CINCINNATI, OH — As leaders in the Senate continue critical negotiations to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today toured a Cincinnati-based valve manufacturer to highlight his Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act. Brown’s bipartisan SECTORS Act would address the skilled labor shortage by helping unemployed local workers train for local jobs in high-growth industries.

“Addressing our country’s skills gap is critical to filling open positions and meeting the demands for high-tech job growth,” Brown said. “We know economic development and workforce skills training go hand-in-hand. When the skilled workers are there, more investments follow. By partnering local employers with local workforce boards, labor unions, and job training programs like the SkillsTrac Program at Sinclair Community College, we can ensure a clusters-based job growth strategy that improves our economic competitiveness while reducing the unemployment rate.”

Brown toured Richards Industries, a Cincinnati manufacturer that utilizes local job centers to help train new employees for high-tech positions. Richards Industries is an industry-leading provider of industrial valves used in the chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and food processing industries. During his visit, Brown was joined by Olu Fanegan and Dan Whitacre, employees at Richards Industries who utilized local job retraining programs to prepare them for manufacturing positions. Brown was also joined by Cheryl Koopman, Vice President of Human Resources and Director of Community Affairs at Richards Industries, who discussed the importance of local, cluster-based job training and its impact on the company’s bottom-line.     

Last week, Brown applauded the Obama Administration’s new initiative to help workers train for—and land—local jobs. During an event in Pennsylvania, President Obama and Vice President Biden announced $600 million for targeted training and apprenticeship programs that would help American workers obtain the skills needed for well-paid, middle-class jobs. The Administration’s initiative follows a model similar to Brown’s SECTORS Act of 2013.

Brown’s legislation, which he introduced with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), would organize stakeholders connected to a regional industry, including business and labor leaders, education and training providers, and local workforce and education system administrators, to develop plans for growing that industry. Due to new jobs and retirement, a recent report found that between 2008 and 2018 Ohio will create 967,000 job openings requiring postsecondary education or training. And according to Forbes, Ohio ranks 10th with the biggest looming skilled labor shortage in the country. By tailoring workforce development to the needs of regional, high-growth industries, more workers could receive placements and more businesses could be attracted to a region based on a “clusters” approach.

Additionally, the SECTORS Act would address the disparity between high unemployment rates and a shortage of skilled workers for many emerging industries by providing grants for sector partnerships among institutions of higher education, industry, organized labor, and workforce boards. These partnerships would create customized solutions for specific industries at the regional level. A sector approach can focus on the dual goals of promoting the long-term competitiveness of industries and advancing employment opportunities for workers.

Brown continues to fight for the American worker and to ensure domestic industries have the resources needed to compete. Described as “Congress’ leading proponent of American Manufacturing,” Brown is a member of the Senate Manufacturing Caucus, currently Vice-Chair of the Senate Auto Caucus, and was recently named incoming Chair of the Senate Steel Caucus. Earlier this month, Brown’s  and U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt’s (R-MO) bipartisan manufacturing jobs legislation moved one step closer to becoming law. During an executive session of the Senate Commerce Committee, the bipartisan manufacturing hubs bill, the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act (RAMI), was passed out of Committee. Brown-Blunt would establish a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) and create thousands of high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs while enhancing the United States’ role as the world’s leader in advanced manufacturing. 

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