Aug. 05--GREENSBORO -- Hundreds of thousands of skilled jobs go begging every year because companies can't find the trained workers they need.
In many cases, unemployed workers can't find the training to land jobs in their communities or elsewhere because community colleges don't offer classes with a standard set of skills.
Sen. Kay Hagan, D-NC, is co-sponsoring a Senate bill that would set uniform standards across the country, allowing workers trained in one state to qualify for jobs in others.
Hagan said today in a news conference that the bill, S.423, has cleared the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and should be headed to the Senate floor for a vote.
The bill is largely modeled on programs at eight North Carolina community colleges -- including GTCC -- that have set up programs to match students with job needs.
It won't cost any money, she said, it will simply move budgets for worker training programs to a higher priority for community colleges and workforce training centers across the nation.
TIMCO, a large aircraft maintenance and overhaul company at Piedmont Triad International Airport, finds the search for local workers to be a challenge.
Seats in training programs for welders, aircraft technicians and other workers are limited at GTCC, so TIMCO is hoping a national program will help it find workers throughout North Carolina and the nation.
"We know they're going to have the same standardized type training," said Kip Blakely, a Timco executive and member of the N.C. Workforce Development Board.
Contact Richard M. Barron at (336) 373-7371, and follow @rmbarronnr on Twitter.
Copyright 2013 - News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.
