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 Middle-Skills Solutions Act Update (October 21, 2011)
  • The Middle-Skills Solutions Act is being heard in committee this Thursday, October 27 at 10:30 am at the State House 
  • Please come to the hearing to show your support for the bill!

 

Middle-Skills Solutions Act is being heard in Committee on October 27.   

Your support is needed!

  

Dear Friends of Skills2Compete-Massachusetts,

 

On Thursday, October 27, the MA legislature's Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development will be hearing testimony on the

Middle Skills Solutions Act: An Act establishing a middle skills council and the creation of regional skills academies in the Commonwealth (SB 921/ HB 2713) 

 

With thousands of people unemployed and even more in need of skills training and upgrading, there couldn't be a better time to act. The power of employers, job training participants, organized labor and workforce organizations working together can help pass this bill.

  

Will you join us at the hearing on Thursday?     

 

State House

Room A-1

10:30 am 

 

We have key support from Senator Dan Wolf and Representative Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, the co-chairs of this committee, and Senator Ken Donnelly, the lead Senate sponsor of the bill.  They have made this bill one of their highest legislative priorities this session, but we still need your help to move the bill forward.   

We need a strong showing at the hearing--please come even if you cannot testify or stay for the entire hearingWritten testimony is also very helpful.

 

Sincerely,

 

Loh-Sze Leung

Director, SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce

 

Sue Parsons,

Director, Workforce Solutions Group  


 

Business Leaders Discuss Skills with Senators Dan Wolf and Ken Donnelly 

senator wolf-breakfast  

Last Thursday, October 13, an audience of about 60 business, non-profit, education and workforce leaders gathered for a policy briefing at the Parkman House and sponsored by the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, the City of Boston, SkillWorks and the Workforce Solutions Group. 

 

See pictures from the event. 

 

Moderated by Alan Macdonald, president emeritus of the MA Business Roundtable, the breakfast featured remarks by Dr. Alicia Modestino of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; Senator Daniel Wolf, chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development; and Senator Donnelly, lead Senate sponsor of the Middle-Skills Solutions Act.

  • Dr. Modestino provided an overview of her research on the skills gap in Massachusetts for the New England Policy Center, emphasizing the continued need for workers with more than a high school level of education and in particular for workers with specific technical skills that are highly sought after by employers. Dr. Modestino also spoke about the long-term economic costs to the Commonwealth of not investing sufficient resources in training and education of our workforce.
  • Senator Wolf spoke from his personal experience as a successful entrepreneur, citing current shortages that his company, Cape Air, is experiencing for airplane mechanics, pilots, and finance staff. He also spoke about the need for businesses and the workforce and education systems to be better coordinated and in closer communication in order to ensure our training is aligned with available jobs.
  • Senator Donnelly emphasized his strong support for the Middle Skills Solutions Act (SB 921/ HB 2713), citing examples from his recent site visit to Middlesex Community College that demonstrated how workforce and post-secondary training could be delivered in a more streamlined, worker- and business-friendly manner.

All three urged the audience to support the Middle-Skills Solutions Act (SB 921/ HB 2713).

 

 

 

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Skills2Compete-Massachusetts is a coalition of business, labor, workforce training, adult education, post-secondary education, and community-based organizations working together to ensure that all Massachusetts residents have the opportunity to complete at least two years of education or training past high school, so that they have the vocational credential, industry certification or Associates Degree needed to succeed in today's economy.

 

Skills2Compete-Massachusetts is led by SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce and the Workforce Solutions Group.

 

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Upcoming Events 

 

October 24, 2011

NAEP is having a symposium on college and career readiness of our nation's 12th graders

Register 

 

November 2, 2011

SkillWorks is sponsoring a live webcast of a session on clean energy and economic development 

Click for more info  

 

November 7, 2011

New England Board of Higher Education conference on bridging higher education and the workforce.

Register  

 
November 14-15
National College Transition Network's annual conference in Warwick, RI

Skills In the News


CNN, Fred Dedrick, 9/12/11

Connecting people to jobs 

Boston Business Journal,Loh-Sze Leung and Inez Stewart,
9/16/11

A boost for community colleges
Boston Globe, 9/28/11

Workforce Training in the Jobs bill

Interview with Fred Dedrick, National Fund for Workforce Solutions on Bloomberg News, 10/18/11