To The Editor:
I enjoyed Sean O’Leary’s article, “Hartford’s Cool, But Where Are The Workers?” in the Sept. 10 issue of The Hartford Business Journal. He reported that of 967 business executives questioned for the 2007 Survey of Connecticut Business, 66 percent cited difficulty in finding qualified workers. Of course taxes, regulation and health care costs are ever present, but the future work force is causing more and more trepidation as the baby boomer generation ages.
My first eight months as Connecticut’s Lieutenant Governor has confirmed this. Speaking directly with the business community, their message to me is that their number one concern is where they will find future employees.
We in state government are aware of this issue and we’re taking measures to address it head on. Commissioner Joan McDonald, from the Department of Economic and Community Development, and Rob Simmons, the state’s Business Advocate, have been collaborating with my office and working hard to streamline communication between state government and our business community.
Together, we are rethinking and refocusing how the state will handle the growing concern for future workers.
Examples of collaboration abound. The Insurance and Financial Services Cluster has partnered with DECD, Capital and Norwalk Community Colleges and The WorkPlace, Inc. (the Workforce Investment Board representing southwestern Connecticut) to create the IFS Center for Educational Excellence.
DECD received a three-year $2.7 million grant to create The Center from the U.S. Department of Labor under the president’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, a national program to educate workers in skills needed in high growth, high demand and economically vital industries.
This is a model for curriculum development and training that addresses growing occupations in the insurance and financial services industry — financial managers and analysts, financial sales agents and brokers, accountants and auditors, and actuaries.
Through a strong partnership between the Aerospace Components Manufacturers cluster, the Connecticut Tooling and Machining Association, and Asnuntuck Community College, a manufacturing technology scholarship program was established that encourages students to pursue careers in precision machining and CNC technology.
Twelve area manufacturers are sponsoring 32 full, one–year scholarships. Students attend class full time during the first semester. In the second semester, students attend classes three days a week and are paid interns two days a week. Upon graduation, the employer agrees to pay for one course per year up to three years for continuing education.
Twenty-six students are currently enrolled in the scholarship program and six more are scheduled to start next semester.
We need to continue our efforts to identify the needs — nurses, research and development, manufacturing, technical, blue collar, white collar — we need to prepare ourselves, our educational programs and our children for their future in a global economy. By doing a better job of integrating business needs with our educational focus, our children will graduate with a top-notch education and much needed skills. Employers will continue to grow and succeed as will our students.
Michael Fedele
Lieutenant Governor
State of Connecticut
