Emily Stover DeRocco Speech

Remarks of
Emily Stover DeRocco
at the
Institute for GIS Studies' Geospatial Program Kick-Off

Monday, January 10, 2005
11:00 a.m.

It's great to be in Tennessee. Thanks for having me.

We're so glad to be able to do a small part to prepare American workers to participate in the cutting-edge geospatial technology industry.

Congresswoman Blackburn, thanks for your kind words. We at the Department of Labor surely have appreciated your leadership on the House Education and Workforce Committee, and we welcome your support as we forge solutions for advancing the economy.

Last April, the President traveled to the campus of one of this grant's partners -- Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C. He went there to unveil his new job training and community college initiatives.

Of the several reforms the President mentioned that day, one was to give state and local officials more control and flexibility over resources for job training in exchange for increased accountability.

He was calling for flexibility because he knows about the economic possibilities for Tennessee and its people if we equip workers with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century economy.

One message many took from the President's speech in April is that economic development and workforce development go hand in hand.

Chamber of Commerce reports, survey after survey, and good, old-fashioned reality tell us that growing companies and industries set up shop in places with talented workers.

In today's competitive global economy, I daresay, economic development simply will not work without workforce development.

Geospatial technology will be an important driver in that global economy. What is it all about?

It's about navigation aids integrated into our cars. It's about using satellites to track weather events precisely and further ahead of time. It's about the ability to communicate to and from nearly every point on the planet. It's about collecting data to make the world around us more secure and clean. It's about an industry that's only expected to grow.

In everyday business, industries such as insurance, banking, real estate, environmental monitoring, forestry and agriculture, use geospatial information.

In federal, state and local governments, geospatial information adds enormous value in public lands management, emergency response and homeland security applications.

We at USDOL focused on geospatial technology in the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative for these reasons. We have announced initial investments in partnerships to develop workers' skills in geospatial technology of almost $4.9 million, with grantees and partners contributing leveraged resources worth more than $6.5 million.

Today's grant is for the Institute for GIS Studies Geospatial Business Hub Project.

Work done through this grant will train 425 individuals -- 100 associate degree students and 325 persons in continuing education.

Curriculum for 23 courses and 3 courses for certificates will be developed.

To leverage our investment of public funds for workers across the country, we will distribute this curriculum nationally through the community college system.

This grant not only brings benefit to people all over middle Tennessee. A major part of this grant also touches people in North Carolina.

Apprenticeship hubs will be established in the Nashville and Charlotte regions to offer real work experiences through internships, apprenticeships, and other on-the-job learning experiences.

Unemployed and underemployed workers in Tennessee and North Carolina will benefit from career tracks in geospatial's land management records and utilities services applications.

Vital activities like these only can come about through sound partnerships. Through the support of businesses and institutions like Smart Data Strategies, I am proud to say that leveraged resources amounting to more than $4.3 million will make geospatial technology a reality in this neck of the woods.

Incidentally, that's far more than the Department of Labor can offer today. But that's a good thing. Much like the Founding Father for whom this city is named, the best in economic development is of the homespun variety.

Therefore, it is my pleasure to present the Institute for GIS Studies, and Mr. Matt Price a check for $2 million.

Congratulations.