Courtney Celebrates the Skills Training Revitalization on Eyewitness News Extra
NORWICH, CT – This week, on Eyewitness News Extra, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) celebrated the revitalization of skills training in eastern Connecticut:
“You really see, I think, a very real shift that’s happening in curriculums in high schools, not just trade schools, but also comprehensive high schools, the regular high schools that are now installing welding labs, plasma tables, all the equipment that really give a sizable chunk of kids and opportunity to acquire a skill that, frankly, we just sort of stopped doing for a really long time,” Courtney said.
To watch, click here.
Yesterday, to mark 10 years of the Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative (MPI), the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board (EWIB) released new data showing that the MPI has graduated over 6,400 trainees into jobs at over 670 employers. The program has led eastern Connecticut to 33% faster regional employment growth than the rest of Connecticut, according to EWIB.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Brian Shactman (Host): Give me something, one little shred of, like, what makes you feel optimistic about what's going on in our world?
Rep. Courtney: So, you know, honestly, when we you mentioned workforce, one of the things over the last ten years that my office has been involved in is really helping different ways for young adults, but also kids to really start to look at the world differently in terms of, “everybody's got to go to college.” And you really see, I think, a very real shift that's happening in curriculums in high schools, not just trade schools, but also comprehensive high schools, the regular high schools that are now installing welding labs, plasma tables, all the equipment that really give a sizable chunk of kids and opportunity to acquire a skill that, frankly, we just sort of stopped doing for a really long time. And I've gone to graduation ceremonies with these kids, signing ceremonies not just at EB, but other companies that are out there right now. And I think young people and families now are really embracing this and I think-
Brian Shactman (Host): A lot of them are AI proof too, right?
Rep. Courtney: Exactly. And so 2,000 welders this year, out of that 8,000 hiring cohort is welders. And I've talked to the leadership down there at EB, and they said there's just no way you're ever going to replace that. I don't care. You know, AI has its place in terms of supply chain tracking and all that sort of stuff. But they're not going to build, they're not going to manufacture Navy ships.
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