occupational and 
knowledge skills being presented to students. While schools have been 
exemplary in bringing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) 
academies, they are not teaching students the basics of fiber optics, 
cloudware, and other necessary occupational lessons for students who 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
may not continue into higher education.

    Challenge grants and other private sector partnerships could be 
used to allocate resources to local projects. Lower-income and rural 
schools must also be prioritized for such ingenuities since many 
graduates may be charged to build their local infrastructures.

    5. Update government labor statistics practices.

    Right now, the U.S. does not fully know the first-and second-order 
jobs that will be supported by the $65 billion broadband investment. 
That is partly due to the current format and presentation of national 
industry and occupational data in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 
and the Census Bureau, which make it hard for all stakeholders to 
determine the exact industries and locations where the growth is 
happening, as well as the proportion of fully remote jobs created from 
employers in different states.

    To this end, the BLS should work with the Office of Management and 
Budget to determine what, if any, improvements to the structure of 
national employment data would be most useful to better capture where 
and in what occupations broadband-induced economic growth is felt. In 
the longer term, the Census Bureau should consider how best to capture 
and present the scale, impact, and localized growth of the broadband 
workforce from the data it collects in its 2023 and 2028 Economic 
Censuses. This would be particularly useful in measuring the impact and 
effectiveness of the moneys allocated in the infrastructure bill. 
Finally, the DOL should develop and publish a broader taxonomy of 
skills and occupations encompassed by the broadband workforce for 
workers who are distanced from these emerging industries, or at least 
fund local partners to help get the word out. A more specific and 
immediate recommendation might be to add a banner and associated 
webpage to the O*NET landing page highlighting the many different 
career paths and desired occupational skills encompassed in the 
broadband workforce.
                               Conclusion
    Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Braun, and distinguished 
Members of the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Subcommittee on 
Employment and Workplace Safety, the issue at hand appears to be multi-
faceted and complicated, primarily because we have always focused on 
the consumptive and not productive aspects of the digital economy. But 
investing in our broadband workforce goes beyond the installation of 
cell towers or fiber optic conduits. It is about investments in people 
and their communities where quality access to existing and 
futureproofed technologies and associated workforce development 
programs will contribute to their--and our nation's--economic growth 
and personal livelihoods--regardless of one's background and 
educational achievements.

    Thank you again to the Members of the Subcommittee on Employment 
and Workplace Safety for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward 
to your questions. I also want to thank Brookings researchers James 
Seddon, Samantha Lai, and Mauricio Baker for their assistance in 
preparing my statement.
                                 ______
                                 
    Senator Hickenlooper. Wow. What a great introduction by all 
of you. I really appreciate the breadth--just the breadth of 
your experience as a group. So I will do the first set of 
questions that I am going to have to run off to another, or I 
have to testify at another meeting and then I will come back. 
Senator Smith will look over things in my absence. I will just 
say one last time also, concise answers are all better for you, 
but better for all of us. We could start with Mr. Hendricks.

    In broadband, as in so many other fields, we know that 
apprenticeship is a proven model of success. So for many who 
may not attend a 4-year college, it becomes the foundation for 
a long, hopefully successful career. What can we do at the 
Federal level to help with the recruitment efforts for both 
interested apprentice--interested apprentices and employers?

    Mr. Hendricks. At the Federal level, I would say we need to 
support the Department of Education high schools to incentivize 
the students to attend an apprenticeship. We need at least to 
get the word out. How do we start a program or a project to 
introduce high school students to apprenticeships? That is 
where we need to start. We need to start on that ground floor.

    If nothing else, at least get the word out. At least let 
someone like myself go to the schools, talk to the counselors. 
For many years, people like myself, training directors from 
apprenticeships, the schools wanted nothing to do with us. So 
how do we incentivize the high schools, the same as college 
readiness, for apprenticeship readiness? Thank you.

    Senator Hickenlooper. And so concise. Second, let me talk 
to Dr. Turner Lee. Let me ask you a question. And I--as was 
mentioned earlier, I think this is the beginning of the great 
transition. This is going to go through--we are going through a 
major transition on a lot of levels in this country, building 
opportunities that are going to become the careers of the 21st 
century.

    I think broadband careers are going to be a big part of 
that future of work, just like artificial intelligence or 
advanced networking or computing. So, Dr. Turner Lee, what 
types of careers in the broadband workforce are in the highest 
demand right now? How can we best coordinate workforce 
development at the Federal level to ensure that we have the 
right broadband workers with the right skills so that we have 
what we need in the future?

    Ms. Turner Lee. Yes, thank you for that question. I mean, I 
think what we are going to see in the broadband sector in terms 
of jobs, I think it is already been indicated, will be these 
construction like jobs where we are going to need people to 
install fiber optics, maintain it, etcetera. I think the other 
thing that we are going to see that we are not talking about, 
many of these new networks are software based. It doesn't mean 
that they are engineering based, but they are managed through 
software systems like 5G, etcetera.

    We are going to need candidates to understand that they 
didn't have to be perfect in math to be able to manage software 
applications that are running over networks. In addition to 
that, there will be other jobs in customer service that will be 
important as we actually schedule these types of installations, 
so we manage customer expectations.

    Then I would say that there are going to be people that 
need to be on the indirect side of what these networks will 
actually calibrate within local communities. That is why I 
think it is important for us to have, as it has been mentioned, 
like a taxonomy to share with high school students that do not 
stop or hinder their expectations.

    I also think the United States needs a national reskilling 
campaign and initiative that involves the various tracks that 
people can undertake. And I also don't want us to forget 
adults, people who will need to transition as part of this that 
may not be necessary part of the pipeline because they have 
aged out, but they also need those opportunities for livable 
wage, skilled jobs.

    Senator Hickenlooper. The kids of all--kids of all ages, I 
sometimes refer to them. I will turn to Mr. Holcomb and Mr. 
Gillum. Obviously when we--to do this transition we are going 
to--it is going to require collaboration and coordination 
between workers and workforce training programs, employers. I 
think all three have to work together to get us where we need 
to go. And as we know, many small businesses don't have the 
resources to train the workers in the skills they need.

    That is part of why I am so proud to be working with 
Senator Braun on the Partners Act to help small and medium 
sized businesses with their training efforts. So Mr. Holcomb 
and Mr. Gillum, can you discuss the importance of how you look 
at high quality training programs for broadband workers that 
you might be seeking to hire? Go ahead.

    Mr. Gillum. Yes, we--obviously very important. We, where we 
have a local, or not so local, a community college that we hire 
a lot of kids with a install a repair technician type associate 
degree from, they have migrated into it being a certificate of 
just eliminating the math and English portions of the school, 
to getting these kids out into our field to where they are 
actually trained in fiber construction and installation.

    The difficulty is the school is 3 hours away, and what we 
have is we have hired several students from the college. And 
they, after a year or so, they would want to return home 
becoming homesick. So we started promoting within our local 
high schools a scholarship opportunity for those local kids to 
go and attend this college, and then with the mindset that they 
will want to return to home and have a good paying job at 
LightStream.

    Senator Hickenlooper. Mr. Holcomb.

    Mr. Holcomb. One of the things that we might be missing 
here is the fact that this technology rolls over very quickly, 
right. So a trained worker that might be 30 years old is 
untrained at 33, if you don't continue to provide training and 
guidance, and that is expensive. So when you look at the 
differential of education and training expenses within the 
company, because of this particular functional skill set, it 
requires a lot more training, ongoing training, so that their 
skills stay up.

    In fact, many of the employees, they measure, the benefits 
the company brings them by keeping their skills sharp. So 
networks change over, software packages change over. It is a 
constant evolution. So as we are not only working to attract 
the new workforce, making sure that companies have the tools 
and the equipment to be able to train the ongoing workforce is 
a particularly interesting element to the problem we have.

    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Good answers, all of you. 
Thank you so much. Now turn over to questions for Senator 
Braun.

    Senator Braun. Thank you, Senator. This is an interesting 
discussion because generally there is a broader kind of opinion 
on what is needed. And here I am hearing the same thing. We 
need something happening that is going to be more instructive 
from maybe not K through five, but at least middle school 
through high school.

    I think even if you want to extend it back further, that 
emphasizes a point. So I would like to start trying to put some 
flesh on the bones of this whole discussion. Mr. Gillum. Mr. 
Holcomb, in your particular companies, can you talk about what 
the percentage is between better polishing of skills and high 
school, maybe a certificate, something other than a 4-year 
degree, of the jobs that you have in your company?

    What percentage would require one versus the other, and 
maybe what that starting range of wages would be starting over, 
say, 5 to 10 years into that career choice? Mr. Gillum, would 
you start.

    Mr. Gillum. Yes. I guess as a small rural broadband 
provider in Buffalo, Indiana, the cost of living and so forth 
isn't as a large city, and so----

    Senator Braun. How many employees do you have?

    Mr. Gillum. We have 25 employees.

    Senator Braun. Okay.

    Mr. Gillum. So we are in approximately seven installer 
repair technicians. We are very rapidly deploying fiber optic. 
Over the past few years, it has been a heavy hitting--a lot of 
stuff, a lot of moving parts going on. So we have hired, none 
of which have a 4-year degree, a lot of which have come from no 
background of this technology.

    The ones that we have hired, that have a sort of 
certificate or an associate's degree from the community college 
that I was speaking of, they are quicker to be released on 
their own and go and troubleshoot and do five times faster than 
the ones that come with little to no experience.

    Senator Braun. So you had seven technicians. What about the 
other 18 employees?

    Mr. Gillum. CSRs. We have got marketing people, 
salespeople, HR. Just a variety of----

    Senator Braun. And do those necessarily require a 4-year 
degree, or if you had better skills, life skills, general 
skills coming out of high school, would you be able to train 
them into a productive spot?

    Mr. Gillum. Absolutely. In this industry, and I think I can 
speak for everyone here, all of the software and hardware and 
everything that we do is very proprietary. You are not going to 
go to a 4-year school or a 2-year school and learn the software 
that is needed to manage and maintain the--what we are 
providing, the broadband that we are providing. That is all 
very proprietary, and the only place that you are really going 
to learn it is getting your hands on it within an organization.

    Senator Braun. And roughly what would the starting wages to 
a career wage be to give the public an idea, anybody listening 
here, in terms of what you might aspire to?

    Mr. Gillum. Yes, you are--I mean, you are from a starting 
technician, you are looking at the $40,000 a year pay rate. And 
then depending upon work ethic and opportunity of advancement 
within the organization, you know, as myself, I was hired as an 
IT manager, and now within 15 years, I am the President and CEO 
of the organization.

    Senator Braun. And some of those career wages, after you 
are into it, 10 to 15 years, what would the range there be?

    Mr. Gillum. You know, potentially $100,000 or more a year.

    Senator Braun. I mean, that is not too far off from what 
many 4 year degrees would give you in terms of a spectrum of 
pay. Mr. Holcomb, you want to expound upon that or is that 
similar to your----

    Mr. Holcomb. Yes, Senator. So I would put the ratio at a 
guess at about 10 to 1. So in other words, for every ten non-
degreed employees we need, we need one that primarily revolve 
around critical infrastructure like core networks and very 
complex type infrastructure.

    Senator Braun. So to be clear, if you need ten with more of 
a technical training versus one maybe with a 4-year degree?

    Mr. Holcomb. Correct.

    Senator Braun. That is a disconnect that higher education 
needs to listen to, especially when you put the, you know, pay 
range of what you might get starting versus career. Go ahead.

    Mr. Holcomb. Right. I think the wages will start out in the 
$50,000 range. Easily get to $80,000 or $90,000 with a very 
skilled career technician. I think that the way that we are 
approaching this to believe that a 4-year school is going to be 
the solution, in fact, really isn't the case. Even with a 4-
year degree, as was mentioned with the proprietary system, 
Cisco systems, those types of things.

    The real training and education dollars need to be poured 
into those companies that build these systems that we all use 
so that they have more support so they can grow a workforce 
that actually can operate the systems they build. Having more 
funding available to companies like Tipmont to recognize that 
the education and training costs, ongoing costs are very, very 
significant as compared to many other jobs that are a little 
more where the industry is more stable.

    I would say 10 to 1 was pretty much, and the career 
opportunities are very significant. And hopefully we can get 
the word out much better than we have in the past.

    Senator Braun. Thank you.

    Senator Smith. Thank you. Thank you, Ranking Member Braun. 
And I am going to defer to my colleague, Senator Rosen, because 
I know she has several things she has to do this morning. So 
please go forward, Senator Rosen.

    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you, Chair Smith and Ranking 
Member Braun, of course, to our witnesses for being here today. 
And there are always a lot of hearings every morning, so we are 
all going between competing hearing times. So I am going to 
address a little bit about the apprenticeships in a minute 
because workforce is really important, and a lot of changes 
were brought on by the pandemic. And over the last 2 years it 
has really reshaped the American workforce.

    Workers left the workforce, they are now returning, and in 
many cases, others decided to leave long time jobs to switch 
career fields entirely. That is why I introduced the bipartisan 
STEM Restart Act with Senator Hyde-Smith. Our bill would create 
a new program at the Department of Labor to support mid-career 
return ships in STEM, or those looking to transition into a 
return to STEM workforce, particularly in the wake of COVID.

    Mr. Hendricks how could expanding opportunities for return 
ships, people in mid-career, or trying to upskill or reskill 
themselves, specifically who support workers who may want to 
transition--excuse me, from a non-STEM field into a STEM career 
like cybersecurity or broadband.

    Mr. Hendricks. Thank you, Senator. I would like to point 
out that the average age of our apprentice is not the high 
school student we have all been talking about. Our average age 
is between 25 and 35. So these people are reskilling. They have 
experienced a career, gained life skills, and discovered that 
the career they are in is not for them. However, it is hard to 
make that transition.

    How are they going to access supportive services? What are 
they going to do with their families and all this as they 
attend the apprenticeship and as they work on the job? So that 
help for them would be vital to bring them into this new 
career. Thank you.

    Senator Rosen. Thank you. And I want to move on a little 
bit now talking more about workshop through apprenticeships, 
because having just passed the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act, we know that hiring a skilled workforce is one of the 
primary challenges of implementing this historic legislation.

    To help address ongoing skilled workforce shortages, 
earlier this year, I introduced the bipartisan Cyber Ready 
Workforce Act with Senator Blackburn. Our bill would direct the 
Department of Labor to award grants and to workforce 
intermediaries to increase access to registered apprenticeship 
program in cybersecurity that would lead to industry recognized 
certification, preparing Americans for in-demand jobs, 
including many that will be created by the new infrastructure 
law that will help protect our critical infrastructure and our 
data systems.

    The registered apprenticeship model provides workers an 
opportunity to earn while they learn and obtain a widely 
recognized credential in their career field with little to no 
debt. So, Mr. Hendrix, again, can you talk about how expanding 
and building on proven models like registered apprenticeship 
programs, how they can help us address and fill some of the 
long term infrastructure workforce shortage, excuse me, 
shortages we are facing, particularly, again, in cybersecurity 
and broadband? And what can Congress do to use apprenticeships 
to strategically address the talent pipeline issue?

    Mr. Hendricks. Thank you, Senator, for the question. Our 
apprenticeship is built. It is stable. The training is 
available. We are ready right now to bring more people in and 
train them in this area. We have the means. We have the 
capability. All we need is the corresponding project to put 
that person on.

    I can recruit and I can bring people into the 
apprenticeship all day long. However, if I don't have the 
project right now to put them on, they receive the related 
instruction, but not the hands on training to reinforce it. I 
do believe the projects that you are talking about, all this 
broadband infrastructure that we are going to build, should 
demand the utilization of registered apprenticeships.

    That is how we are going to get those people in, by having 
a greater access and a greater capability for the 
apprenticeship to put them on those projects.

    Senator Rosen. Well, I agree with you there. I think it is 
really important. And there is going to be more investment 
because Congress is poised to make additional investments in 
innovation and workforce development through the 
competitiveness package that is soon going to begin the 
conference process.

    I am especially pleased that components of my bipartisan 
Cyber Ready Workforce Act were included in the House COMPETES 
Act provisions on my--excuse me, especially based on my 
Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeship bill with Senator 
Blackburn--Blackburn, excuse me.

    Dr. Turner and then Mr. Hendricks again. Are there 
specifics--oh, I have run out of time, so we will take these 
off the record. What other specific provisions should we ensure 
remain in the final conference version that would support 
workforce development or apprenticeships, and specifically for 
those looking to enter or grow in the broadband workforce? I 
know you have been waiting. Thank you for deferring. We will 
take those answers off the record.

    Senator Smith. Thank you very much, Senator Rosen. We will 
get those questions submitted to you so that you can respond to 
them. That will be great. Ranking Member Braun, I really 
appreciate this Committee hearing that you and Senator 
Hickenlooper, or Chair Hickenlooper have put together. I don't 
know about you, but when I was back in Minnesota last week, the 
combined issues of the opportunity of building out our 
infrastructure, and especially broadband infrastructure, with 
the great need for workforce and workforce training, I heard 
everyplace I went at home.

    This is--and particularly hear it from students and young 
people that are trying to figure out what the options are for 
them. And as you say, Mr. Hendricks, you know, are not like 
fully aware of what the opportunities are. And this is so 
important for us to address, because we need these workers. We 
cannot realize the economic potential of our Country and 
individuals can't realize their own economic potential if we 
can't figure this out.

    I appreciate very much that it is a bipartisan, an issue of 
great bipartisan interest here in the Senate. So it is great to 
have this hearing. I want to focus in a little bit on rural 
issues. And Mr. Hendricks and Mr. Gillum and Mr. Holcomb, I am 
going to be addressing this question to you. So together, the 
American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law will 
lay the fiber and make the connections that connect Americans 
to jobs, to education, to health care, really to the world.

    We need to make sure that these historic investments that 
are getting out to states, hundreds of millions of dollars for 
mapping and infrastructure and connectivity, that they are 
deployed where they are going to have the greatest impact. And 
similarly, I think we need to be training people in those 
communities, in those rural communities, so that they are able 
to do that work where they live.

    Mr. Gillum, I am looking at you because I was smiling as 
you were talking about how people go away to go to school, and 
they get homesick. They want to be back where their families 
are. And so I appreciate that.

    Can you talk a little bit about how do we prioritize hiring 
employees where training, you know--hiring employees that we 
are trained in local apprenticeship programs or technical 
colleges near where they live and trying to understand what we 
can do to sort of encourage that workforce development in 
community where we are deploying broadband, where people want 
to stay.

    Mr. Gillum.

    [Technical problems]--sorry. Thank you very much, ma'am, 
for the question. Back to this small community college, this 
scholarship that we developed, it is only been around now, I 
think, for 3 years. It was an idea. Again, we lost multiple 
employees that had went back home to the 30 mile radius of 
where this small college is. We know that we need local talent 
to come back home.

    With the scholarship we offer priority internships between 
their potential 2 year degree. We try to accommodate. We go to 
their local job fair and high school job fairs and guidance 
counselors to help promote. The community college itself is 
willing and ready to come and speak with the students and 
counselors. So we are very excited for the opportunity.

    Senator Smith. That is great. And Mr. Hendricks, do you 
find that students in your apprenticeship programs want to stay 
in their communities? And what have you seen about how we can 
encourage that local workforce development?

    Mr. Hendricks. Thank you, Senator. Yes, absolutely. They 
want to stay close to home. Two weeks ago, I drove an hour from 
Denver to a little speck on the map, called Elizabeth, 
Colorado, to talk to five high school students about our 
program.

    Two of those students, their parents actually own an 
electrical company, and their whole thought is to learn the 
trade and then go back and take over this company from their 
parents. And there was one young lady and one young man, and 
that was their intent, they were going to take over the company 
from their parents once they learned the trade. So they are 
absolutely going home.

    Our thoughts on all this as far as the apprenticeship, we 
want to train them where they are. Years ago, we had students 
up in the mountains, out on the plains, and we have developed a 
remote training model, and this was way before COVID. We 
experimented with this. We developed this to train them where 
they are.

    We are actually one step behind all of this broadband 
building and infrastructure, because as it expands into those 
areas, we are ready to train people where they are. Thank you.

    Senator Smith. I think that the registered apprenticeship 
programs are really the gold standard for workforce training, 
with an excellent return on investment for both workers and for 
businesses. And, you know, I just want--I note in your 
testimony, you made a great point by posing this question, can 
you imagine a citizen of the United States not knowing that you 
could go to college, get a degree in a chosen field, and better 
your life by doing so? It is simply unthinkable.

    Yet that is the case with opportunities for registered 
apprenticeship programs. So what else can we be doing at the 
Federal level to be lifting up these apprenticeships and what 
the kinds of--what this preparation and training can accomplish 
for people? Mr. Hendricks, thank you.

    Mr. Hendricks. Thank you, Senator. As I stated, we need 
more exposure. We need to be put into the minds of people, and 
we were talking about people transitioning. I would love to 
have an office next to our local community college registrar's 
office as those people are leaving college and deciding this is 
not for them, and I could pull them right into my office and 
say, look what I have for you.

    That would be, I think, one of the greatest things I could 
do for the apprenticeship. Now, that is not going to happen, 
obviously. However, I think if we were to incentivize the high 
schools to make people ready for registered apprenticeships the 
way--the same way that we incentivize them to be college ready, 
that is going to go a long way in introducing people to our 
trade.

    Senator Smith. Yes. Thank you. Dr. Lee, would you like to 
add anything to this discussion? I know you have thought a lot 
about this as well.

    Ms. Turner Lee. Yes. No, thank you, Senator. I want to just 
add to what has already been said, the need for the supportive 
services.

    Obviously, having transportation vouchers, ensuring that 
there is some type of tuition offset, as we have heard in the 
scholarship program, making sure that we are also being 
culturally efficacious when it comes to getting populations 
that have not seen the type of career path of interest, 
ensuring that we have, you know, approaches in bilingual 
pamphlets or narratives for folks to actually get involved 
with.

    I want to agree with the other colleagues that the 
apprenticeship model has historically been a success for the 
U.S. The challenge is people need help getting to some of the 
programs. So we have got to increase the social services and 
support services.

    Senator Smith. Thank you. Ranking Member Braun, do you have 
another round of questions?

    Senator Braun. I do.

    Senator Smith. Very good.

    Senator Braun. Thank you. Mr. Hendricks, I asked Mr. Gillum 
and Holcomb earlier, because I think it is important that you 
put the particulars out there--so through your apprentice 
approach, No. 1, you said no debt. I think that resonates more 
loudly than almost anything good for especially parents that 
have, you know, been misguided along with their kids along the 
way and end up with debt and maybe nothing to show for it.

    Why don't you explain what that range of starting wage 
would be, pay, through career and maybe the benefits that go 
along with it? I think that is what the public needs to hear 
because the numbers that I heard earlier would be associated 
mostly with 4 year degrees. Go ahead, can you expand on that?

    Mr. Hendricks. Absolutely. Thank you, Senator. We have two 
programs in our apprenticeship. One for the electrician, one 
for the low voltage technician. And since we are talking about 
the broadband arena, I will focus on the low voltage 
technician. Their starting wage is nearly $16 an hour, so they 
are making $32,000 a year on the check. Their benefits are 
another $9 an hour to start.

    We are talking an $80,000 job out of the gate. Day one, on 
the job. A technician can earn up to, as the turnout and become 
journey workers, they can earn well over $50,000 on the check 
and another $12 in benefits. So we are talking over $100,000 
job in 4 years. I don't know if you can find a college degree 
where you can start at $60,000 and go to $100,000 in 4 years.

    Senator Braun. I think that message that you just have 
given us, and what Mr. Gillum and Holcomb talked about, that 
needs to resonate because it is not only in broadband, it is 
across the rest of the spectrum. I remember back when I was in 
our state legislature, 60,000 to 80000 jobs out there, high 
demand, high wage carried those same characteristics, and the 
main barrier was that you were not given an honest kind of 
discussion about it, especially early on in middle school and 
especially before you hit the ground running in high school.

    Dr. Lee, I was reading your kind of affirmation of what I 
just said. I like from your think tank, your studies. Is this 
broader than just broadband when it comes to what we need to do 
to revolutionize a better guidance, a better education for our 
kids, in light of the fact that we are wrestling with $1.6 
trillion in student debt?

    Ms. Turner Lee. You know, I love that question for a 
variety of reasons, Senator. One, because I think that there is 
this opportunity of transferable skills. So what I like about 
this panel is that I am probably the only broadband geek 
sitting in the square center of it. But you do need 
electricians and you need other types of occupations that are 
going through apprenticeship programs that will apply to 
broadband infrastructure.

    But more importantly, to your question, one of the things 
that we do have with this $1.2 trillion investment is we have 
incentive for demand and supply and demand. And I think we will 
miss opportunities, for example, of states don't think about 
ways in which they can incentivize a workforce, contribute to 
some of the education initiatives that you have discussed, find 
ways to promote apprenticeships because you are going to have 
to build the architecture within their local communities.

    We need companies like Mr. Holcomb's to have more than 25 
employees to do so. And so the more that we can incentivize and 
use this body of money as a way to encourage the workforce, I 
think we will have better results in the end. And that goes 
back to, I think, something you said and the Ranking Member--
the Chairman, which is strategic and calibrated.

    Senator Braun. And the other point I am hearing, too, this 
isn't complicated. It is simply getting businesses involved to 
where they are going to do things like Toyota has done down in 
Southern Indiana, close connections with the local school 
districts. Begs the question here too, not only the $1.6 
trillion in debt that we have amassed, but the fact that we are 
heavily in debt as a Federal Government.

    A lot of this can be done at the grassroots level and 
hardly cost anything. And even to the opposite effect, have a 
return on investment with very little other than a 
recalculation, a reorientation. And those are the things that 
excite me, because so often you get grandiose plans that come 
from here that you have trouble paying for, currently borrowing 
money to spend it, and this is within our grasp at the 
grassroots level.

    That concludes questions that I have, and I really enjoyed 
the conversation with all of you.

    Senator Smith. Thank you very much, Senator Braun. I have 
one last question. And then pending whether Senator 
Hickenlooper comes back or not, I will adjourn the hearing. And 
my question has to do with the following, what we need to do to 
get, you know, outreach into people earlier in their 
educational careers. And it makes me think about a bill that I 
have with Senator Graham, which is called the Youth Workforce 
Readiness Act.

    What our bill would do is to pull in afterschool providers, 
like, for example, boys and girls clubs, to help young people 
connect with employers early on for the purposes of job 
training and internships, career exploration, and registered 
apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeship programs to get the gears 
turning for young folks as they are trying to decide what 
direction they want to go and not waiting until they are 
already on a track that isn't--doesn't work for them. So I just 
want to pose the question to the panel.

    Would anyone like to comment on how important you think it 
is to take this kind of an earlier approach for workforce 
programs starting at younger ages?

    Mr. Holcomb. Thank you, Senator. It is a local effort for 
my Tipmont/Wintek. So we have a strong, ongoing relationship 
with Ivy Tech. I think the community colleges are absolutely a 
key to this, addressing this issue. We work with their 
professors. They give us a pipeline. We help keep them up to 
date on, you know, where the curriculum is going. We work with 
regional leaders in the community, with youth programs.

    We have a STEM project that we are starting with the 
Catholic schools to help kind of build awareness of these types 
of things. So we are kind of taking the approach that we got to 
build the pipeline early and we got to go do it ourselves with 
outreach, and that is how we do that. It has been very 
successful in that regard, but it has been very much a 
localized effort.

    Senator Smith. Thank you.

    Mr. Gillum. Exactly right for us. We are very, very 
involved with our local community from hosting local junior 
board meetings in our facility, educating those students at 
those board meetings on exactly what LightStream is and does, 
to providing during the pandemic and currently free Wi-Fi 
throughout the city and city park so students could go and do 
their homework if they didn't have access to the high speed 
internet. We are heavily involved in sponsoring athletic 
programs to prom after parties----

    Senator Smith. I understand.

    [Laughter.]

    Senator Smith. It is all about building relationships.

    Mr. Gillum. That is exactly right. That is exactly right. 
And myself and all the employees included that. You know, we 
try to interject and involve ourselves with the community and 
we see them at church. We see them at the school, we see them 
at dinner, and it is very important to us. I think also kind of 
on the subject as we talk to you, you know, as things pop into 
your mind, is there starting to release or come up with the 
playing of the BEAD program for--sorry, $42.5 billion.

    I really strongly believe that there should be some 
educational applications within those grant opportunities that 
to help further educate. You know, as we--as bandwidth needs 
increase, so does the technology, then providing that 
bandwidth. And along with new technology comes new training. 
And as we are talking about existing employees and furthering 
that education, I think it is very important and I think it 
should be part of some of that money.

    Senator Smith. Thank you very much.

    Ms. Turner Lee. And if I can add, I want to just followup 
on that. I mean, as the BEAD money is being distributed as part 
of the broadband infrastructure portion of the infrastructure 
bill, I think that we need to embed workforce training into if 
not the deployment side of it, but we do have the $2 billion in 
digital equity. So where we are funding local intermediary--
local organizations to actually assist with this, as well as 
workforce intermediaries who have the responsibility to ensure 
that they are providing access to 21st century skills, not just 
perhaps pushing a broom or doing other occupational skills that 
aren't as important.

    I would just say one last thing, too. I think at the heart 
of this as well, particularly in rural communities, is closing 
the digital divide. The more that we can think about the 
pairing of the money that is invested in infrastructure, that 
is why I promoted a digital service corp, with what we are 
trying to do locally with people, changing their trajectory in 
life, they have to go hand in hand. People can't do what they 
can't see, experience, or imagine.

    Senator Smith. Thank you very much. That will conclude our 
hearing today. I would like to thank my colleagues and our 
witnesses for your participation. For any Senators who wish to 
ask additional questions, questions for the record will be due 
in ten business days by May 17th at 5 p.m..

    The Committee will next meet on Tuesday, May 10th, for a 
hearing on the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal to be a member of 
the EEOC.

    The Committee stands adjourned.

                          ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

    Jonathan Adelstein, President and CEO, Wireless Infrastructure 
                              Association

    The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) is the 
principal organization representing the companies that build, 
develop, own, and operate wireless facilities in the U.S. and 
throughout the world. Our members include infrastructure 
providers, wireless carriers, equipment manufacturers, and 
professional services firms. Our mission is to enable wireless 
broadband access everywhere.

    WIA shares Congress' goal of closing the digital divide to 
ensure economic, educational, and health opportunity for all 
Americans, including rural and underserved populations. To 
achieve this goal, though, the U.S. needs a properly trained 
workforce ready to deploy broadband. Currently, neither a large 
enough nor a fully trained workforce is available to meet the 
demand for the massive future broadband buildout ahead of us 
that Congress envisioned. I commend this Committee for its 
focus on developing the broadband workforce and the wireless 
industry stands ready to assist you to build that workforce so 
that the U.S. can continue to lead the world in wireless 
innovation.

    The telecommunications industry, like most other 
industries, is already seeing a shortage of workers to meet the 
demand for broadband network buildout. The recently enacted 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included historic 
funding for broadband deployment and will make the workforce 
shortage even more acute. This major new Federal investment in 
broadband infrastructure will create hundreds of thousands of 
new jobs, increasing demand on the already short supply of 
skilled and diverse workers. To increase the efficiency and 
success of this Federal funding, a corresponding initiative is 
needed to develop the broadband workforce through support for 
registered apprenticeships and the educational system. 
Apprenticeship is an essential way to expand the broadband 
workforce to speed the deployment of high-speed internet.

    The Department of Labor has done great recent work in 
supporting a pipeline of skilled broadband workforce through 
apprenticeships, yet more Federal investment and focus are 
needed. Of the more than $850 million in Department of Labor 
grants for apprenticeship, less than 1 percent has gone to 
support broadband or the telecommunications workforce. Current 
broadband buildout had already created 106,000 direct jobs in 
installation and engineering. At the current rate of 
deployment, there will be 500,000 more new direct broadband 
jobs through 2025.

    The workforce training effort is designed to diversify the 
workforce with high-wage, upwardly mobile jobs of the future. 
It can jumpstart careers for underserved populations in an 
industry evenly spread across the U.S. and provide new career 
paths for those that lost jobs during the pandemic. Congress 
needs to continue to invest in developing a skilled broadband 
workforce by funding telecommunications and broadband 
registered apprenticeship through the Department of Labor. 
President Biden has called on Congress to invest even more in 
workforce development, including apprenticeships.

    We applaud the interagency efforts recognizing that 
workforce development and economic development are intertwined. 
The Administration should be lauded for funding innovative 
programs, with EDA's Good Jobs Challenge as an example of this 
kind of program. The Good Jobs Challenge is a great opportunity 
to invest and support the broadband workforce. We urge Congress 
and the Administration to fund impactful projects that will 
rapidly expand education and workforce development, with 
wireless and broadband being a high priority.

    Wireless jobs are different than other jobs because they 
create jobs in other industries throughout the economy. Each 
direct wireless job results in a total employment multiplier 
effect of 7.7x, which is far ahead of other sectors, such as 
full-service restaurants at 1.5x, and hardware manufacturing at 
3.9x. Each $1 of the wireless industry's direct GDP 
contribution results in $3.20 of total GDP impact across the 
American economy.

    WIA is leading the way in broadband workforce development. 
Notably, WIA is the National Sponsor of the Telecommunications 
Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), a 
Department of Labor registered program and the leading 
apprenticeship program in the wireless industry. Since 2017, 
WIA has administered National Standards of Apprenticeship along 
with the Department of Labor for approved occupations 
established under the program. Graduates receive a national, 
industry-recognized credentials that certify occupational 
proficiency and provides opportunities for career advancement. 
WIA supports employers in promoting consistency and uniformity 
in training across occupations to improve the safety and 
quality of the wireless workforce. WIA works closely with the 
Department of Labor and appreciates their support for TIRAP and 
workforce development.

    In 2020, WIA received a 5-year grant from the Department of 
Labor to expand TIRAP, with a commitment of 5,500 new 
apprentices. In addition, the Department of Labor named WIA as 
the only industry intermediary for registered apprenticeship 
for the telecommunications industry, with a focus on 
underrepresented populations, including veterans, women, and 
people of color. TIRAP currently has registered 11 critical 
occupations, including cell tower installation, radio frequency 
technicians, utilities technicians, leads, and supervisors.

    In addition to TIRAP, WIA is working with institutions of 
higher education across the country to develop and expand 
telecommunications programs, build curriculum, and train 
students and jobseekers for high-growth careers. WIA is working 
actively with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 
a broad network of Career and Technical Education programs 
focused on raising awareness of wireless careers, fostering 
training, and attaining diversity, equity, and inclusion.

    Currently, working with our partner organization the Power 
and Communication Contractors Association, WIA has five 
community and technical college pre-apprentice partners. These 
five institutions are: Monroe County Community College 
(Michigan), Somerset Community College (Kentucky), State 
Technical College of Missouri, Terra State Community College 
(Ohio), and Northwood Technical College (Wisconsin). If there 
are institutions in your state that would make good partners 
for a pre-apprentice program, please let WIA know. Our goal is 
to create these programs across the country.

    Thank you again for your focus on these important issues. 
There is undoubtedly more work ahead, and we look forward to 
partnering with this Committee to build a diverse and properly 
trained broadband workforce to advance the connectivity that 
has become so essential in all our lives.
                                ------                                

                 Independent Electrical Contractors
                                        Arlington, VA 22206
                                                        May 2, 2022
Hon. John Hickenlooper, Chairman,
Hon. Mike Braun, Ranking Member,
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety,
United States Senate,
Washington, DC.

    Dear Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Braun, and 
Subcommittee Members:

    The Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) welcomes the 
efforts of the Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety 
to address workforce issues as it relates to construction and 
installation of broadband technology and appreciates the 
opportunity to provide comment. Given the impact of the COVID-
19 pandemic, IEC believes the Federal Government must play a 
more significant role in supporting individuals seeking skills 
that will lead to new careers in fields like electrical 
contracting.

    Established in 1957, Independent Electrical Contractors is 
a trade association representing over 3,600 members with more 
than 52 chapters and training centers nationwide. Headquartered 
in Arlington, VA., IEC is the Nation's premier trade 
association representing America's independent electrical and 
systems contractors. IEC National aggressively works with the 
industry to establish a competitive environment for the merit 
shop--a philosophy that promotes the concept of free 
enterprise, open competition, and economic opportunity for all.

    IEC is uniquely situated to comment on Federal policies 
aimed at helping to address the industry's workforce shortages. 
For decades, IEC has been at the forefront of the industry 
providing highly skilled electricians through its registered 
apprenticeship program. An IEC apprentice is able to earn while 
they learn, incurs little to no debt and enters into a well-
paying job upon graduation. According to the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS), the median salary for an electrician in 2021 
was $60,040. In addition to being certified by DOL's Office of 
Apprenticeship and 38 State Apprenticeship Councils, the 
American Council on Education (ACE) has recommended that 
students that graduate the IEC apprenticeship program be 
eligible for up to 46 semester hours of college credit. IEC is 
also a member of DOL's Registered Apprenticeship--College 
Consortium (RACC), a national network of postsecondary 
institutions, employers, unions and associations working to 
create opportunities for apprentice graduates who may want to 
further enhance their skills by completing an associate's or 
bachelor's degree. RACC members have their programs evaluated 
by a third-party organization to determine the college credit 
value of the apprenticeship completion certificate. During the 
2021-2022 school year, IEC's merit shop contractors and 
chapters will educate over 14,000 electrical apprentices across 
the country.

    According to the 2022 Construction Hiring and Business 
Outlook report by the Associated General Contractors of 
America, 83 percent of construction businesses are having 
difficulty finding qualified skilled labor to fill open 
positions. This corresponds with IEC's merit shop electrical 
contractors' frustration to recruit qualified individuals to 
fill openings as journeyworkers or apprentices.

    Congress can play a key role in assisting the construction 
industry with the shortage it continues to face by enacting 
prudent public policy and funding programs that grow the number 
of individuals that ultimately enter the industry. Below are a 
few suggestions the Subcommittee may want to consider as it 
continues to craft proposals to address the industry's 
workforce shortages.

                         Apprenticeship Funding

    In recent years, policymakers have focused primarily on 
providing funding to non-traditional or new apprenticeship 
programs. Given that research shows that for every $1 invested 
in apprenticeships leads to a public return of approximately 
$28 in benefits, Congress should consider apprenticeship 
funding as one of the best investments it can make for all 
types of programs, including existing programs in the 
construction industry. By devoting more resources to all 
apprenticeship programs through tax incentives or additional 
grant funding, Congress would not only help the industry 
address its shortage, but also prove to be one the most 
efficient uses of taxpayer dollars.

             Career and Technical Education (CTE)--Perkins

    CTE programs have proven to be one of the most effective 
ways to expose students to construction and a career in the 
skilled trades. Unfortunately, it is very expensive to 
administer CTE programs given the nature of the classrooms, 
equipment, and instructors necessary to operate them 
effectively. IEC would recommend Congress double the funding 
for CTE programs to help expand programs already in place and 
establish programs where none currently exist.

              Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA)

    WIOA can play an even bigger role than it already does in 
addressing the shortages the skilled trades. This can be 
accomplished by placing a greater emphasis on job training that 
will help individuals secure careers in industries like 
construction. By increasing WIOA funding, Congress will help 
more underemployed adults obtain a more secure career while at 
the same time reduce the burden on Federal Government and its 
safety net programs.

                    Project Labor Agreements (PLAs)

    IEC urges Congress to reject discriminatory project labor 
agreement (PLAs) policies implemented by the Biden 
administration that inhibit the ability for the merit shop to 
grow its workforce in partnership with the Federal Government. 
President Biden recently signed Executive Order 14063, which 
requires PLAs on Federal contracts of $35 million or more 
funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). 
The U.S. Department of the Treasury then released its Final 
Rule for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program 
enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which 
encourages state and local government that apply for funds to 
use PLAs. Both include funding for broadband construction 
projects.

    Aside from discriminating against merit shop contractors by 
requiring companies to agree to recognize unions as the 
representatives of their employees on that job and use the 
union hiring hall to obtain workers, PLAs are anti-competitive 
and increase cost to taxpayers by 12 percent to 20 percent. 
They also discriminate against over 87 percent of the 
construction workforce that freely chooses to not be part of a 
union. If Congress is serious about growing the workforce 
within the skilled trades, IEC would ask that it support 
policies that enables the majority of individuals in the 
skilled trades to work with the Federal Government and help 
grow our Nation's broadband workforce and infrastructure.

    IEC appreciates the Subcommittee's efforts to address the 
construction industry's workforce issues and as it grows our 
Country's broadband network. As the Nation continues to recover 
from the COVID-19 pandemic, displaced workers are going to be 
seeking new opportunities and new careers. IEC's merit shop 
electrical contractors stand ready to work with Congress to 
craft policies to address these workforce challenges and help 
put the country's economy back on track and prosper in the 
years to come. Should you have any questions, feel free to 
contact me at [email protected] or (703) 650-0054.

            Sincerely,
                                             Jason E. Todd,
                                                    Vice President,
                                                Government Affairs.
                                ------                                


    [Whereupon, at 10:45 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                                  [all]