... in the News

Session to focus on labor pool development
by Gary Gosselin, The News Herald (MI)

The following story is the third of four weekly reports covering the four areas of discussion at the upcoming Downriver 2000 strategic planning session set for April 19 at Crystal Gardens in Southgate. The daylong session is being spearheaded by U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-16th District) in partnership with tile Southern Wayne  County Chamber of Commerce, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and the Downriver Community Conference. Keynote speakers at the forum will include William Clay Ford Jr., Ford Motor Co. chairman of the board, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley.

Downriver 2000 is designed to bring together business and community leaders to discuss and prioritize the issues that are important to Downriver going into the new century. This summit is expected to be the first of an annual event, with future summits looking not only to the future, but also to the accomplishments made since the last year.

The topics of transportation and economic development have been covered in the last two weeks. Look in next week's Business Section for the fourth and final installment on waterfront development. This third report will focus on workforce development.

Like it or not, Downriver is still tied closely with the auto industry, and where autos go, so goes Downriver and its workforce.

Movement has been made in recent years to diversify the business base in the area.

And along with those diversification efforts also comes an evolving auto industry, in which jobs and related businesses are changing to adapt to technology and an evolving, world market.

That adaptation needs to involve business, education and government to work successfully, and all three of those ingredients will be at the summit.

"It's about creating a skilled workforce and it’s about creating good paying jobs Downriver and that's what this is all about," said Dingell spokesman Mike Green. "We're bringing a lot of these people together."

Green said not only do businesses have a stake in making sure young people receive proper training, but it's important to the overall health of the economy that there is a solid worker base for all to draw from.

“From the chamber's point of view, we have members who have skilled-labor shortages and we see this breakout session as how you can use workforce development issues as a business development tool," said Edward Clemente, president of the Southern Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, Downriver’s largest business organization.

"For example, when a company is looking to expand, stay in the area or move into an area, the question is, is there a labor pool to draw from?" Clemente explained. "We have to discuss ways to make sure we're giving employers, existing or potential, a workforce suited to their needs."

Jack O'Reilly, directors of the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance, will be a speaker along with Lou Milley, director of the Downriver Community Conference.

O'Reilly's organization administers training grants and funds for job placement, retraining displaced workers and those lacking the skills to find supportable employment.

The DCC is a provider of those services, and has helped MeLouth Steel employees, among others, retrain for other positions or to make themselves more marketable through refresher courses in math and English, for example.

There are also a number of ongoing school-to-work programs, which bring business people and educators together to expose students to a variety of options in the local workforce.

"I think when you mention school to-work, that's the key - to bring education and business together in a partnership so they can meet the needs of the workforce into the next century," Green said.

Certainly, the proposed $7.8 million technical training center at the Ford Woodhaven Stamping Plant will be discussed, Clemente said.

The center is the result of a $5 million grant from the Michigan Jobs Commission and $1.8 million from UAW/Ford. It will be used primarily by Ford workers, but administrator Henry Ford Community College is also likely to offer technical training to the public, as well.

Green said the center is a good example of what the workforce development module will focus on; working together to find ways to train and build a skilled workforce to fit the changing needs of the business community.

...in the News

Media Releases

Graphics

eFORUM Results