LANSING – U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow on Wednesday announced legislation to provide a federal match for the state’s current program funding community college and business partnerships to train workers for high-skilled jobs.

The New Skills for New Jobs Act would double the state’s current program, and help fill vacant high-skilled jobs that pay at least $13 per hour, Stabenow (D-Lansing) said at Lansing Community College’s West Campus.

Stabenow said businesses need more people with advanced technical skills to fill the jobs being created.

“It doesn’t mean we don’t have people with skills,” she said. “We have a lot of smart people in Michigan. But what it means is as jobs and technology is changing, we have to do a bit of retooling, not only in the workplace or the plant, but in terms of matching up skills.”

Brent Knight, president of Lansing Community College, said the state’s current program assists employers who are looking for high-skilled employees by training the employees in areas they need to be successful.

LCC in particular has received $2.8 million in funding to train more than 2,400 workers, he said, and Ms. Stabenow’s legislation would improve the college’s program.

A report released Wednesday by the Michigan Community College Association said the state’s New Job Training Program includes 44 local partnerships between community colleges and employers, and 10,000 workers have been trained for high-skilled jobs. The study also said the partnerships were responsible for $76 million in additional wages and salaries.

“When people have good paying jobs and money in their pocket, it not only helps their family, it helps the entire economy,” Stabenow said.

Stabenow said Iowa, North Dakota, Kansas and Missouri also are doing something similar to her proposed legislation.

“Michigan’s community colleges are excited that in just a few short years the Michigan New Jobs Training Program has provided so much benefit to Michigan’s economy and its workers,” said Mike Hansen, president of the MCCA, in a statement. “Community colleges appreciate that the New Jobs Training Program allows them the flexibility to meet both employer and worker needs, and we applaud Senator Stabenow for introducing this initiative that would double the program’s current impact.”

Bret Holling, services engagement manager for a Silicon Valley company Force by Design, said the company has 10 employees at its East Lansing location, but is looking to hire about 40 additional employees in the next three years.

“We are very excited for the economic momentum that Michigan is gaining, and this initiative will allow for more new and innovative job opportunities to continue to grow,” he said.

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