Michigan Works job banks are set to receive a $5 million influx slated for job training and skills upgrades. The funds, Department of Labor and Economic Growth Deputy Director Andy Levine explains, can be used to develop a specific skillset, matching workers with companies seeking to expand.
"Each (job bank) has a workforce board made up of private sector people" he says. "They interact with comapnies that might be in trouble, companies that might need to grow. That company may come to a Michigan Works agency, could put on a new shift but need
It's an extension of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's No Worker Left Behind program, Levine says, through which the state hopes to train 100,000 workers in three years for employment in high-demand industries, twice the number of workers the program has trained in the past.
"Dow Chemical, Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor, all in the Midland area, all need process technicians. They need like 50 to 100 of these a year for the forseeable future."
It's a field with starting salaries in the $40,000, requiring an associate's level of training, Levine says, but few in Michigan are qualified to do it. "We need more aircraft mechanics, commercial pilots, not just for the big airlines but for courier companies and flight schools," he says. "And we need lots more healthcare workers."
It's an expansive program, but how wide its scope will be remains to be seen. No Worker Left Behind is bankrolled by about $50 million in federal dollars. Granholm has asked the state Legislature for another $40 million in state monies, but the Legislature has yet to make an allocation, Levine says.
"Even if we achieve all that, it's still a small part of the need," he says. "We have 350,000 people unemployed at any given time, according to the formal federal definition of unemployment...the need far exceeds it even if we got $40 million from the state legislature."
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Writer: Nancy Kaffer
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