Building Federal Capacity for Workforce Development Aligned to Industrial Policy

Summary

The webinar, hosted by New America, focuses on building federal capacity for workforce development aligned with industrial policy, particularly the Biden-Harris administration's Investing in America agenda. It highlights initiatives by the Department of Commerce to implement significant investments in infrastructure and technology, aiming to create quality jobs across the country. The discussion features insights from leaders within the Department of Commerce, exploring challenges and opportunities in administering these initiatives alongside other federal agencies and local partners.

Highlights

• Mary Alice McCarthy from New America kicks off the webinar on workforce development policies aligned with industrial strategy. 🎤
• The Department of Commerce is highlighted for its increased role in workforce policy, supported by a historic legislative reauthorization. 🏛️
• Significant investments, including from the CHIPS Act, are driving semiconductor manufacturing expansion in the U.S. 🇺🇸
• The focus is not just on job creation but on ensuring those jobs are well-paying and sustainable, particularly in underserved regions. 💼
• Cross-department collaborations are key to driving the success of these programs, with various sectors working together. 🔗

Key Takeaways

• The Investing in America agenda seeks to revolutionize U.S. infrastructure and technology investments, aiming to create a significant number of quality jobs nationwide. 📈
• The Department of Commerce is central to these efforts, rolling out programs like the Good Jobs Challenge and Tech Hubs to foster regional economic growth. 🛠️
• Coordination with other federal agencies and local governments is crucial for the successful implementation of these policies. 🤝
• The involvement of multiple stakeholders, including labor unions and educational institutions, is key to addressing workforce development challenges. 🏫
• New technologies and data-driven strategies are being employed to track and evaluate the outcomes of these federal investments. 📊

Overview

The webinar introduced by Mary Alice McCarthy brings to light the ambitious Investing in America agenda under the Biden-Harris administration, aiming to elevate American infrastructure, technology, and job creation. The discussion focuses on how federal policies are being shaped to address workforce needs aligned with industrial growth strategies, emphasizing a historically significant role of the Department of Commerce.

Key initiatives from the Department of Commerce, including the Good Jobs Challenge and regional Tech Hubs, are unpacked, showcasing their impact on American communities and industries. These efforts are not just about creating jobs but ensuring these are high-quality, sustainable opportunities, especially in areas that have previously been economically overlooked. The scale and strategic coordination involved highlight the enormity of the task.

The panel stresses the importance of partnerships across different sectors, from education to industry and labor organizations, required to meet evolving workforce demands. An emphasis is placed on the utilization of new technologies and data-driven evaluations to ensure the effectiveness of these investments, supporting a holistic approach to economic and workforce development in the country.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Webinar Overview The chapter titled 'Introduction and Webinar Overview' is hosted by Mary Alice McCarthy from the Center on Education and Labor at New America. It focuses on building federal capacity for workforce development in the context of industrial policy. This event is a part of the Future of Work and the Innovation Economy initiative, emphasizing the timeliness and significance of the topic.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Discussion on Biden-Harris Administration Policies The chapter discusses the Biden-Harris administration's 'Investing in America' agenda, focusing on the role of the US Department of Commerce. It highlights the administration's industrial policy aimed at upgrading America's physical and digital infrastructure.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Efforts to Restore Manufacturing and Infrastructure The chapter discusses efforts to restore manufacturing and infrastructure in the United States. It highlights the significant shift in economic policy to focus on domestic manufacturing and clean energy investments. The chapter emphasizes the ambitious scale of the 'investing in America' agenda, which encompasses over $2 trillion in investments through various significant legislative measures such as the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Creating Jobs and Workforce Development The focus of this chapter is on policies designed to not only build infrastructure but also to create good, family-sustaining jobs and provide opportunities for American workers nationwide. These opportunities include jobs that do not require a college degree. The agenda is described as ambitious, highlighting both its potential impact and the significant challenges facing federal agencies in implementing these policies.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Commerce Department’s Role and Challenges The chapter discusses the role and challenges faced by the Commerce Department in implementing investments aimed at rebuilding American infrastructure and manufacturing capacity.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Department of Commerce Programs and Initiatives The Department of Commerce is focused on ensuring an adequate supply of skilled workers to support investments in infrastructure and technology. The department aims to create good jobs that are accessible to local residents, including historically marginalized groups. It plays a significant role in administering investments from the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Commerce Department's Workforce Strategy The chapter discusses the Commerce Department's role in leading various workforce strategy programs. These include the Good Jobs Challenge, which backs Regional Sectoral Partnerships to train and place workers; the Recompete Program investing in economically distressed areas; the Climate Ready Workforce Program addressing employer talent needs while supporting energy resilience and competitiveness; and the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Programs focusing on tech hub development.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Introduction of Panelists and Event Structure This chapter introduces the panelists and outlines the structure of the event, focusing on the investments made in developing cutting-edge technologies aimed at promoting economic development in disadvantaged communities across the country. It highlights programs like the CHIPS program, spearheaded by the Department of Commerce, which incorporates various workforce development provisions. The chapter further discusses the need for department leadership and staff to cultivate new expertise, design funding opportunities, develop performance metrics, provide technical assistance, and form new relationships.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Panel Discussion: Commerce's Evolution and Programs The panel discussion focused on the evolution of commerce and various programs that have developed as a result. It highlighted how these changes have introduced new methods of collaboration both within the agency and externally with other federal agencies, states, communities, and the private sector. Members from the Department of Commerce expressed that the changes have been a whirlwind experience marked by significant learning and capacity building. The chapter concludes with a note on the upcoming new administration's commitment to enhancing the lives of American workers and strengthening the economy.
• 05:00 - 05:30: EDA’s Role and Sectoral Partnerships The chapter discusses the strengthening of American communities and economic competitiveness. It reflects on lessons and strategies to be built upon by the new Administration, states, and communities, especially in the context of constructing new infrastructure with private sector partnerships. The discussion includes insights from notable public servants from the Department of Commerce, including Rachel Lipon, the Senior Policy Adviser for the US National Institutes of Standards and Technology.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Integrating Economic and Workforce Development The chapter 'Integrating Economic and Workforce Development' covers a discussion led by key figures at the U.S. Department of Commerce, including the leader of the chips office at NIST, Rachel Sun of the recompete pilot program, and David Langon of policy and strategic planning. The meeting is facilitated by Shannon Joi, founder and managing director of the Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative at New America. The discourse centers on strategic economic and workforce integration efforts to enhance development.
• 06:00 - 07:00: Collaboration with Industries and Tech Hubs The chapter titled 'Collaboration with Industries and Tech Hubs' begins with an introduction of the speaker, who emphasizes their role in supporting industrial policy implementation and workforce development across the federal government and various regions. The speaker, Mary Alice, introduces the discussion and hands over the conversation to Shanon. Shanon welcomes the audience and thanks them for their participation, along with acknowledging a distinguished panel. Special guests Dave Langon, Rachel Lipson, and Rachel's son Dave are invited to join the virtual stage for further discussions.
• 07:00 - 08:00: Chips Program Overview and Updates The chapter provides an overview of the Chips Program and its recent updates. It includes a reminder for the audience to prepare questions for the panelist, which can be submitted via an online platform towards the end of the web panel. Additionally, the speakers have provided written resources and newly released documents related to the program.
• 08:00 - 09:00: Inter-Agency Collaboration and Lessons Learned The chapter "Inter-Agency Collaboration and Lessons Learned" opens with a discussion on accessible resources for participants which are available on the registration page of the New America website. The chapter emphasizes the importance of accessibility and sharing resources, as these will also be included in a follow-up email featuring a recording of the discussed event. The chapter sets a foundation for a detailed conversation focusing on the evolution of the Department of Commerce, as indicated by the initial question directed towards a participant named Dave.
• 09:00 - 10:00: State and Local Implementation Strategies The chapter discusses the role of various agencies under the U.S. Department of Commerce in implementing industrial policy, particularly focused on state and local levels. It highlights the unique structure of the Commerce Department, which includes multiple independent agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These agencies contribute to policy execution, particularly related to investing in America.
• 10:00 - 11:00: Metrics and Measuring Success The chapter titled 'Metrics and Measuring Success' discusses the changes in the Commerce Department's approach to workforce development following recent legislative bills, with a focus on aligning these efforts with industrial policy. The conversation is motivated by a question about the intra-agency strategies for workforce development. The introduction includes expressions of gratitude for the invitation to the discussion event.
• 11:00 - 12:00: Future of Workforce Development Strategies The chapter discusses the challenges and rapid changes faced in the realm of workforce development. It highlights the expanded role of the Department of Commerce in workforce policy, indicating a significant increase in its influence over the past few years across different administrations. This involvement signifies a broader engagement and a stronger voice in shaping federal workforce development strategies.
• 12:00 - 14:00: Audience Q&A Session This chapter focuses on the broadening role of various agencies within the US Government, particularly in the context of workforce development. Agencies like EIC development Administration and NIST are highlighted for their contributions. Additionally, the chapter comments on the expanding responsibilities of the Department of Commerce, traditionally engaged in business and data production through the US Census Bureau. The text alludes to a more integrated investment in American communities and workers, marking the Department as a significant player in workforce initiatives.
• 14:00 - 14:30: Closing Remarks and Thank You In this chapter titled 'Closing Remarks and Thank You,' the speaker reflects on the substantial financial investment made over the past four years, totaling approximately 2.9 billion dollars. This investment has covered a wide range of activities including public works, infrastructure, planning, and the development of sectoral partnership models. The speaker highlights significant administrative progress made, referencing a key Department administrative order that was published nearly a year ago. These remarks serve as a culmination of the efforts and developments undertaken during this period.

Building Federal Capacity for Workforce Development Aligned to Industrial Policy Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hello and welcome to today's webinar building Federal capacity uh for Workforce Development aligned with industrial policy uh my name is Mary Alice McCarthy and I head our Center on education and labor here at new America uh today's event is brought to you by our future of work and the Innovation economy initiative and um thank you very much for joining us I think this is going to be a very timely and important
• 00:30 - 01:00 conversation uh exploring the implementation of the Biden Harris administration's investing in America agenda we're going to explore the implementation from the perspective of one of the Departments that has really been at the center of those Investments that the US Department of Commerce um you know the Biden Harris administration's Embrace of an industrial policy that would upgrade America's physical and digital infrastructure that re would resore uh
• 01:00 - 01:30 semiconductor manufacturing and invest in clean energies these policies were a significant departure from the Orthodoxy that sort of guided economic policy for decades um and it's really hard to overstate the ambition of the investing in America agenda which included over $2 trillion dollar of Investments through the American Rescue plan the bipartisan infrastructure law the chips and science Act and the inflation reduction act right and these laws uh and these
• 01:30 - 02:00 policies were aimed at more than just building things they were also designed to create good family sustaining jobs and build opportunities for American workers across the country to gain access to those jobs uh many of those jobs in addition do not require a college degree so this is a very ambitious uh agenda and I said it's hard to overstate it it's also hard to overstate though the enormity of the challenge facing the federal agency's
• 02:00 - 02:30 task with implementing these Investments and ensuring that they meet their goals of both rebuilding American infrastructure and Manufacturing capacity nurturing the development of existing and emerging Industries uh to ensure our Competitive Edge moving forward and address the needs of American workers and communities for good jobs it has required agencies that do not have a lot of experience in Workforce Development to develop new expertise and capacity
• 02:30 - 03:00 to ensure an adequate supply of skilled workers to support these investments in infrastructure and technology and to do so in ways that also ensure that those jobs are good jobs and available to local residents uh including people who have historically been excluded from any of those jobs so the Department of Commerce has been at the center of those efforts with particularly large responsibilities for administering investments from the American Rescue plan the bipartisan infrastructure law and the chips and science
• 03:00 - 03:30 specifically that Commerce has led on the design and implementation now of three rounds of the good jobs challenge which supports Regional sectoral Partnerships that train and place workers in good jobs it has been in charge of the recompete program which invests in uh economically distressed communities the climate ready Workforce program which Foster which uh is designed to meet employer Talent needs while promoting energy resilience and competitiveness and also the regional technology and Innovation hubs or Tech hubs uh programs which direct
• 03:30 - 04:00 investments in the development of cuttingedge Technologies to promote economic development in Left Behind communities and regions across the country and of course the chips program uh which is anchored at uh the uh Department of Commerce and includes an array of Workforce Development Provisions in each case then Department leadership and staff have had to develop new expertise new ways of Designing funding opportunities performance metrics and technical assistance and of of course many new relationships and
• 04:00 - 04:30 we'll hear about those today and how it has led to new ways of working both within the agency with other federal agencies and with States communities and the private sector for the folks working in these agencies at the department of Congress Commerce I can I safely say it has been a real Whirlwind um but also a time of great learning and capacity building so as we approach the inauguration of a new Administration that is also committed to improving the lives of American workers strengthen and
• 04:30 - 05:00 strengthening American communities and economic competitiveness it's worth taking a moment to reflect on what's been learned what can be built on by the new Administration and by the states and communities that are now building all this new infrastructure alongside their private sector Partners so that's what we're going to do today uh with three exceptional public servants uh from the Department of Commerce including Rachel lipon who is the senior policy adviser for the US National Institutes of standard and technology in the
• 05:00 - 05:30 Department of Commerce and uh leads the chips office there at at what is otherwise known as nist Rachel Sun who is the acting director of the recompete pilot program at the US economic development Administration and the Department of Commerce and David langon the deputy director of policy and strategic planning at the US Department of Commerce and to facilitate the conversation please let me introduce my colleague shanon Joi founder and managing director of the future of work and Innovation economy initiative at new America Shen's been closely following
• 05:30 - 06:00 and supporting industrial policy implementation and Workforce Development efforts across the federal government and in regions for for some time now uh and is gonna uh guide us through this conversation so take it away shanon and and thanks to everyone for joining us thanks very much Mary Alice and and thanks very much to our audience and our distinguished panel to uh for joining us for this conversation I'd like to invite our guests on the virtual stage Dave langon Rachel Lipson and Rachel's son Dave Rachel Rachel
• 06:00 - 06:30 welcome really excited to get this conversation underway as a reminder to our audience uh about our our uh question opportunity please be thinking about questions you would like to ask the Audi uh the panelist you can add your questions using your online platform which will'll get to towards the end of the web panel today I also wanted to flag that our speakers have graciously shared some written resources some hot of the press materials and standing documents that are available to
• 06:30 - 07:00 all of you and can serve as guidepost of a conversation today you can access those resources on the registration page which is available on the new America website and we'll also include some of those in the follow-up email which will include uh the reg uh recording of the event today with that we have lots to get through so let's go ahead and Dive Right In with an initial question for for for you Dave um thinking about the department of commerce's Evolution under
• 07:00 - 07:30 investing in America you know as Mary Alice mentioned in in her remarks Commerce is a bit unique in that it houses multiple independent agencies and many of them have been involved with industrial policy implementation we have the National Institutes of standards and Technology the economic development Administration we have ntia the national telecommunications and information agency we have Noah the National Oceanic
• 07:30 - 08:00 and Atmospheric Administration and so on and since the investing America Suite of bills were passed I'd like to ask you and and the rest of our panel what's changed about the Commerce Department's um under the hood approach the intra agency approach to Workforce Development aligned with industrial policy well thank you very much for the invitation and thank you also to Mary Alice um for like again for the invitation um she characterized the
• 08:00 - 08:30 enormity of challenge that we faced in the Whirlwind that we we've been living in and that characterizes it really really well um the role of the Department of Commerce as you described in particular with respect to Workforce Development has expanded significantly um we've been a significant voice in federal policy Workforce policy dating back a couple different administrations um in spanning that time uh we've become a major actor in that space in the last few years which a much much broader
• 08:30 - 09:00 range of activities within individual agencies particularly EIC development Administration and nist but also Breath by bringing in new agencies who have gained a significant role in Workforce Development um the Workforce Development role of the Department of Commerce traditionally has been um around business engagement and producing data particularly from the US Census Bureau um by becoming uh much more invested um in both American communities and in American workers as we'll be talking about we' become this major actor and
• 09:00 - 09:30 actually the total of our investment over the P four years is actually around 2.9 billion dollarars to to covering um things ranging from public works all the way to development of an implementation of sectoral partnership models and quite a bit of work in between including planning and infrastructure Investments um we have spent a significant amount of time actually about a year ago today uh tomorrow um we will have published at Department administrative order which
• 09:30 - 10:00 has served to help bring a lot of this together both to outline a Commerce approach to Workforce Development um very much in sync with this administration's approach and then we'll talk about later um lessons from prior administrations so it's a true Evolution and also um we built the structures to support our multiple bureaus seven of our 13 bureaus who have major Workforce programs um to sort of align our approaches improve coordination and um I think one last thing I would think about it is is the
• 10:00 - 10:30 the Commerce role um is is unique we are um our mission is to create the conditions for economic growth and development for all communities one of the through lines um that connects all our different bureaus or many of them is the focus on the development and employment of critical and emerging Technologies and our Workforce approach is in sync with that and our our prioritization we particularly seen this in the most recent good jobs challenge announcement is the need to focus and
• 10:30 - 11:00 prioritize the development of skills skilled Workforce to support the development and deployment of critical and emerging Technologies um so I'll just leave that now as a quick intro turn it to my partners in crime Rachel and Rachel brilliant Dave thanks very much Rachel Lipson Rachel Sun would love to hear perspectives from you all on on this Evolution that the agency has undergone investing America sure happy to jump in um like I don't have the long tale of perspective
• 11:00 - 11:30 that that Dave has because I've joined in the midst of this rapid kind of scale up and and startup stage in some ways for um both the workforce efforts but also um in my role in the chips program office um I joined at a time when we were about 50 people in CPO and within a few months it was 150 so it's been a it's been a whirlwinds for sure Mary Alice got that um got that right um but I think similar to the themes that that Dave mentioned um nist is not new to Workforce Development either we um have
• 11:30 - 12:00 the manufacturing extension Partnerships the manufacturing USA institutes um so there's a a long history of um uh of NIS playing an important role in um especially in the manufacturing ecosystem of course I think what's what's been happening with chips is um something pretty new in terms of the scale and the ambition um and and the breadth of our efforts um so for instance and I know know we'll we'll have the chance to go in in more depth
• 12:00 - 12:30 later but um just from chips we've invested over 300 uh almost 300 million doll in direct um uh company incentives for Workforce Development as part of the chips manufacturing Investments uh a $250 million um investment in the new Workforce Center of Excellence at the nstc that's the national semiconductor technology Center a new public private partnership um that's sort of a flagship National institution uh over $55 million from the
• 12:30 - 13:00 other R&D programs um so it's it's been a a big scale in a short period of time um and and Workforce Development has become kind of a key part of the overall efforts it was one of the key evaluation criteria for how chips applications um were evaluated um we've built out a a dedicated Workforce strategy team um within chips that has expertise across construction and facilities and Child Care strategy really a wide range of
• 13:00 - 13:30 backgrounds um and one thing I I do want to call out that I think is is notable here um and it's in consistent with with commerce's historical Focus but um probably unique the extent to which chips has been a a vehicle for federal funding that's working directly with employers on Workforce Development so our money actually flows um um by by Statute this is how Congress wrote the chips and science act um it flows first
• 13:30 - 14:00 to entities that are constructing um or expanding semiconductor manufacturing facilities and so the workforce Investments um are directly tied to company's needs for constructing and operating facilities um and so there's a really tight link between um employer needs um a whole set of critical Education and Training and Community Partners which we can talk more about later um and and the
• 14:00 - 14:30 federal role but that I think is is distinctive um just a few quick words I think also picking up on on Dave's comments of where I think chips really is part of and exemplifies some of the shifts you've seen from the department overall over the last four years um Dave mentioned that focus on emerging in CR uh critical Technologies it's also a focus on economic and National Security right that there are key industries that are of strategic National importance that we need to have a dedicated National strategy to invest in and
• 14:30 - 15:00 Workforce being a key piece of that um you'll hear a lot today I think about how Workforce Investments are integrated into a broader Economic Development strategy um that's distinctive about the Commerce Investments um and that includes a lot of coalitions that I think you'll hear more about from from Rachel sun and then a final thing here I just wanted to flag Department wide is across um across a lot of our Workforce programs you've really see a focus on
• 15:00 - 15:30 crowding in other Capital so it's not just the federal dollars but how do we bring in private um private dollars from companies um State uh philanthropic resources as part as part of these sort of holistic strategies um we want to see if we're going to make some big bets on important industries uh you need sort of a diversified resourcing and and we've thought about the role kind of of of the federal dollars as really being catalytic so I'll pause there lots to
• 15:30 - 16:00 say and I'm excited to hear uh what Rachel has to add great well thanks Rachel and thanks Jaylen and um Mary Alice for the invitation and glad to be here with folks as well um if I can just pick up on a few things and I'll I'll keep it relatively brief as I know we have a lot to get to today um I'd love to just set some context from uh the Eda perspective so the economic development Administration perspective as maybe one um one case study of how Workforce has evolved within our specific Bureau and speaking to a lot of the themes that
• 16:00 - 16:30 both Rachel and Dave highlighted at the department RIT large so um looking back at the last four years at the Eda we've launched um really four big programs where Workforce Development is either the core Focus or a core pillar of the work uh this started in 2021 through the passage of the American Rescue plan Act and the launch of the arpa portfolio which gave us $3 billion in funding for the bureau overall to help economies and regions across the country recover from the covid-19 pandemic and get back on track but more importantly to really
• 16:30 - 17:00 recover with resiliency in mind and looking towards the future in terms of Economic Development um and ensuring American workers and families had a path to getting back on track and so as part of this funding we um were lucky to have the opportunity to launch the good jobs challenge as Dave mentioned earlier this was a $500 million program to really invest in develop and scale sectoral Partnerships across the country um to get Americans into good paying jobs similar to what Rachel was sharing about nist um Workforce Development had
• 17:00 - 17:30 historically happened at Eda but never at this scale and not at the um ambition level of what this program was designed to do which was really to bring together a cohort of employers in a given sector to work them around an intermediary to work together with Workforce training providers including community colleges including apprenticeship programs including um the full Suite of what's needed to really get folks into good paying jobs and really Galvanize them um around the sector partnership model so that really was the agency's first foray
• 17:30 - 18:00 into um this sort of approach and as Dave I'm sure we'll get into later you know we're really excited to talk about ways in which we innovated on the design of this program um by ways in which we do keep employers at the table ways in which we ensure that these Workforce strategies are integrated into broader Regional Economic Development strategies that really um Blended Workforce and economic development in new ways looking ahead um just to speak briefly to where we are today today the $500 million in
• 18:00 - 18:30 good jobs really then created an opportunity for us as a bureau to apply learnings and that approach to other programs that we've subsequently launched so um we've launched the1 billion built back better Regional ChalleNGe Program through American Rescue plan funding of which uh more more than a quarter is going to Workforce Development programming um through the chips and science act we've also launched the10 billion Tech hubs program and $1 billion recompete pilot program both of which have um nearly a fifth to almost half in Rec competes
• 18:30 - 19:00 case going towards Workforce training so I share all of that context to say um the agency is at an unique point in which we've really been able to Pilot these new models um but really trying to institutionalize and apply them across the rest of our approach and this has really culminated in um our recent reauthorization as a bureau which we're very excited to share more about later um that also embeds Workforce as one of our core priorities now if I can just build on Rachel's comments for a second Jaylen um
• 19:00 - 19:30 to your original question um I just want to give a shout out to kind of how catalytic eda's work has been um for the entirety of the ecosystem and um has supported sort of intra Commerce collaboration um a lot of the Eda grants um and competitions you've seen have really put a premium on on Regional multi-partner cross- sector kind of planning for some of these strategic Industries and what we've seen for for
• 19:30 - 20:00 for chips for instance is that um a number of the communities that are ultimately hosting big chips manufacturing Investments kind of had a head start because they participated in earlier Eda competitions even if they ultimately weren't winners they might have they won planning grants that helped support getting all the different actors around the table um so there's been a really nice kind of synergy um between um eda's work and and and the lessons that they've um learn from from their approach that really are helping
• 20:00 - 20:30 to sort of um accelerate um efforts across other programs absolutely really really helpful insights from from all of you and and I appre especially appreciated the the comment around emerging Technologies and and Technology based Economic Development you know we we actually had launched the future work and Innovation economy initiative with a with a webinar where we had Christina Killingsworth from Department of Commerce join wiwin G andani from the
• 20:30 - 21:00 National Science foundation's new arm the First new arm in over 30 years born out of the chips act uh and Bren Parton who was then uh acting assistant secretary for the Department of Labor and it was all about how to maximize Federal investments in emerging technology Workforce Development so we've certainly seen that through line to our research here at new America just working with communities on the receiving end so I I appreciated that um thinking now a little bit more about
• 21:00 - 21:30 some of the the policy developments that have gone alongside investing America Suite of bills uh Rachel son in December uh Congress passed a historic reauthorization of the economic development Administration the first time in over 20 years uh which included quite a bit on Workforce Development by way of Provisions what should we know about the ramifications of the reauthor ization for eda's Workforce
• 21:30 - 22:00 efforts sure thank thanks for the question and shayen and um really you know just could not be more excited about the passage of this reauthorization as you mentioned um the agency hasn't been reauthorized for nearly 20 years and both the country and the global economy has changed so much in this time so really at the highest level um this legislation updates and really provides Eda the suite of tools that we need to serve its role in economic development in order to help American regions diversify their
• 22:00 - 22:30 Industries enhance Global competitiveness um and build more resilient economies so that Americans can access good jobs um there's a few things that I'll highlight at the highest level again under this overarching umbrella of our role in helping communities create and retain good paying high quality jobs um a few things so one you'll see that the legislation when you dig into it really puts an emphasis on treating sectoral Partnerships as an eligible use of funds for the agency as I provide context on earlier this is something that we really
• 22:30 - 23:00 developed and built out over the last four years we are seeing early results from this model we have placed now over 10,000 people into good paying jobs through these pilot programs that we launched and so what this um reauthorization really lets us do is treat them as an eligible use of funds um and more importantly not just the training costs itself but um other additional supports needed to launch um The Suite of interventions so things like Associated equipment and Associated facilities cost these are all things that Eda has historically been able to
• 23:00 - 23:30 fund through its existing Authority but again the reauthorization codifies this such that um we can really invest in this model that we know is proven to work um the second thing that it allows us to do is not just fund sectorial training programs but sectoral partnership programs excuse me but it really places emphasis on this as one of the agency's five investment priorities and so the agency overall operates under five big investment priorities um these are now codified through the reauthorization language one of them is
• 23:30 - 24:00 explicitly Workforce Development and so we're really excited to see this as almost the culmination of the last four to five years of work to say hey we know that Economic Development and businesses thriving and growing in these communities can't occur without a prepared Workforce and we know that the vice versa um is also true and so what it does is it places a priority emphasis on Workforce Development it means that when we review and assess um Grant applications for funding that is one of the lenses that we will be looking at in addition to other um renewed investment
• 24:00 - 24:30 priorities including critical infrastructure Innovation and Entrepreneurship manufacturing and resilience so very excited to see it codified not just as one funding stream or one activity type as you will but um across the bureau overall as a priority and then the two other things I'll call out in terms of uh More Design principles and things that are explicitly named in the legislation uh folks will see that there's an explicit um nod to Quality and well-paying jobs right so the goal isn't just placements but um are you getting folks on a
• 24:30 - 25:00 pathway to a family sustaining wage are you getting folks on a pathway towards um these quality jobs that have been such an emphasis for this program over the last few years um and then an explicit call out uh just to name the elephant in the room that this work should all be done in coordination with the Departments of Labor and education right we are trying to and commit to continuing to be hand inand with our partners at those other departments given this is a new space for Commerce and we want to make sure we're maximizing the use of federal dollars in
• 25:00 - 25:30 that regard very helpful lots lots to be excited about with the reauthorization you know the the um the facilities piece is really key for many community colleges Workforce training providers that themselves have undergone capacity building to be able to uh Foster the enabling conditions necessary to to receive these Investments and and and make sure that they actually translate into reliable affordable Pathways into
• 25:30 - 26:00 good jobs whether it's you know creating clean room opportunities for work-based learning Hands-On learning or upgrading computer facilities for um AI education we had an event on the state of play of AI education at commun colleges just in October where it was really remarkable to just reflect on the fact that in nearly every US state there's now a community college level AI offerings so um um lots to be excited about with the
• 26:00 - 26:30 sectoral Partnerships piece facilities and and the inter agency coordination as well totally shayen if I can just quickly pile on on that note that you just brought up in in terms of the community colleges I think it's a great point because it's especially sent for um these emerging Technologies right and these industries that we're investing in through our technology- based Economic Development approach a lot of the places that we funded over the past few years are using um these big funding pools to not just invest in training but the facilities as you mentioned and
• 26:30 - 27:00 importantly equipment um that is on the Leading Edge of these technologies that are emerging and bringing together as well Partners to inform that process and so as an example we um announced over the summer $41 million to our Quantum Tech Hub at the Eda this is a coalition based in both Colorado and New Mexico and so they're doing a lot of this work and importantly the point I want to highlight is with a new Coalition of partners that would have been almost strange bed fellows if you will in a good way so we see the uh Sandia
• 27:00 - 27:30 National Lab coordinating with the front rage Community College to really make sure that these investments from Eda to be able to support um items that might not necessarily have been supported otherwise also occur with a coalition of the right stakeholders at the table so I thank you for raising that point absolutely absolutely yeah especially with Quantum you know the the ability to support um you know the the facility construction is really key you know we think of central New Mex Community College a close partner of ours in the
• 27:30 - 28:00 quantum Workforce Development space and they were able to leverage Federal funding to do just the very same so it's exciting to think about how more opportunities might come about following the Eda reauthorization um Rachel Lipson turning back to you um and from the vantage point of the the chips office in this of course chips is one of the most visible industrial policy levers in the public eye a lot has happened in chips over the past couple of months alone lots of
• 28:00 - 28:30 contract negotiation catch us up on the the current focus at chips with respect to Workforce sure yes it's been a it's been a fun and busy few months of chips for anyone who's been following the work maybe um I know we have an education and Workforce audience mostly here but maybe I'll start at the high level of of where we're at with the program um so look I I think one way to describe it is truly like an advanced manufacturing r Renaissance is underway in the United States we've seen more investment in
• 28:30 - 29:00 electronics manufacturing over the last four years than in the previous three decades combined um the $39 billion in the manufacturing incentives um that Commerce is deploying is unlock now about 450 billion in private investment um and it's we've seen already the largest wave of semiconductor manufacturing expansion in US history um in terms of our funds themselves um we've now um allocated over 96% of the
• 29:00 - 29:30 funding and 86% has been awarded um that's this chips program office for the manufacturing dollars the R&D office has announced over 7even billion in funding including the the three uh Flagship facilities for the nstc in California New York and Arizona and a new uh manufacturing USA Institute in North Carolina um just to give you like a sense of what this like looks like tangibly um the chips funds have secured commitments to to build 17 new Fabs in the US that's um the equivalent of 119
• 29:30 - 30:00 football fields um 6.8 million square feet in clean room space um also eight new supply chain and advanced packaging facilities and we're um more than a dozen Investments that are modernizing or expanding facilities and um if you look back to the secretary's speech in February 2023 when she laid out the goals for chips we've we've met if not exceeded um uh those goals goals including for the first time um all five
• 30:00 - 30:30 of the world's um Leading Edge uh manufacturers are building and expanding in the United States um no other economy is more than two so um it's an a it's an exciting moment for sem I conductor manufacturing and I think the workforce efforts are um equally um moving full seam ahead I I mentioned earlier um we have mobilized now approximately $600 million um from the Department um to support uh the national and
• 30:30 - 31:00 Regional Workforce Development efforts um and this is because we've we've believed from the onset that Workforce Development is going to be foundational to achieving Chip's goals and to our national and economic uh security objectives um across all these those Investments that I mentioned earlier um we estimate approximately 125,000 uh direct jobs that chips is going to create that doesn't include um uh the indirect um supply chain
• 31:00 - 31:30 growth and Associated uh other follow-on investments in communities um research has found that um these are are good jobs uh that are going to pay above the wage premium both for non-c colge degree and ba jobs um wages in the industry looking at L cast data um have gone up uh over 35% since chips and science passed back in the summer of 2022 um we also estimate about half of the these jobs um are not going to require a ba um in addition to the
• 31:30 - 32:00 the federal dollars just a quick word too like we've been kind of catalytic in in bringing in a bunch of other resources to the table uh including now over $300 million from uh at least 14 States um at least 200 million in in private Capital um so there's really kind of a a national um focus and strategy going on in the moment and uh in terms of the impact we're already in the chips applications um companies had
• 32:00 - 32:30 engaged over 600 different strategic Partners around the country including Education and Training institutions but also labor unions and uh nonprofits um so a really kind of wide range of stakeholders being engaged we've seen over 20 companies now committing to new apprenticeship programs or expanding existing ones um 80 community colleges across 22 States uh over 80 um that are starting new or expanding
• 32:30 - 33:00 their semiconductor initiatives um nearly 20 companies expanding um access to child care in their communities through through public private Partnerships so um a lot that's moving and then a lot of exciting work that's ahead I mean I think the biggest um piece of the um from the chips program office side is going to be the implementation of um uh the intermediary structures that's been set up through our fundings so uh most of the ships awardees that have received dedicated
• 33:00 - 33:30 Workforce dollars are uh going to be working with um intermediaries in the communities that host their facilities um to really help deploy um conven strategic Partners monitor performance um uh collect data um and so uh in the coming months and and years ahead you'll see the um execution of new Workforce Solutions uh in communities that are supporting the
• 33:30 - 34:00 expansion and growth of the jobs associated with these facilities um and then on the R&D side um a lot of exciting work I think coming with respect to ncast and the new um National semiconductor technology Center um you might have seen they uh recently announced their Workforce Advisory Board including um a repres a wide representation of of experts from industry from government from um from education um who are going to be helping to to
• 34:00 - 34:30 shape their strategy they've launched their first set of awards um and a lot of exciting work ahead there too really appreciate the the catchup Rachel and and especially some of the the numbers that You' shared on the level of Industry contribution the level of colleges to have uh sort of come to the rally in in expanding Workforce opportunities in the semiconductor space um so now spanning back out we've had some time to dig a little bit in the Eda
• 34:30 - 35:00 reauthorization the current state of play with the chips program office implementation um and we've also of course focused on how Commerce has evolved from within following investing America building the state capacity for Workforce Development that that government muscle to to do Workforce strategy well let's turn to intergovernmental collaboration you all mentioned some of this in your remarks already uh but need to say other agencies have also been involved with
• 35:00 - 35:30 industrial policy implementation from investing America and others um you have the department of energy you have the Department of Defense Department of Transportation of course the National Science Foundation has led the way when it comes to to tech-based um or rather research-driven Economic Development um how is Commerce working with those agencies and then how is Commerce working with the Department of Education and labor who have sort of
• 35:30 - 36:00 historically had this this role in in Workforce Development um maybe Dave we'd start with you and Rachel Lipson Rachel son yes it's a great question there's a long history of collaboration between federal agencies and education and Workforce policy and this this extends from the executive leadership from our secretaries down to a working level um but there's also been an imperative to to deepen those relationships um to really make these programs that
• 36:00 - 36:30 we've been describing succeed um and there's been multiple I think really really interesting examples of how that collaboration has played out I'd like to call out particularly a couple sort of early stage on this Administration sort of set a stage for the kinds of Partnerships we had particular with with the US Department of Labor and with Ed um so early on there was a strong we sort of identified early on in this Administration a focus on on good jobs but not a lot of clarity about what actually means and um both here at the
• 36:30 - 37:00 US Department of Commerce we focused on the development of a job quality toolkit essentially a framework and a and a toolkit to help employers sort of move move along the Continuum of what good jobs are and understand s of the wide range of variables that to come into play Beyond just paying benefits but including job security you know worker voice advancement Etc um and that evolved into a partnership with us Department of Labor and particular one to give a shout out specifically to Caitlyn Walker Mooney and her leadership
• 37:00 - 37:30 for developing the good jobs initiative um through which we set a good set of good jobs principles that have been a core component of Federal grant funding um from our agency and multiple others and with the the idea being that Federal funding should only support you know the creation of good jobs and and a clear clarity about what that means um but you know there's there's there's multiple ways in which um both grantees um are braing in funding while we we're drawing upon Investments the other agencies have
• 37:30 - 38:00 made and we could really go on and on here but I just say while we're very proud and humbled by all that's going on at the US Department of Commerce I mean all of our work really depends on on the Partnerships here in the their agency to succeed I will Echo all of Dave sentiments um I mean just tangibly what we're seeing in the early kind of um Workforce Solutions that are flowing through through for uh for chips um as
• 38:00 - 38:30 as our funds start getting deployed on Workforce you see many um examples where um entities on the ground are are doing precisely what Dave is saying are braiding maybe the Commerce dollars are helping with um startup costs and Perkins dollars are going to support um uh some of the other costs for a CTE program in a high school or um weow a dollars um could support some of the particip or Pal is going to support a a
• 38:30 - 39:00 four credit um uh University program so um it's very it's very clear that the federal um for for localities that it that they're bringing in different Federal resources but but that's been because there's been a a concerted focus and effort um I think on the federal side to try to make that possible um for instance um uh both Ed and labor have been great partners and have been putting out um over the course of the last four years different types of of
• 39:00 - 39:30 guidance and resources that encourage um States and localities to um prioritize some of these key occupations created that are growing um because of the big bills that have passed um there was a Perkins guidance that came out from from octay over at the Ed Department um in the last few years that really encourag states to use some of their Perkins funding for Fields like semiconductors um and then finally I'd say for chips you know that um and I know for Eda to the NSF partnership has
• 39:30 - 40:00 been um really critical and and really strong um uh uh multiple agencies are collaborating on the nscc the public private Consortium that I was referencing earlier including the Department of Defense and Department of Labor as well but um NSF and commerce um have signed uh anou around Workforce um specifically for chips R&D we are co-investing in the um the in a new
• 40:00 - 40:30 network for microelectronics Education um we also um have been working um uh closely with NSF um uh including a joint RFI that we put out um so there's been a lot of um great um not just dialogue but actual action in terms of trying to make sure that we coordinate our efforts um align um don't duplicate and and really put dollars um in ways that will
• 40:30 - 41:00 accelerate each other's work if I can just build on maybe that last Point um I just highlight maybe an example of an investment and I just want to reiterate that this is at the Forefront of all of our investment making right we're looking at these places and understanding that we've gone through the past couple years and local communities governments state governments are receiving historic amounts of funding so wanting to be very mindful that we as Commerce are coordinating with other agencies whether that's do um or NSF or other parts of the
• 41:00 - 41:30 federal system to make sure that we can maximize the use of these dollars um I think I I'll speak to recompete as well so the recompete program $200 million currently deployed to um really focus on those parts of the country that have been historically left behind and are facing distress um economically and locally and we specifically look at places where Prim AG employment so 25 to 54 year old employment it's significantly trailing the national average one of our big granes that we just announced this past fall is in
• 41:30 - 42:00 Birmingham Alabama they're focused on just four neighborhoods on the North side where one in every four um of the people in those neighborhoods that are working age are not working either because they're not in the labor force or they're not able to attain a good job and at the same time we um know that through our prior efforts Employers in the region have committed to hiring over 4,000 plus jobs so trying to bridge that disconnect um when those applicants came to us came to us they said hey you know we've just received this incredible um award from HUD for infrastructure
• 42:00 - 42:30 development in this Corridor and to do a lot of this infrastructure um work that we we really need to unlock barriers to employment and so when we eventually awarded them it was to really provide soft programming to activate those infrastructure Investments right how do you provide Workforce training programs through lawon State Community College which is their local HBCU to ensure that residents in their Community can take advantage of those investments from HUD um receive the training they need we also invested in a childcare incubator to really deconstruct these barriers to
• 42:30 - 43:00 employment to ensure that all of those pieces can move such that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts right so just a really tactical concrete example um and then bubbling it up to how do we do this systemically at the Eda at the Department of Commerce as Rachel mentioned um the Eda and NSF last year really came together when NSF engines and Tech Hub SS passed through Congress and said hey how can we really be intentional about the roll out of these two programs Rec recognizing that um both of them are intended to really
• 43:00 - 43:30 help Regional economic growth across the country and US competitiveness in key technology areas and so um we signed anou together jointly as you know two agencies that has allowed us to really braid and coordinate across um in a in a systemic fashion a recent example of this being um we jointly hosted what we called the roadmap Summit back in um December of 2024 I think Shaylen we were very lucky to have you come lead a panel on Workforce Development and so um you know just as a specific example we had more than 250 leaders representing 120
• 43:30 - 44:00 growing Innovation clusters across the US and so the power of um you know trying to make the system work as a whole and ensure that we can approach it with a whole of government approach has always been a priority for us um and thatou has laid the blueprint and groundwork for continued development of Partnerships like that between the Eda and other um agencies such as DOD working on Spaces that are adjacent to some of the tech and Technology Innovation work we're doing here as well very very insightful from comments
• 44:00 - 44:30 from all of you and and um really helpful to to hear a little bit about the specifics that have followed some of Theus and agreements you know I think it's really helpful to get a sense of sort of the outcomes that have emerged from some of those new relationships or deepen relationships that have come about because of the investing America implementation um so now that we've spent some time talking under the hood and Department of Commerce within the individual programs
• 44:30 - 45:00 we've talked a little bit about the uh intergovernmental collaboration with other agencies let's now talk about implementation at the local level when it comes to how States and regions have been formulating their Workforce strategy their response to this once in a generation investment um from the investing America Suite of bills what if you all observe to be best practices and then what are Lessons Learned um to
• 45:00 - 45:30 maybe avoid or do different to inform future implementation and future strategies um maybe let's start with Rachel Lipson and Dave and and Rachel Sun great great question Jaylen and I feel I'm glad you included it because um secretary rundo talks a lot about like an all handson deck approach and the states and localities are just absolutely critical um partners and and leaders of
• 45:30 - 46:00 this work right I mean a lot of this is has to happen on the ground and we're really supporting and accelerating um their efforts under you know the umbrella of a larger National National strategy that they're a part of um for for chips um it's it's been a collaborative effort from the onset we've been lucky to have really um strong and tight Partnerships with um with state and local entities on the ground um under the chips and science
• 46:00 - 46:30 act um Congress actually uh required that companies that came forward for manufacturing incentives um needed to have um incentives an incentives package from uh either a state or locality in order to be eligible for the federal funding um one of the things though I think that's notable is if you look at our first Notting notice of funding opportunity um we made clear not only that education and Workforce Development Investments um counted as a a state and
• 46:30 - 47:00 local incentive but also that we actually wanted we really were prioritizing and wanting to see Investments like those that would have positive spillover effects um for the whole Community um and I think it's it's a big part of the reason why we're seeing um so much uh co-investment and and um from states to date uh as these facilities um come off off the ground um in terms of you know what we're seeing and in lessons and best practices I I
• 47:00 - 47:30 should emphasize that this does look pretty different um for what you would call like a a green field investment versus an expansion um what chips is doing here of bringing back manufacturing um to the United States means that in some cases it's it's brand new in a region and so what's required in a place um uh like Columbus Ohio or like Syracuse which have um landed some
• 47:30 - 48:00 of these new facilities but have not had um much of a semiconductor manufacturing presence before um you you're seeing there a lot of focus on kind of the the pipeline efforts um as well as of course construction comes first before facilities are operational right so you need to think about the timing of your Workforce Investments to be staged carefully to match with when jobs are Act coming online whereas in say like in
• 48:00 - 48:30 Arizona or a Texas where there is existing industry but also you're going to need a rapid scale up because of of the new facilities that are coming online um like for instance uh We've we've announced for tsmc there are 14 suppliers already that have announced that they're coming and um starting operations in the region um uh following the company so that's a lot of of new jobs um you need to scale what you have
• 48:30 - 49:00 quickly we're in those kind of areas you're seeing a lot of focus locally on uh on new apprenticeship models on how do you expand capacity at the community colleges um and with programs that they have already um and with the companies playing a leading role in helping to communicate what they're going to need and and when so you can kind of do that supply and demand match um one big lesson I see um you know across all of these regions um consistent with work that I've done in other roles like the
• 49:00 - 49:30 earlier the Workforce Development system is is at the table with economic development the better off the region will be um in some of these regions we've really seen that that if it was an attraction an attraction deal the workforce Partners were there from from day one um actually making the case for the talent in the region and how they were going to be able to make sure that they had um the workers that were going to be required um but that's really been critical because you don't want to be um
• 49:30 - 50:00 behind the game here on bringing in Workforce afterwards and saying oh well shoot we've promised you know all these jobs but how are we actually going to make sure that that people have the opportunity to act uh to access them and then the second big lesson I wanted to just highlight is you know it's it's hard work to convene all the actors in a region that are required to make some of these like big transformational Investments um happen um and we've drawn
• 50:00 - 50:30 a lot from lessons from Eda here about how to think about like our role in supporting and catalyzing some of that like coalitional um uh glue that needs to occur um as I mentioned earlier all of the uh uh Mo the vast majority of the chips Workforce Investments um feature intermediaries that are working with companies um in part to play you know
• 50:30 - 51:00 play a key role in convening all of these different partners um especially for companies that are new to a region it's can be almost overwhelming to try to figure out you know who's well positioned to do what and who should be working together and all this inbounds and um uh the intermediaries can really be helpful there and helping to kind of like organize the ecosystem understand who holds data and who's responsible for for figuring out to making sure that we get real-time information back about new
• 51:00 - 51:30 programs that are starting numbers of people that are enrolling are we actually on track to meet the targets um for these facilities um so again I think that that piece has been really important and um obviously the Commerce department is not the ones on the on the ground like hosting all of the conversations between the company and all of the Community Partners that need to be involved but we can play an important role in in helping to set up
• 51:30 - 52:00 and incent the type of infrastructure that's needed for these efforts to be successful I building on that I mean there's there's many layers of change that have taken place here in this department over the last several years and I think one thing that sort of Rachel's talking about that almost sounds like second nature hasn't been second nature to us which is our relationship particularly post award and and developing the award with with the the grante to Partners on the ground so not as a criticism in e but just as a
• 52:00 - 52:30 reality like traditional Eda Investments are sort of a fund andone approach a small scale Investments so we really want to help State and locality or applicant develop a really strong application they if they strong ones will get funded and and we're sort of done with it and the way a lot of the new programs from good jobs challenge recompete chips and others work is that there's a much that I would argue at least a much deeper relationship post award um that'll spend multiple years um to ensure the success on the ground and
• 52:30 - 53:00 so seems like second nature but it's not this is this is this is brand new um ex you know a brand new area for the Department to grow and and I think it's critical to the success of these programs um just piling on I think just thinking about this topic of Lessons Learned for for States specifically right I I think what we saw through the implementation of a lot of these progr as you heard from Rachel and Dave is we really placed an emphasis on co-
• 53:00 - 53:30 commitments at the local level in order to make places competitive to receive the funding right and so in some agencies that may look like hey we need your help to get to a certain matched funding requirement so total project cost is X we we expect you to come in with another complimentary amount in a lot of these new programs that we ran at Eda um you know we really tried to push the envelope on what commitment really looks like in some places it is indeed that cash requirement so um in the recompete program we have a community out in Eastern Kentucky in the heart of
• 53:30 - 54:00 Appalachia where um they were able to say hey recompete is you know really uh giving us an opportunity to receive once in a generation funding State Legislature um can we lean on you and count on you to partner and come to the table with additional cash and so that Coalition was able to bring about $4 million in um state approved funding through the legislator and use these opportunities as a rallying moment to really Drive Capital to some of our most distressed places across the country so I think at the higher level of the takeaway there is really you know and
• 54:00 - 54:30 see these opportunities as a way to uniquely galviz Galvanize your not just Coalition partners and implementers but also um folks that have power and influence and authority to really um embed these programs long term in other communities right this doesn't look like cash it might look like policy changes that are critical to the success of these programs so um another Recon Community out in Allentown Pennsylvania three neighborhoods that are historically distressed um we the thesis here is that the region is growing we're seeing surges in manufacturing
• 54:30 - 55:00 Healthcare but those three neighborhoods traditionally haven't been able to access um the the benefits of those growth and so that specific Coalition is working with their state um State Partners to be able to revise policy focused on you know Urban sites manufacturing policy focused on Child Care things like that that beyond the actual funding that Eda can provide or other partners can provide really can um unlock these systemic barriers to growth and so I think the second takeaway is just thinking about commitments um
• 55:00 - 55:30 Beyond just cash right it might look different depending on communities it might be policy change it might be hiring commitments um it might be specific site development zoning changes that you need right like just thinking about that creatively has been one one big takeaway um over the last few years I just add real quick I mean I think this is also there's an example where the federal government's catching up with States and localities and it shouldn't be lost on us that we have a governor and now secretary who's the one that's been you know provided the executive leadership and the vision here and leading the way so and on I think on
• 55:30 - 56:00 that note one thing I I'll add to you that I think is pretty novel look it's we're early stage on it so we want to watch the lessons um in the coming years um Commerce has had um through chips we've had a a regional strategy and as part of that we um are signing us with state and local governments that are hosting key chips projects um around a collaborative approach to implementation right because once the money has gone
• 56:00 - 56:30 out now you know a lot of this we got to get this stuff actually built and operating and there's needs to be a long-term partnership um between federal state local towards execution on Industrial strategy and um Workforce Development has been is a component of of those M which is really trying to create a framework around ensuring coordination and coll cation um between uh Commerce um a state government and
• 56:30 - 57:00 then in many cases a County government or a city government that is where uh the facility is actually located and trying to have some kind of you know structure and Norms around working together lines of communication um because uh you know obviously all of us need to be at the table to make to make all these Investments successful yep absolutely really really helpful comments there and you know just a reflection from what we've seen in some of our research and conversations
• 57:00 - 57:30 with folks on the ground I even the process of applying for some of these industrial policy Investments has changed higher education institutions Workforce boards companies new relationships have been forged new ways of doing things even when the applicants didn't win and I think that's a really interesting out come from investing in America uh in changing building the
• 57:30 - 58:00 capacity of states and regions to work together in new ways unearthing new relationships it's it's it's been catalytic even I think in non-financial terms in terms of relationships in terms of strategies and processes that I know in the handful of regions we've been studying have paid dividends already uh in communities so um that's it's it's interesting how how some of this came about in in some of your remarks so um you know thinking a little bit now about
• 58:00 - 58:30 metrics uh this is of course on everyone's mind now it's very very early days we're on the cusp of a of a Administration change but let's talk a little bit about what success looks like here how is Commerce Department measuring Workforce outcomes for its industrial policy Investments what does that look like we've talked a bit about Job quality we don't want to create just any jobs if it doesn't help people stay
• 58:30 - 59:00 out of poverty we want to create quality jobs what does metrics and and uh um outcomes tracking look like Dave let's start with you right I will say just before getting into the exact metrics everything you're describing we we sort of talk about metrics and Legacy and everything you've been describing around um the relationships the new capacity new aspirations are certainly like a key part of our Legacy of our work here um but specific to the workforce of velopment I I'll start with like the good jobs challenges briefly I'm thinking both about what the metrics for
• 59:00 - 59:30 Success are but at the same time how we're measuring them because there's there's a really important interaction between the two of them there um secand has been really clear with us since day one I mean success in her mind and as me reflecting our program is workers trained and placed in in good jobs better jobs and that's that's the singular metric of success for the good jobs Challenge and you know there's there's variations of it and and other programs will be talking about um that's not an easy thing to measure and we've been a beneficiary here of being the
• 59:30 - 60:00 department that also houses the Census Bureau and through its new center of excellence we've been able to sort of measure um Workforce outcomes in ways I think some of our even sister agencies haven't been able to in the past by um essentially like developing a new relationship with the Census Bureau to merge in their existing um administ ative data the wage records in many cases along with programma data that allows us to both
• 60:00 - 60:30 better understand who the human beings are the people who are benefiting from our training programs their work histories and how that compares to the jobs that they're being placed into and actually be able to say definitively look somebody's better off at postgood jobs challenge participation than they were previously um so that's that's our North Start that's where we'd like to be with every program it's going to be an evolution um and a take time to to get there absolutely Rachel son and Rachel
• 60:30 - 61:00 Lipson anything you'd add to that yeah I think the only thing I'd add I think the everything I'd Echo everything Dave just said I think one more Dimension I'll just add from the Eda lens is getting people into good jobs but with this with this dimension of place right I think part of the premise of a lot of these big programs over the last few years is that we know that wealth has historically occurred to certain parts of the country we know that there's large parts of our American lands that have been historically overlooked and um sadly for a lot of folks to grow up and want to stay in their Community success
• 61:00 - 61:30 is defined as getting out right and so I think not just getting to that metric measured in partnership with census of getting folks into good paying family sustaining jobs but how do we actually change the economies of places that have been left behind such that those those jobs do exist locally for those folks that want to pursue them and so that that I think is just one more Dimension I'd highlight I think we're really excited just going back to our conversation earlier around the different braiding that's happening both across departments so doc to HUD doc to
• 61:30 - 62:00 do these departments but also the braiding that's happening um at different levels of government Federal to state to local to philanthropy even right how do we move these communities forward in a way such that um we have economies that work in every place across the country and so that's the only other I Dimension I'd really highlight but um similarly to what Dave said I think it's you know creating and getting people into good jobs in different communities across the country um so shayon you know I'm a little bit of a a data geek here and I could
• 62:00 - 62:30 probably go on this question for a long time but it's it's been a a passion project for me since I joined the federal government um from when I was working on the other side as a as a researcher um and I I want to give a shout out here to um my colleague in the chips program office Scott Jensen who I've learned a ton from um and have really came in with a a really thoughtful and focused strategy um for
• 62:30 - 63:00 how chips could do data in a in a way that I think looks different from um other Federal how most federal programs have historically approached it one one key feature of that is like not just thinking about data as a compliance function but truly as a Performance Management um function that can really um also provide real- time information about how implementation is going not
• 63:00 - 63:30 just afterwards what happened and you know how to really be able to work more um iteratively and and course correct when things aren't going well so informed by his work um in Rhode Island as this the Secretary of Labor there and then at at Ripple an Innovative um uh data partnership um he we are building um a new technology infrastructure for for chip that um is really going to make it seamless for um a variety of Partners
• 63:30 - 64:00 to collaborate on data both on like some of this the planning on setting kpis on real-time tracking of the individual um uh Workforce Solutions that get funded through chips and then ultimately evaluation um and I think a c a few key like lessons that I've had is is focusing both on the on the user experience of the actual people who work who need to input data and work with data and how do we make it seamless for
• 64:00 - 64:30 them to do their jobs on the front end um can you make it easy to collect information about participants at the outset so that you don't have to go backwards and try to figure out or um you know who participated and who they are and and collect the pii that would be needed to actually um uh figure out what happened to them over time also on the front end who and individual organizations is responsible for
• 64:30 - 65:00 collecting data and information and can we automate some of the um uh Communications with them to remind them when it's their time you know to uh quickly input information that's needed and and really like investing in some of the user experience there and then on the back end can you create like a shared um a data infrastructure that allows a bunch of different users toess access it but then is is protect protects the necessary pii in ways that
• 65:00 - 65:30 would um facilitate um uh ultimately I think one of the great things it will facilitate is really exciting research so um stay tuned for more on this in the coming um in the coming weeks and months it's been a great partnership within the nstc with the national semiconductors technology Center's um Workforce Center of Excellence um which I think also gives the ability for chips to have um sort of a longer term research agenda and um oh sorry for those who are not
• 65:30 - 66:00 sorry I tried not to get too jargony but maybe I messed that up um not data Geeks like me pii means uh personally identifiable information so like one of the challenges historically for doing evaluation of of Workforce programs is if you want to track what happens to people you need to know who they are but that's sensitive information right uh whether it be their their full names or their addresses or their um Social Security numbers so you really need to focus on on data security um if you're
• 66:00 - 66:30 going to be collecting that kind of information really really helpful Rachel I don't mean to put you on the spot but you know this is really exciting the the new technology infrastructure that's being built out for chips to to make it seamless for kpi development metric tracking is there a place where audience could go to learn more or or to stay for for when there might be some news on that front um we'll be putting out some some
• 66:30 - 67:00 uh resources about um what's been achieved with chips to date um I think it should be live today actually that we'll have a high level summary and then stay tuned more coming I think um from both um the department but also from our our partners at the nscc um you may have noticed when they've announced um the focus for the center of excellence uh like research and evaluation is one of their their three key missions um and so
• 67:00 - 67:30 as they start to scale up and build out the team here I expect you'll be hearing a lot more on the research front super and speaking of questions just a reminder for the audience we're reaching the point of the program where we'll dive into audience Q&A we've already gotten some really fantastic questions if you haven't add your questions and you'd like to please use the online platform and we'll we'll get to them moment arily um but let's stick with um uh this this sort of um theme of
• 67:30 - 68:00 of tracking outcomes and and next steps uh Dave um a final question for you before we dive into the Q&A segment it's the question that is probably on everyone's mind on Monday a new Administration takes the Reigns needless to say we all know to expect change of course but from the workforce Strat standpoint are there any policy consistencies or carryovers that you've
• 68:00 - 68:30 seen from the Trump first Trump Administration to the Biden Administration and now to the second Trump Administration that have informed the agency's approach to Workforce Development you know recognizing that you know um no successful industrial policy can produce fruits in four years alone what can you say about that front well there's there's a lot to think about here but I think everything we've talked about it is based on history that spans multiple
• 68:30 - 69:00 administrations and there are like themes that we saw in the first Trump Administration that are they're incredibly consistent with what we've been talking about for the last hour um there's an emphasis on the creation of multiple Pathways of family staining careers to destigmatizing vocational education to the need to engage to private sector especially with respect to worker training and to increase data transparency so these are all like you know very publically stated priorities from from the first Trum Administration stuff that I worked on and stuff that
• 69:00 - 69:30 that's informed the development of some of our own work um I mean one minor but I think it's important concrete examples in our Department administrative order we you know very much emphasize the important role of the private sector in supporting worker training and have a whole section just talking about all the different roles and the natures of company commitments here um Rachel's talked about you know the way we're you know private sector Investments are are complimenting the about nearly 00 million of chips Workforce Investments so yeah there there's a lot to to say
• 69:30 - 70:00 look there's three lines here these are all this is all based on also bipartisan legislation the chips the science Act was you know that was began negotiation under President Trump and um what the future looked like mean the exact conures of the education and Workforce policy remain to be seen but um everybody coming on board is going to find a Commerce Department that has a much more robust set of tools and deeper experience in a space we did just even four years ago in regions and states too it seems like absolutely absolutely and
• 70:00 - 70:30 we look where the money's flowing it's it's you know it's everywhere literally everywhere every every every county in the United States is is a beneficiary of some sort of Commerce grant funding from the last four years yeah absolutely uh Rachel Lipson son anything you'd add to that before we dive into Q&A y brilliant well folks uh now it's the moment we've all been waiting for we've have gotten some really fantastic questions from from the audience and and
• 70:30 - 71:00 the first one is is I think really interesting when we think about this implementation side of things the the folks the actual individuals on the receiving end of industrial policy Investments um this is for the full panel uh for anyone who'd like to jump in What are the top two or three things you wish Workforce practitioners knew about the Department of Commerce
• 71:00 - 71:30 sure I can kick this off um I'll I'll throw one out there shayen you know in in my prior life I spent a lot of time um working with community colleges and focus on the community college system and it's been uh surprising to me still that we've made progress but still how few um community colleges really have uh Commerce on their radar as a as a as a federal um partner and and funer um
• 71:30 - 72:00 again I think we're seeing a lot more we're seeing growth there but it's interesting um they historically um look to the Department of Education and the Department of Labor for for a good reason but uh we are in this moment where the kind of integration of Economic and Workforce Development that we've been talking about the whole discussion today is is really at the Forefront and so um h h uh making sure that um higher ed and in
• 72:00 - 72:30 particular the two-year sector like thinks about um the Commerce Department as a as a critical potential partner especially as they move into some of these uh new and emerging Technologies or are focused on on bringing or transitioning their region into a new industry absolutely and one reflection on that Rachel I'd be remiss if I didn't say I mean what you had laid out is one of the key pillars that our future Rick and Innovation economy initiative is is
• 72:30 - 73:00 aiming to address there's a lot more resources out there for Workforce Development than meets the eye and many more efficient ways to make use of the resources that are available um Dave you had mentioned I think the uh guidance that came out from the Department of Education we had a a event similar to this one where Amy Lloyd you know Assist secretary over in OCT Department of Education was addressing a group of community colleges and actually we also
• 73:00 - 73:30 had Patrick Burke from the Department of Commerce and Irwin gch andani from the National Science Foundation for this event where you know um Dr Lloyd was really encouraging commun Coles to think about the weoa Perkins Consolidated plan process that states underwent last year as a new era new chapter to do things around Workforce Innovation including linking noncredit to credit stackable Pathways making that real concrete instead of just a vision um thinking
• 73:30 - 74:00 about work-based learning opportunities so um i' I'd encourage community colleges and the audience just you know Shameless plug please feel free to reach out to new America if we could be helpful in navigating um the all of government approach to Workforce industrial policy because we'll we'll be putting out more in the the coming months um Rachel uh Dave anything you'd add to that top two three things you wish were work force practitioners new at commun colleges or otherwise I'm happy to I'm happy to
• 74:00 - 74:30 share and then Dave would be curious to hear your thoughts too I think one of the unique things about working at the Department of Commerce and Eda in general is you know we have this great privilege of having a pretty broad Suite of bureaus as well as um funding uses right at the Eda we can fund things from Public Works to Workforce Development to entrepreneurship to governance to planning and and there's this whole range of things that occur in this one Bureau alone and then you expand it to the cotur level and you have bureaus across various parts of the federal um
• 74:30 - 75:00 Federal Spectrum right and so I think that's both a privilege but also it comes with its own challenges of wanting to make sure we're intentional and not duplicative and all of these things that I think we've talked about today I think that um if I would if I would have one thing to encourage Workforce practitioners to come to us on is just um we know that Workforce Development is interdisciplinary right we know it's not just the training program it's you know there are different pieces and needs depending on the communities you're working in that you need support with to the conversation we had earlier on um
• 75:00 - 75:30 training plus facility training plus equipment maybe it's training plus entrepreneurship small business support program so I think just continuing to encourage the field which everyone has done a great job of of coming and sharing the full Suite of asks and trusting that we as the bureaus and the department will to the degree possible try to um to matchmake and try to facilitate those connections um with different fun opportunities or have a conversation around what that looks like I think that's one piece that um I think has worked well and i' encourag further
• 75:30 - 76:00 activity on going forward just adding on to that just briefly on that same theme not the same to be the Department of Commerce as the Department of Business and clearly we are I mean you very principally the voice of business in the federal government there's a two-way street there but we also success of our programs does involve many many many partners and so we do it's on us there's a Communications challenge we sort of you know talking around here of us you know making sure that all the different stakeholders are aware of our programs
• 76:00 - 76:30 but also we want I just emphasize we want to hear from you right so we are you know there is a role for us to support um in some extent high schools or community colleges we have traditionally very heavily invested in colleges and universities the fouryear schools um but you know it's an open place and of course Rachel's also talked about the important role of labor unions who been a key partner for many of our programs as well so Commerce depends on all those kinds of Partnerships absolutely and actually Dave it's fun
• 76:30 - 77:00 you mention labor unions because that's where our second question comes into play you know of course Biden Administration has really taken a a unique robust approach to working with labor all across government in industrial policy implementation we had covered previously the announcement of a new mou between AFL CIO the largest Trade union Confederation and the national Science Foundation um how is uh the Commerce Department engaging labor
• 77:00 - 77:30 unions around its Workforce strategy what are some things that have happened what are some things that might be down the pike as uh Investments hit regions and communities so I'll start and I think I'm sure Rachel and Rachel can provide a very concrete examples but I mean the our partnership model is is the the basic premise here is to bring together people who can deliver and who are trusted at a local level um whether it's community colleges labor unions the workforce boards hopefully combinations
• 77:30 - 78:00 of the above and that's been reflected in in program development um and who's actually you know part of the programs either that directly funding it or supporting our work on a local level so um yeah I mean look I've seen unions come into the department meet with you know both leadership and staff in a way I've never seen previously and they are they've been very very key Partners to some of our most important programs yeah I can I can just build on that um
• 78:00 - 78:30 briefly um the chips um notice of funding opportunities have have strongly encouraged um engagement with labor unions alongside a broad Suite of of Community Partners that can Jin Dave's word to really help um accelerate and achieve the goals of the chips act and we've seen a lot of fruits of those efforts including both on the construction side of um uh uh construction apprenticeship programs that um are are growing that labor
• 78:30 - 79:00 unions are playing a big piece on um as well as collaboration on the on the manufacturing side uh on training um so I I think um the the way the secretary talks about this of all hands on deck we're going to need a a broad range of Partners across Society to really make sure that we achieve on these on these programs goals and um labor has been one of the the a key and important um partner in advancing those
• 79:00 - 79:30 efforts Rachel son anything you'd add to that uh not much I think my colleagues covered it I think maybe just one one more piece not to um keep sounding this horn I think you know I think the magic is in the Coalition based model right most of our regions are working in coalitions of labor plus employers plus training programs plus um local government and I think it really just facilitates that deal space for labor to really have a seat at the table and be leading a lot of these initiatives um just because you know I think it's
• 79:30 - 80:00 helpful to add color as one example we uh funded one of our Tech hubs out in Nevada um about 41 21 $21 million excuse me last summer um and as part of that work they're focused on the lithium battery and electric vehicle space one of their implementing Partners is the electrical joint Apprentice uh apprentice and Training committee and so they're working across 55 different union-based contractors and employers throughout the region to really Advance this work and so um we're early days right a few months into the program but
• 80:00 - 80:30 already beginning to see um some of this partnership and Coalition building with labor driving it um beginning to take foot sure one more thing I can I forgot to add there to is um some may have followed um we have an exciting effort at the department on women and construction um and there's been a a um a big initiative um voluntarily with um chips companies Jo coming on board um to support um uh how do we boost participation of of women and other uh
• 80:30 - 81:00 communities that have historically um been underserved uh in the construction industry um and uh there's been um chips as co-hosted with companies and partners around the country a series of of roundtables and um labor has been a really active and important partner in helping to bring attention um to that issue and and really getting more um uh working alongside companies and others in communities to make sure that we um
• 81:00 - 81:30 can fully leverage and tap into talent that um maybe hasn't historically participated in the industry very helpful and and you know I think on you know the the receiving end of these Investments I mean we can look towards the new kinds of Partnerships that have emerged around labor labor Community College Partnerships for example aflci had published a brief calling for more of these kinds of Workforce Development Partnerships to bring about the upscaling necessary for
• 81:30 - 82:00 um the millions of people who are in the Inc combined Workforce and certainly when it comes to you know Tech hubs there's been uh a strong Coalition of Labor around some of the techhub Investments and um it's been interesting to see how States and regions and and just the general public in America have really turned a page a bit on on labor and Workforce Development uh you know there was Gallop polling that showed that you know public support and enthusiasm for Laborers has had a record
• 82:00 - 82:30 high and of course president-elect Donald Trump has nominated someone who is a supporter of the proa even so it's it's really I think an interesting moment in in labor industrial policy um so then moving on to uh the next question we have from the audience here um you know of course we talked a little bit about this the new Administration um coming on next week are there good examples of cross Department collaboration and government
• 82:30 - 83:00 that are likely to be sustained in the new administration of course none of us have crystal balls but what have you seen that might have some longevity or might be time to to carry forth into the due Administration you know I guess I I'll question a little bit the premise of the question because it's like the um the Partnerships that are in place won't magically disappear on January 20th um they're the these are long-standing relationships that you know both at a a professional and personal level that have been built up over years mius are
• 83:00 - 83:30 staying in place and they've been built for the long term so so I I I feel um and and where we are now is this what didn't get developed just over four years it's bu you know years of of collaboration between NSF and Eda NSF and nist and others I think what we're excited about just how how much deeper things have have become and like sort of you know the success of the programs is is going to require that that to to continue yeah I I think just echoing
• 83:30 - 84:00 that you know to your point jayen we don't have a crystal ball we can't really say what happens in the future I think just um maybe from a retrospective standpoint I think that is also why um we've tried as much as possible to build our capacity at the Department of Commerce and really systematize and formalize a lot of these Partnerships Beyond hey I Rachel know EX janeo at different department and we talk every once in a while right like that that is I think one model of inter agency collaboration that I deeply enjoy but how do we actually put in place memorandums of understanding put in
• 84:00 - 84:30 place staff put in place um different mechanisms in which we actually can um really structure up how we coordinate across the inter agency and um also hold ourselves accountable to making sure that that collaboration has outcomes that um impact American communities workers and families and so um you know I've spoken to a few of the examples that I think um we hope to see continue and we plan on continuing um whether that's the Eda NSF partnership that Dave mentioned um as another example we um
• 84:30 - 85:00 have quite a few different regions across the country that we funded through these programs that are focused on industries that are adjacent to or deeply related to the defense space so whether that's autonomous systems out in Tulsa Oklahoma right whether that is um biofabrication and synthetic um biotech up in New Hampshire um to be able to support our medical operations like all of these pieces are critical to the broader defense um ecosystem across the country and so to support and enable the development of those clusters Eda has
• 85:00 - 85:30 recently signed aou with um the Department of defense's Defense Innovation unit such that those clusters can then um really engage in a meaningful way with the diu counterparts to say hey can we create some sort of information flow to inform our development can we surface Contracting opportunities so that we can continue to sustain the growth of these clusters things like that that um really will advance National Security and American competitiveness that we're really excited to continue to work on um and see move
• 85:30 - 86:00 forward I think the only thing I'd add uh look the the chips and science Act passed with strong bipartisan support in both the house and the Senate and I think Dave referenced earlier that um our projects uh really like span red States and blue States and um the the conversations we've had with like localities on the ground is just to look at it from that level is that the partnership needs to sustain and continue um to make sure that we are
• 86:00 - 86:30 jointly successful in our efforts that matter both um matter deeply for those communities and but also matter for the nation and have been very um reassured by the consistency of uh moving forward um to make sure that we um really achieve those goals together yeah really appreciate the The Knot's resiliency here and I mean from what we've seen in communities in States uh and in regions
• 86:30 - 87:00 I mean those relationships the many millions that companies and and philanthropies and states have put in to the success of industrial policy implementation seems seems unlikely to disappear on Monday uh at least so um well looks like we have time for one more question so this might be a bit rapid fire we've talked a lot about community colleges we've talked about apprenticeships we've talked about lots of different modalities to meet Workforce and and talent needs for
• 87:00 - 87:30 employers to expand opportunity for workers and students um a question from the audience is is really focused on k through2 um what plans exist or or are in place to support high schools as viable uh Pathways into some of the jobs that industrial policy Investments are are creating are they dedicated funding opportun unities that have come about or that might come about in the future that the audience should keep on The Radars open
• 87:30 - 88:00 question happy to kick us off um I've actually one of the surprises for me since joining chips has been how much um uh the industry is focused on early early pipeline efforts because um they realize that we need to get more people in America excited um not just about software and and cod but about hardware and that that can't just start um in the post-secondary system it there has to be
• 88:00 - 88:30 exposure um uh up and down the entirety of the the life cycle um and so we've heard that as part of the efforts to stand up the national semiconductor technology Center you maybe saw that one of their early um uh first grants of funding is going to the American Federation of teachers and for a collaboration with Micron that's going to support curriculum and in K12 um uh we also see it um you know the the manufacturing dollars flowing through
• 88:30 - 89:00 the companies the companies will have ultimate um ultimate say about in in partnership with their intermediaries what kinds of of solutions they want to fund um in their communities that will help their Pipeline and advancement efforts but I can say from being on the ground um in a number of these regions um you see a lot of enthusiasm and excitement about partnership with K12 I know for instance um I was out in in Williamson County Texas where um where Samsung is building um you know the
• 89:00 - 89:30 anecdote there is that Samsung's investment um the the GDP of the town was under um around a billion dollars and Samsung's investment I I don't have the figure off hand now but even the private investment initially was more than 17x thatat so it's going to be transformational for that community and um at the onset the company had committed to internships for the high school for high school students because they wanted to make it real for um the Next Generation that that lives in this
• 89:30 - 90:00 uh previously kind of sleepy Town um people say that Samsung is in Austin but this facility is in a pretty different uh geography um and so yeah I think we're going to see a lot of efforts I I I would guess that look like that that are really focused on um not just broad pipeline but how do we make sure for the people who live right here in the community where a facility is being built that from an early age young people get access exposure and an
• 90:00 - 90:30 opportunity to participate in those jobs um I think one thing that maybe picking up on what Rachel's is saying and and applies to our Eda experience too is I'll just say to be very realistic I think from the Eda standpoint we don't traditionally fund a lot of K12 but where we have done it is um to what Rachel Lipson was saying around some of these more emerging Industries and thinking about um you know ensuring that the applicants that come to us with those requests have a very clear articulation of why is this funding needed why isn't it being um
• 90:30 - 91:00 pursued elsewhere or able to be pursued elsewhere and what does it do to help us develop that P Pipeline and Pathways into supporting the growth of that industry cluster so we have some cap investments in in places around awareness around helping folks transition into those Pathways but it's not super super common at the Eda so it's um it's great to hear another agency and how we can continue to collaborate on that regard um the other thing I'll say is I think what's interesting and perhaps a bit non-responsive to the question but I'll highlight it is thinking about how we
• 91:00 - 91:30 leverage high schools as a core partner and a lot of this work in getting Americans into good paying jobs we had a few recompete communities actually say hey high schools um also tend to be uh providers of care right and supporting working parents um in a lot of communities that we're in so how do we think about using these funds to unlock that as a barrier to employment and so um an example not necessarily on the training Pathways front but how do we use these coalitions as local capacity building to unlock the barriers that folks face um to achieve sustaining
• 91:30 - 92:00 jobs I would just add that this this is a perfect example of where the inter agency collaboration know also very critical so the the unlocking Career Success initiative under secretary Cardona I think it's been a really um important driver of systemic change at thee at the high school and vocational education level that complements a lot of the work that we're doing and so the the the partnership with them both on community outreach and then like the development of that program um has been
• 92:00 - 92:30 really really important because as to Rachel s's point is that we don't I while certainly businesses want to work at the at the the with high schools we recognize that's where we need to reach students and teachers um our traditional funding hasn't always gone there absolutely well investing in America was such a historic occasion really once in a generation um I wish we could go on but we are at time so I'd like to thank you
• 92:30 - 93:00 all Dave Rachel Sun Rachel Lipson and our audience for tuning in thank you to Mary Alice for our opening remarks and our events team we will be sending a recording of this session to all who registered for the event it will also be posted on the new America YouTube channel and on the new America events page where you registered for this event so if you had some insights that you heard today that you'd like to share with colleagues please feel free to distribute that recording and thanks as
• 93:00 - 93:30 always for tuning in