National Skills Coalition Forms Workforce Panels to Advise Biden on Recovery Policies
As the Biden administration tackles recovery from COVID-19, the National Skills Coalition (NSC) and Business Leaders United for Workforce Partnerships pulled together more than 60 national leaders from business, labor, community colleges, and industry training providers to create industry recovery panels.
The goal of the panels is to advise the new administration, as well as Congress, on workforce training and support services that both workers and businesses will need to adjust to our current economic situation.
One of the administrations’ key programs is the “Made in America” policy which calls for the government, “whenever possible, procure goods, products, materials, and services from sources that will help American businesses compete in strategic industries and help America’s workers thrive. “
While the NSC favors this policy, CEO Andy Van Kleunen told IndustryWeek that these policies must be inclusive. “President Biden's Made in all of America’ initiative will only be as successful as his commitment to making generation-defining workforce investments that are equitably allocated to support every worker in the manufacturing sector, particularly workers of color, immigrants, and workers with a high school diploma or less. In the coming months, the Manufacturing Recovery Panel will release a set of recommendations to help drive an inclusive recovery for the manufacturing workforce and industry. We can’t train our way out of this crisis. But meaningful investments in our workforce system must be part of the path forward.”
One of the four recovery panels is the Manufacturing Recovery Panel will which share its recommendations through meetings with the Department of Commerce and Congressional leadership.
A member of the panel, Scott Paul, president of Alliance for American Manufacturing and chair of NSC’s Board of Directors, expressed the need for secure employment in the industry. “I look forward to joining other industry leaders in conversations with Biden administration officials about the need for robust public investments in training for infrastructure and clean energy to support workers and grow American manufacturing jobs,” Paul said in a statement. “This is about securing a solid foundation for lasting job growth and sustainability for generations to come.”
Manufacturing Panel Participants include:
Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA)
Bishara Addison, Senior Manager of Policy & Strategic Initiatives, Towards Employment
Rhandi Berth, Vice President, WRTP
Mike Gritton, Executive Director, KentuckianaWorks
Kate Guess, Vice President of Human Resources, Vermeer
Scott Jensen, Former Director, Rhode Island Department of Labor
Donny Jones, Executive Director, West Alabama Works
Keith Lawing, President & CEO, Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas
Deb Lindner, HR Manager, Precor
Craig McAtee, Executive Director, National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers
Alejandro Mendoza, Director of Human Resources, Optimax Systems Inc.
Girard Melancon, Vice-Chancellor of Workforce Development, Baton Rouge Community College
Mark Mitsui, President, Portland Community College
Omar Nashashibi, Partner, The Franklin Partnership
Scott Paul, President, Alliance for American Manufacturing
Bill Rayl, President, Jackson Area Manufacturers Association
Erica Swinney Staley, Executive Director, Manufacturing Renaissance
Andy Stettner, Senior Fellow, Century Foundation
Alexander Stolyarov, CEO, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America
Mike Tamasi, President and CEO, AccuRounds
Traci Tapani, Co-President, Wyoming Machine
