Langevin Calls for More Collaboration to Close RI Skills Gap

Having helped organize an event in response to a Harvard report that concluded the country’s system for preparing young people is “badly broken,” Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) challenged leaders from Rhode Island’s business, education and labor communities to come together and meet the state’s workforce development challenges. Langevin spoke at the Rhode Island Pathways to Prosperity Summit at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Knight Campus, during which he appeared on a panel with one of the co-facilitators of Harvard’s Pathways to Prosperity group to propose immediate steps Rhode Island can take to begin building a workforce that allows the state to best compete in a global economy.

“We must be creative and proactive about workforce development in our state, and that includes making sure educational opportunities are not only affordable and accessible for our students, but also geared for the cutting edge fields of the 21st century, like biotechnology, renewable energy and cybersecurity,” said Langevin. “I became Co-Chairman of the Congressional Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus to work more closely on those priorities both in Washington, and here in Rhode Island. To strengthen the pipeline for these jobs, we need to engage all of our state’s schools, businesses, universities and other invested partners in a common goal.”

Federal Action

Following input from the business community as well as high school and post-secondary education leaders, Langevin and Pathways to Prosperity’s Ron Ferguson took part in a panel to discuss solutions. Addressing actions needed at the federal level, the Congressman noted his backing of Perkins Act funding with Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Glenn Thompson, his fellow co-chair on the CTE Caucus. These resources provide access to the latest technology and equipment, as well as support for programs that prepare students for jobs in high-wage, high-skill, and high-demand fields like engineering, information technology and healthcare.

While demand has increased, Perkins funding has remained stagnant for almost ten years and has been cut in 2011. Langevin and Thompson have built a bipartisan coalition of 50 Members to raise awareness of the serious consequences of cuts in this area and to request that the Appropriations Committee at least restore funding to prior levels.
 
Taking Advantage of Sustainable Job Sectors

In discussing ways to improve workforce development locally, Langevin noted the opportunities in cybersecurity, a growing industry of great importance to our national defense. In October 2008, Jim Gosler, the first director of the CIA’s Clandestine Information Technology Office, pointed out that “the United States has no more than 1,000 people with the advanced security skills to compete in cyberspace at world class levels – we need 20,000 to 30,000.”

“Our state needs sustainable job growth opportunities, and the cyber field offers good paying jobs and a sustainable job sector,” said Langevin. “The cornerstone of this effort begins in the classroom, from our secondary schools to our colleges and universities. As we look to strengthen Rhode Island’s economy, this shortage also offers an opportunity.”

In response to this need, Langevin started the Rhode Island Cyber Foundations Competition in which high school students competed to test their aptitude in the foundational skills of effective cybersecurity. Ninety-one students from 17 high schools across the state participated in the first challenge, which ended last month. By partnering with others in the cyber community, the Congressman hopes this competition will grow and become a model for developing young talent in an important field. He was able to announce today that the program will launch again next fall. 

Among other solutions proposed by Langevin, he believes the state needs better cooperation between its Economic Development Corporation and the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, which have only one common member. In addition, students must have accessible internship opportunities in job-creating fields.

Event Background

Today’s event built on a recently released report by Harvard entitled “Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century,” and aimed to increase awareness about the role of technical training and credential earning in preparing students for quality job opportunities. The report concluded “the American system for preparing young people to lead productive and prosperous lives as adults is clearly badly broken.”
 
After its release, members of the Project approached Langevin to discuss their findings. In addition, Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Education, expressed interest in addressing this subject in Rhode Island because of Langevin’s leadership on the issue. These discussions grew into Monday’s conference.
 
Langevin has made it a top priority to lead by example in engaging the business community on the subjects of today’s event. At one stop at Quonset Business Park last week, he learned that state-of-the-art pool equipment manufacturer Hayward Industries could not find applicants with the requisite abilities to operate particular machinery. A few weeks earlier, the owner of cybersecurity company NetCenergy explained he was paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to train new workers who did not obtain the necessary skill set in school.
 

Video

• Congressman Langevin discussed the growing number of unfilled jobs in RI during the summit.
• Congressman Langevin pointed to the RI Cyber Challenge as an example of public-private collaboration to help prepare students for employment in emerging industries.