Tim Kaine pushes for fast-paced certifications to supply workforce

“It doesn’t have to be a four-year bachelor’s degree for everybody,” Kaine said. “There’s a whole series of technical and career trades that doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”

As co-chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus, Kaine recently introduced the JOBS Act to expand federal Pell Grants to students who enroll in short-term job training programs, which would help workers afford high-quality training in advanced manufacturing and other industries.

Director of Advanced Learning at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research Julie Brown applauded the senator for his proposed legislation.

Students who are in need of financial assistance are daunted by the realization that as it stands Pell Grants are used for 15-week course loads, while most CTE programs can be completed in as little as eight weeks.

“Pell was really designed around the 15-week traditional academic semester, we have a bill in to knock that down back to eight and to focus on high-quality career and technical offerings,” said Kaine.

Kaine also told everyone he feels if the money was given to the education institutes, they would have no problem producing fast-paced programs and in the end certified students.

South Boston Mayor Ed Owens also spoke on community college issues suggesting there needs to be something “more nimble” to provide a quick turnaround time for certifications to supply the workforce.

The senator said that was a state issue because community colleges do not get reimbursed for skill training.

“Probably when that funding formula was designed, it was there for traditional four-year academic students, but if we look at colleges, now more than half are there to get a skill, to get a promotion or to get a skill to get a better job… If the funding formula changed, then they could put together the program a lot faster.”

President and CEO of the Danville/Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce Laurie Moran described one initiative that is in place now in which a business in Danville will soon be hiring close to 40 employees.

In order to find those employees, a training provider is offering a four-week, 40-hours simulation work environment to prepare them for the positions they will fill.

“We have to have those partners,” said Moran.

Who those partners are and what credentials are valued by those businesses seem to be the big questions.

Brown outlined a “disconnect” that seems to be appearing between the community colleges and the businesses to see which exact certifications they’re looking for.

“I would love to see some type of incentive from an employer from the demand side where we can clearly identify the certification’s short-term training that they value and that they value to the extent that it means a wage differential or a preference in hiring,” Brown explained.

“That’s where we struggle.”

Kaine suggested more conversation needed to be had on the community college board or at the chamber.

Halifax County IDA Executive Director Matt Leonard pushed for a removal of barriers that would allow for more private industries to integrate into the middle and elementary schools.

“I think what that does is not only change the funding formula and affect future worker strength in a positive way, but it changes the message to the student, and I think that’s one thing we leave out,” said Leonard.

“We need to explain to our students manufacturing is no longer the 4-Ds: dark, dirty, dangerous and dead-end. It’s not that. Not only that, I remember in high school not always knowing the answer to what I wanted to do in life, but also I knew it had to matter somehow. If we can get those students to understand that it matters to be able to make something with your hands that is valued by someone else in the world, it’s an honorable thing to do. You can make a good living in a safe place.”

ABB Vice President Petter Friskerud agreed saying, “We need to do a better job on the industrial side. Many people think our jobs are a lot of sitting in front of a computer and a desk, but very little of that is going on… we’re not doing a good enough job to let people know that. We need to get the engineering degrees to be the bomb.”

Changing the focus to industrial development, Leonard outlined an issue the IDA faces.

“The IDA has put a lot of emphasis on research and development and have done well attracting start-ups,” said Leonard.

He said a lot of these businesses receive SBRI phase 1 grants but can’t seem to “stay alive” to reach phase 2, and he suggested there needed to be extra incentives to help keep the business going.

These assets will work as an incentive to keep them in the area by having it conditional upon the company staying in the area to commercialize after completing phase 2, Leonard said.

Other discussion revolved around the export-import bank, grid resiliency and transportation.

The senator said reauthorizing the export-import bank should be a “no brainier.”

He explained if a business wants to do business overseas with a customer they have never dealt with before, their traditional bank would be leary of the risk of lending them money. However, the export-import bank could step in to “back stock” the company until a relationship is formed with the new company that their traditional bank trusts.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure out how to fix it by the end of the year,” Kaine promised.

Friskerud then brought up grid resiliency and asked, “how to build up the grid.”

“I wish I had a great answer,” said Kaine.

He told Friskerud from the grid side, they needed to be more competitive and more efficient.

“I don’t know the current status,” he admitted.

When it came to the transportation bill, the senator was asked how that would affect the sparse amount of public transportation available in rural communities.

Moran told the senator they were running into issues with workers not having transportation to get to work.

Kaine said the formula probably wouldn’t change much.

“I think you’ll likely see the formula allocation between urban and rural between road and transit change dramatically. But our goal is to put more money into the system because we have been under-investing,” said Kaine.

The discussion followed a tour of the facility, and on Thursday, Kaine was scheduled to visit the Goodyear Tire Plant in Danville. Less than 24 hours before Kaine’s visit, Goodyear reached out to inform Kaine’s team that it needed to be postponed due to the fact that his presence might result in a protest outside of the plant over the Confederate flag being banned from city flagpoles in Danville recently.

Kaine said, “I am disappointed that Goodyear has postponed my plant visit in Danville tomorrow. I’ve worked with Goodyear on a number of issues over the years and have also frequently interacted with Goodyear workers. I was looking forward to the visit. I understand that the company was worried about a potential protest during my visit over the Confederate flag controversy.

“During 21 years in public life, I have experienced protests before and never shrink from them. People have a First Amendment right to express their views. Even though I might have disagreed with the protesters – and they with me – I would have preferred to do the tour as planned. But I look forward to a continued partnership with Goodyear and its workers and encourage anyone who was hoping to discuss an issue with me to call my Danville office at 434-792-0976.”