Article Summary –
Michigan has initiated a program to offer vocational training and job placement assistance to 5,000 residents in a bid to enhance its workforce and improve infrastructure. The program, which will be funded through $9 billion in federal funding from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, aims to train 5,000 infrastructure workers by 2030. The move follows a 2023 report indicating that Michigan’s infrastructure is in a crisis and desperately requires rebuilding.
New Vocational Training Program for Michigan Residents
A new Michigan initiative offers vocational training and certification to 5,000 residents, providing job placement assistance to bolster the state’s workforce and enhance infrastructure development.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed an executive directive at Oakland Schools Technical Campus on April 29, mandating the state Labor Department to revise the Michigan Statewide Workforce Plan by May 1, 2025. The plan’s objective is to train 5,000 infrastructure workers by 2030 to execute crucial state infrastructure improvements.
The directive aims to stimulate Michigan’s economy by creating good-paying jobs in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and advanced mobility sectors, and by taking measures to enhance infrastructure.
A 2023 report from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan and Altarum underscores the urgent need for infrastructure rebuild in Michigan due to issues like potholed roads, power outages, dam collapses, and frequent flooding.
The program will be financed by $9 billion in federal funds under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
The executive directive stresses the need to support, train, and expand a skilled workforce to leverage these federal and state investments effectively.
Since Whitmer took office, the percentage of working adults with a college degree or certificate has risen from 45% to around 51.1%, as per data from the Lumina Foundation. The state aims to increase this ratio to 60% by 2030.
Chong-Anna Canfora, director of the Michigan Workforce Development Institute, stated that this training not only enhances infrastructure but also “transforms lives.” She further noted that their efforts to provide free apprenticeship-readiness training and create middle-class opportunities in the skilled trades, especially for women and minority groups, are being supported by the state.
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