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ETA News Release: [08/28/2006]
Contact Name: Jim Schaefer
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Release
Number: 06-1526-PHI
U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Focuses on Strengthening Competitiveness of American Workforce
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today met with New Jersey employers at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett to discuss ways to strengthen America's workforce competitiveness in the 21st century economy.
"The U.S. economy has created over 5.5 million net new jobs since August 2003," Secretary Chao said and characterized the U.S. economy as "one of the most vibrant of all industrialized nations. Unemployment is 4.8 percent lower than the average unemployment rate of the decade of the 1990's of 5.7 percent."
Secretary Chao cited the many initiatives launched by this administration to expand access to education and training opportunities for workers, and said that New Jersey is well positioned to benefit from these programs because "the Garden State is home to some of the finest universities and community colleges in the nation." Secretary Chao pointed out that nearly two-thirds of the estimated 18 million new jobs created in the next 10 years will be in occupations that require some kind of higher education.
"President Bush's economic policy which reduces over-taxation, excessive regulation and abusive litigation has created new jobs and opportunities," Chao continued. "But to remain competitive in the worldwide economy, America's workers must have access to relevant education and training opportunities so they can continually upgrade their skills.
"To meet this challenge, President George W. Bush has announced the High Growth Job Training Initiative, the Community Based Job Training Initiative and the American Competitiveness Initiative," Chao said. "The Competitiveness Initiative includes a proposal for Career Advancement Accounts, which are modeled after Pell grants, and would empower workers with up to $3,000 to purchase the education and training that suits them best."
The High Growth Job Training Initiative brings together government, employers and educators to implement industry-identified strategies that offer solutions to their workforce challenges. The initiative has funded $4 million in training programs in New Jersey including a million dollar grant to the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services that was announced last month to establish a national model for recruiting and training individuals with disabilities for financial services careers.
Under the Community-Based Job Training Initiative, a $1,608,948 grant was awarded to Passaic County Community College, for Skills that Work: Enhanced Preparation for Health Care Workers. And New Jersey's Northeast Regional Economic Innovation Alliance (NREIA) is one of the 13 virtual partners in the department's WIRED Initiative. This initiative brings together employers, workers, labor organizations, researchers, community leaders and others to plan a regional economic development strategy and then implement programs to help workers get training to access these opportunities The New Jersey initiative seeks to revitalize urban areas such as Newark by encouraging development of health services, life sciences, transportation and logistics, and advanced manufacturing. A NREIA study said these industries could potentially add more than 130,500 jobs to the Northern New Jersey region over the next 10 years.
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