AUGUSTA, Maine — In an effort to boost the new State Workforce Investment Board, Gov. Paul LePage met Friday with its members to talk about creating better opportunities for job-skill training.
“Two of my greatest priorities as governor relate directly to workforce,” he said in a statement. “We need to ensure students have the skills they need to be productive workers when they graduate, and we must get targeted training to people in the workforce today so that they can be competitive and successful in the job market.”
The State Workforce Investment Board includes business leaders, state and local officials as well as representatives from education, organized labor and service providers. The group is responsible for creating and implementing policies that train Mainers who are looking for meaningful work.
LePage often has said the many employers he has talked to since taking office say they have positions to fill but can’t find qualified applicants.
He wants to change that.
“We must make this system more effective in training people with skills employers need,” the governor told board members on Friday. “There is something wrong when employers with good jobs can’t find workers. It is holding our economy back.”
Earlier this year, LePage proposed changes to the work force system to allow a greater share of federal work force funds to go directly to job-skill training.
He also wants to identify skill gaps in the work force better, prioritize training initiatives and develop defined career ladders by which workers can build upon prior skills and new learning to advance in their jobs.
The governor’s plan designates eight work force areas — instead of four — that are aligned more closely with Maine’s regional chamber of commerce areas. The proposal further calls for additional performance-based standards to evaluate performance of work force programs and ensure that they are effective.
Frederick L. Webber, chairman of the State Workforce Investment Board, applauded the governor’s work on the issue.
“Gov. LePage has a clear vision for how this system must be positioned to ensure opportunity for all workers and businesses in our economy moving forward,” he said. “We are committed to carrying out his plan.”
Follow BDN reporter Eric Russell on Twitter @BDNPolitics
This article is filled with gobbledegook. You might as well say it is gobbledegook. What does it mean?
Lepage press release repeated?
way to go LePage keep up the good work.
All kinds of planning but not a one concerning any actual training happening. Yet the DOL keeps telling people that they have training oppotunity’s available. Fine, show me. To date all I’ve seen is a bunch of paper being shuffled between piles on a desk. Motion and mouth are being used as measure of performance. Wrong answer ! Work accomplished is performance, not effort. And some folk’s wonder why State Government gets such low marks. People, this one is not even a close call.
I think this is great because the Governor definitely needs some job-skills training.
So do most libs. Strangely, waiting each month for the EBT money, does not count as a job.
The penguin needs to go to China, stand atop the Great Wall, and have the Chinese Army pass in revue. It may swell ole mackerel breaths head till it explodes, with any luck.
We have a number of responses available; “talk is cheap”, “you talk the talk, now walk the walk”, and my favorite “show me the money”.
Our Governor hard at work. Good job, Mr. LePage.
For the benifit of those who post here on Disqus, could you please list something that LePage has done that could, or should be considered as an accomplishment ?
Replaced Baldy was a good start
I will take that response as an admission LePage has accomplished nothing !