[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MIND THE `SKILLS' GAP: APPRENTICESHIPS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD
JUNE 4, 2019
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[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Small Business Committee Document Number 116-025
Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman
ABBY FINKENAUER, Iowa
JARED GOLDEN, Maine
ANDY KIM, New Jersey
JASON CROW, Colorado
SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
JUDY CHU, California
MARC VEASEY, Texas
DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania
BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Ranking Member
AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa, Vice Ranking Member
TRENT KELLY, Mississippi
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio
KEVIN HERN, Oklahoma
JIM HAGEDORN, Minnesota
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
ROSS SPANO, Florida
JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania
Adam Minehardt, Majority Staff Director
Melissa Jung, Majority Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Hon. Jason Crow.................................................. 1
Hon. Troy Balderson.............................................. 3
WITNESSES
Mr. Joshua Broder, CEO, Tilson, Greenwood Village, CO............ 5
Mr. Tim Herbert, Senior Vice President, Research & Market
Intelligence, CompTIA, Washington, DC.......................... 7
Mr. Ronald Marlow, Vice President for Workforce Development,
National Urban League, New York, NY............................ 9
Mr. Talbot H. Gee, CEO, HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning and
Refrigeration Distributors International), Columbus, OH........ 11
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Mr. Joshua Broder, CEO, Tilson, Greenwood Village, CO........ 25
Mr. Tim Herbert, Senior Vice President, Research & Market
Intelligence, CompTIA, Washington, DC...................... 27
Mr. Ronald Marlow, Vice President for Workforce Development,
National Urban League, New York, NY........................ 33
Mr. Talbot H. Gee, CEO, HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning and
Refrigeration Distributors International), Columbus, OH.... 40
Questions for the Record:
None.
Answers for the Record:
None.
Additional Material for the Record:
ABC - Associated Builders and Contractors.................... 56
MIND THE `SKILLS' GAP: APPRENTICESHIPS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS
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TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2019
House of Representatives,
Committee on Small Business,
Subcommittee on Innovation and Workforce
Development,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 11:32 a.m., in
Room 2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jason Crow
[chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Crow, Veasey, Houlahan, Finkenauer, Kim, Davids,
Balderson, Burchett, and Joyce.
Chairman CROW. Good morning. The Committee will come to
order. Thank you all for joining us this morning. A special
thanks to the witnesses for being here today.
Since the recession ended in 2009, our economy has
experienced over a decade of economic expansion and despite a
low unemployment rate, we know that challenges remain.
Small employers are having an increasingly hard time
finding skilled and qualified workers. In fact for over a year,
more jobs have been available in the economy than people
actively seeking them out.
Two factors seem to be driving this labor market shortage.
The first is an existing skills gap among workers and the
second is largely due to demographics and increased
retirements. According to Pew Research, 10,000 baby boomers
turn 65 every day. And this will take place every day until
2030.
Both emphasize the importance of transforming the education
process and requirements for the future of work in our country.
Small businesses rely on employees with specialized skill sets
to build and grow their businesses. But their potential for
growth is hindered when they struggle to fill positions that
require technical training or certifications. And this problem
is not unique to one sector of the economy. From the lack of
tower climbers to build out telecommunications networks in the
most rural parts of our country, to the void of specialized
custodians to clean biomedical waste at healthcare facilities,
and the lack of specialized labor in the construction trades,
all industries are feeling the strain of inadequate pathways to
employment. In fact, more than 80 percent of small businesses
have few or no applicants available to fill open positions.
Tackling this problem requires working outside of the existing
workforce. In today's labor market, skilled employees that
cannot be found must be created. One way in which we can do
this is by increasing the number and use of apprenticeship
programs throughout the country.
Apprenticeships provide the natural benefit of earn as you
learn education for employees and the opportunity to develop
otherwise ineligible applicants into valued members of their
team. These valuable programs are made available through
Federal programs and private industry initiatives.
For instance, the Department of Labor has funded 95 million
dollars in grants for the development of registered
apprenticeship programs that have resulted in nearly half a
million new hires. The ones developed by industry partners have
provided resources for potential employees to connect and build
skilled teams.
Take for example telecom companies that struggle with
daunting costs to build infrastructure on challenging terrain
which are then compounded by a lack of skilled workers to climb
towers to help connect Americans. Taking matters into their own
hands, the telecom community has responded by developing a
coalition with the mission of training tower climbers on the
job to deploy networks and eventually upskill to build out
advanced 5G networks.
These new networks will not only need to be built but also
maintained and fixed in response to extreme weather which
provides an opportunity for climbers and workers to be trained
and remain in their communities. Private industry has taken
major steps to prepare the American workforce to address one of
the greatest threats to small business, cyber security. Through
cyber security certificate programs, American workers can earn
valuable certifications required to fill positions in industry
and the government. These valuable programs also tap into
underutilized talent encouraging women, minorities, and
veterans to reenter the workforce. Through a strategic
partnership with community-based organizations, registered
apprenticeship programs help diversity talent in technical
industries by engaging diverse candidates.
The Federal Government can also play an important role in
training and retraining the workforce for the future. Programs
like the Job Core, a national vocational and employment
training program overseen by the DOL provides disadvantaged
youth with the education and support they need to secure long-
term employment.
Job Core takes it one step further and seeks to match small
business owners with the well-trained, entry level employees
needed to fill their workforce needs. These are the types of
smart policies and programs we should support.
Though registered apprenticeship programs in industry based
training have provided valuable resources, much more can be
done to close the skills gap. More Federal Government resources
should be devoted to train Americans who are not seeking four
year degrees. Jobs that require more training than high school
but less than a bachelor's degree account for half of the job
openings in the U.S.
Expanding existing government programs to support Americans
who are willing and able to fill these positions should be a
top priority. I hope that today's discussion will shed light on
the many ways apprenticeship programs and specialized training
can help small business build skilled teams.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress
toward breaking down these educational barriers to entry and
expand the American workforce.
I thank you each of the witness for joining us today and I
look forward to your testimony. I would now like to yield to
the Ranking Member, Mr. Balderson, for his opening statement.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Chairman Crow, for holding this
hearing today, this very important hearing and I especially
want to thank you and your team and your staff for being
flexible with today's hearing timing to accommodate everyone's
busy schedules. It is no easy task and I appreciate your
teamwork in ensuring this be a productive hearing for everyone.
As a show of our thanks, my staff and I would like to pass
over to you the famous buckeye chocolates, the Ohio state
buckeye chocolate and I look forward to you enjoying those and
with your staff here and graciously appreciate working with us
and changing the time schedule on this.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. And as an alumn of the University
of Wisconsin, I am not sure if I am allowed to eat these.
Chrissy Houlahan can eat them apparently. Thank you.
Mr. BALDERSON. You are welcome. Thank you, Chairman, again,
seriously.
The Small Business Committee has heard many accounts of the
skills gap and its detrimental impact on small businesses
across the country. According to the National Federation of
Independent Business, or the NFIB, as we so commonly refer to
it, 86 percent of those hiring are trying to hire reported few
or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying
to fill. That is not just another statistic. It should be heard
as a cry for help from our communities.
We know the skills gap is widening. We can feel these
effects on all local economies. Last week I had the opportunity
to sit down with the small business leaders from around my
Congressional district. These folks were gracious enough to
volunteer their time to let me know about some of their
communities' biggest challenges.
Without a doubt, the number one issue they face is
workforce development and the lack of availability for skilled
workers. Today, I intend to learn more about how to address
these concerns, what solutions can we the Congress offer.
To help close the skills gap, America needs a workforce
development strategy to balance the immediate needs of
employer's long term career goals of employees and rapid
technology innovation.
One of these strategies is apprenticeships. A centuries old
practice that combines on the job learning with related
technical mentorship and instruction. In the U.S., there are
countless industry led apprenticeship programs. And one formal
program run by the Department of Labor called Register
Apprenticeship.
Business and industry leaders have been advocating reforms
to facilitate industry driven based programs and methods to
reduce the risk of investment for employers.
In June 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order
13801 which established the task force on apprenticeship
expansion to identify strategies and proposals to promote
apprenticeships especially in high growth sectors where these
programs are underutilized.
I look forward to hearing more about apprenticeships and
other workforce development strategies. I am specifically
interested in the role small businesses play as providers and
the benefactors in these programs. And how we can encourage
greater participation.
I appreciate all the witnesses being here today, especially
my constituent, Mr. Gee. I look forward to your testimony.
Thank you. I yield back my time.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Balderson. The gentleman
yields back. And if Committee members have an opening statement
prepared we would ask that they be submitted for the record.
I would like to take just a minute to explain the timing
rules. Each witness gets 5 minutes to testify and the members
get 5 minutes for questioning. There is a lighting system to
assist you. The green light will be on when you begin and
yellow light comes on when you have one minute remaining. The
red light comes on when you are out of time and we ask that you
stay within that timeframe to the best of your ability.
I now would like to introduce our witnesses. Our first
witness, Mr. Joshua Broder hails from Greenwood Village,
Colorado in my home district. Mr. Broder is the CEO of Tilson
which is on a mission to build America's infrastructure. Tilson
has 550 employees and 23 national offices deploying fiber and
wireless networks for 4G and 5G cellular, fiber broadband, and
grid modernization.
He began his career in leadership as an Army signal officer
on missions in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia where
he was awarded the Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan
designing, building, and operating the communications network
for U.S. forces. Thank you for your service, Mr. Broder.
Mr. Broder holds a bachelor's degree from Middlebury
College and is a graduate of AT&T's Operation Hand Salute at
JFK University with a certificate in entrepreneurial studies.
Welcome, Mr. Broder.
Our second witness, Mr. Tim Herbert. Mr. Herbert is the
Senior Vice President of Research and Market Intelligence for
the computing technology industry association. Under his
leadership, CompTIA publishes a wide range of reports, briefs
and data analysis to make sense of the ever changing tech
landscape.
CompTIA's cyber states report is recognized as the
definitive guide to tech workface trends, economic impact,
innovation and more.
Prior to joining CompTIA, Mr. Herbert directed the research
program and was a lead analyst at the Consumer Technology
Association, producer of the international CES, the largest
technology event in the world. Additionally, his
entrepreneurial streak led to involvement in launching two
startups.
He holds a BS in economics from John Carroll University and
an MBA with an economics concentration from George Mason
University. Welcome, Mr. Herbert.
Our third witness is Mr. Ronald Marlow. Mr. Marlow serves
as Vice President for Workforce Development with the National
Urban League. In this role, Mr. Marlow is responsible for the
development, delivery and oversight of workforce development
programs for which the National Urban League receives funding.
Prior to joining the National Urban League, Mr. Marlow served
as Undersecretary for Workforce Development for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Among his many accolades are the NAACP's Distinguished
Keeper of the Flame Award, the Small Business Administration's
Minority Business Champion Award for both the state of
Massachusetts and the New England region. Welcome, Mr. Marlow.
I would like to now yield to our Ranking Member, Mr.
Balderson, to introduce our final witness.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Chairman Crow. Our fourth and
final witness is Mr. Talbot Gee, CEO of Heating and Air
Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International, also
known as HARDI. HARDI is headquartered in my district just
north of Columbus, Ohio.
Last year, Mr. Gee's organization released a workforce
recruitment initiative documentary called Hot Commodity. I have
seen the trailer. I encourage everyone to take some time to
watch it. It is fascinating. It featured several of his
employees and their members. This film explored the future of
the HVAC industry and the next generation entering the
workforce.
Mr. Gee has held numerous leadership positions for trade
associations. He served his--he received his BA in political
science in 1997 from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
Maryland and has been at HARDI since 2006.
I look forward to learning more about him and how we can
mind the skills gap, particularly by taking advantage of young
talent. Thank you, Chairman Crow, I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you very much. Mr. Broder, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENTS OF JOSHUA BRODER, CEO TILSON; TIM HERBERT, SENIOR
VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH & MARKET INTELLIGENCE, COMPTIA; RONALD
MARLOW, VICE PRESIDENT FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, NATIONAL
URBAN LEAGUE; TALBOT H. GEE, CEO HARDI (HEATING, AIR-
CONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION DISTRIBUTORS INTERNATIONAL)
STATEMENT OF JOSHUA BRODER
Mr. BRODER. Thank you, Chairman Crow and Ranking Member
Balderson. I appreciate the opportunity to speak here today.
My name is Joshua Broder and I'm the CEO of Tilson, a high
growth telecommunications and information technology
infrastructure deployment company. We were founded in 1996 and
we're headquartered in Portland, Maine.
We have experienced extraordinary growth since 2012 and we
show no signs of slowing. For the past 18 months, we have been
hiring at a clip of about 35 new team members a month across
our 23 offices nationwide. With more than 550 employees today
across 40 states, our largest offices are located in Maine,
Utah, New York, Denver, both in the DTC and in Parker, and we
are also in New Hampshire, Alabama, New Mexico, Florida,
multiple locations in California and New Jersey, North Caroline
and Nevada.
In a tight labor market with low unemployment, most
companies that are our peers are struggling to hire and we are
certainly no exception. And at our speed, this problem is even
more pronounced. Instead of quantity, our hiring challenges are
related to the candidate quality and basic knowledge about
current and emerging technologies, project management, critical
thinking skills, leadership experience, and importantly
cultural fit.
In 2017, the Wireless Infrastructure Association of which
we were a member sponsored the Telecommunications Industry
Registered Apprentice Program commonly known as TIRAP in
anticipation of an ever growing workforce demand on the
wireless and small cell construction industry for 4 and 5G.
Tilson was one of the first companies in the country to become
a participant in this competency based apprenticeship which
includes 150 hours of course work and up to 12 months of mentor
evaluated on the job training.
Today, Tilson has almost 80 employees enrolled in the tower
climbing technician I and II tracks, antennae line lead and
foremen registered under this apprenticeship program. At
Tilson, all tower technician I's which are entry level employee
in our tower division are required to be enrolled in the
apprenticeship program. And all apprentices have an assigned
mentor within the company.
The starting salary of a tower technician I apprentice with
no experience is $18 an hour and a foreman at Tilson can make
up to $70,000 per year. We offer competitive salaries and an
excellent healthcare plan and automatic enrollment in our 401K
plan with an employer contribution regardless of our employee's
participation. And we think this demonstrates our commitment to
long term financial health of our employees. Our apprentices
receive these benefits as well.
Earlier this year, to meet the administrative and
management requirements of an employer led apprentice program,
we made two significant moves to enhance and solidify our
commitment to training, development and safety.
In addition to our existing professional safety staff, we
added a full-time certified safety professional to manage the
compliance of our apprenticeship program and the progression
towards completion of these 80 technicians working their way
through the program.
Second, we formalized a partnership with the Maine
community college system to create a web based TIRAP curriculum
accessible to all of our tower climbing crews enrolled in the
Tilson TIRAP program regardless of their location within the
country.
As I speak right now, the Maine community college system is
collaborating with my workforce team to create a four-tiered
digital macro badge which certifies the progress of each
apprenticeship position. Tower technician I, tower technical
II, antennal and line lead, and antennae and line foreman. We
are grateful that President Dave Degler and the workforce
development staff at the Maine community college system who are
eager to lead us and work beside us tailoring the best in class
web-based certificate solution for our mobile nationwide crews.
This is work that they can do anywhere in the country.
In the industry, apprenticeship participation is fractured,
and employer involvement is inconsistent. I lead a high growth
company in a high demand industry. Outside of my company, the
growth of our industry will require expertly skilled workers
who can collectively deliver efficient and quality networks
that run our economy. They will do this when the industry
requires contractors and their employees to meet consistent
standards of training, learning and safety and in particular,
practical application and commitment to safety.
A U.S. DOL registered apprenticeship program helps us in
this concept. But simply stated, the administrative
requirements entail too much management to compel participation
of high growth companies with a national footprint and may
dissuade small business from participation all together. These
administrations--these administrative requirements play out
differently in each state that we operate in.
Coupled with that, insufficient reimbursement incentives
will not deliver on adoption unless they can offset
administrative obligations. Tight schedules, long hours, and
plenty of work leave little room for uniform employer led
training and development.
For 2019, with nearly 80 registered apprentices, Tilson
will only receive a maximum reimbursement of $6,000 that covers
just eight of the apprentice's administrative costs.
Mr. Chairman, like you, I am an Army veteran and for
presumptively the same reasons as you, hiring veterans is
important to me and I have created ways to hire veterans with
or without plainly transferable skills for the merit they bring
is important to Tilson's core values of safety, respect,
accountability, integrity, professionalism, and composure.
At one point Tilson's veteran population was nearly 50
percent of our company and our growth coupled with that will
allow us to hire veterans under this program in a directly
transferable way. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Broder. Mr. Herbert, you are
now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF TIM HERBERT
Mr. HERBERT. Chairman Crow, Ranking Member Balderson and
members of the Committee, on behalf of the Computing Technology
Industry Association, also referred to as CompTIA, thank you
for having me here today.
By just about every measure, technology continues to shape
the world around us in ever more profound and sometimes
unexpected ways. Our economy, our workforce, our day to day
lives are more digital, more connected, and more likely to
benefit from innovation that until recently was in the realm of
science fiction.
Against this backdrop, CompTIA serves as a leading hub for
bringing together the $1.6 trillion U.S. information technology
sector. And a workforce of nearly 12 million professionals who
design, implement, and safeguard the technology ecosystem for
large organizations and small businesses alike.
Since its founding, CompTIA has been at the forefront of
training, developing, and growing the each workforce. CompTIA
is the global leader in vendor neutral IT certifications having
issue more than 2.7 million to tech professionals around the
world.
CompTIA certifications serve as the bedrock for those
working in fields such as tech support, network engineering,
cloud computing, cyber security, analytics, IOT, and more.
Now more than ever, organizations such as CompTIA and our
many partners in training, academia, industry, workforce
development, and government must contend with challenges on
many fronts.
In the case of cyber security and our tech workforce, it is
not an exaggeration to say that we have indeed reached a new
normal of risk, complexity, and urgency. CompTIA research
repeatedly confirms cyber security threats have grown in size
and scope becoming more sophisticated, harder to detect, and
more harmful to our institutions.
Beyond the technical, the people and prospect--process
aspects of cyber security have become equally critical and in
some cases more difficult for organizations to get right.
Especially small business that tend to under estimate the
degree to which they could be targets.
By extension, gaps in our tech workforce have cyber
security consequences in addition to the usual economic and
societal consequences. This may entail gaps in technical
skills, soft skills, location, awareness, confidence,
affordability, and even generational workstyles.
So what is CompTIA doing to tackle these challenges? First,
CompTIA's philanthropic arm, the 501(c)(3) charity, Creating IT
Futures works hand in hand with us often acting as our de facto
innovation laboratory for workforce development programs.
Creating IT Futures flagship program is the IT ready boot camp.
The program is designed to take individuals with no or
limited prior experience, especially those in demographics
underrepresented in the industry and through technical and soft
sills training, validated with CompTIA certifications place
graduates in meaningful tech occupations. Because of the
stackable nature of the skills and capabilities developed
through the IT ready program, with a solid foundation graduates
are then well positioned to progress into higher level career
paths in areas of specializations such as cyber security, cloud
computing or IOT.
Secondly, through our academy partner program, we support
high schools, career and vocational centers, two year and four
year college programs, and government funded educational
agencies by providing a range of instructional resources to
maximize the odds of student success.
Given CompTIA's unique role in cyber security, we see
firsthand how overwhelming the complexities of the market can
be. This was the catalyst for the creation of the cyber
workforce analytics took cyber seek.
The platform was developed through a public private
partnership of CompTIA, Burning Glass and the U.S. National
Institution of Standards and Technologies, Initiatives for
Cyber Security Education.
Cyber seek ground the need the provide better visibility
into cyber security workforce dynamics. In addition to helping
employers, job seekers, and policy makers with smarter, data
driver decision support, the free tool provides a free--a
career pathways planner to guide the expansion of the cyber
security workforce pipeline.
As our economy and society becomes even more digital in the
coming years, it's imperative that we develop the education,
training, certification, and career pathway options that build
upon the best of what currently works and then address the gaps
where shortcomings clearly exist.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this
hearing and I look forward to your questions.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Herbert. Mr. Marlow, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF RONALD MARLOW
Mr. MARLOW. Good morning, Chairman Crow, Ranking Member
Balderson and members of the Subcommittee. My name is Ron
Marlow and it is a pleasure to be here with you this morning. I
guess before I begin, I should point out that it is a somewhat
gathering of Big 10 conference for I am Penn State. Most
definitely.
The National Urban League is the second oldest civil rights
organization in the United States founded in 1910 with a
mission to empower economically, socially, politically, and
from a civic engagement standpoint, African Americans and other
disadvantaged populations living in our urban centers. We in
2010, launched the I Am Empowered Platform, a guiding set of
principles that will lead us not only into the 21st century but
will allow us to connect better with our community based
partners, our partners in the employment sector, government, et
cetera.
The pillars of that platform are jobs, education,
employment, jobs, education, healthcare, and civic engagement.
And as we go forward, we will continue to connect not only on
the ground but those individuals who have far too often been
left out of our economic mainstream.
It is my understanding that there are three overriding
principles to today's hearing. One, the exploration of the
skills gap and how the skills gap impacts employers both large
and small and enhances the challenges that they're facing. Two,
the changing nature of work, how IT and the introduction of
digital platforms, et cetera, not only are going to change the
current face of work but the future face of work.
Third, the role of apprenticeship and meeting the evolving
challenges of connecting would be employers to would be
individuals seeing employment. It is in this last topic which
compels my testimony this morning.
However, please note that the National Urban League stands
ready to participate as the subcommittee works through these
three interrelated issues to bring forward public policy
responses that not only can meet the challenges of any one
particular area but all three.
I should point out to you that apprenticeship programs is
probably the world's oldest training--job and training program
in the world. Existing going back to the 18th century in
ancient Babylon and Egypt. Extending through into the 13th
century with the creation of the Guilds in western European and
to the United States through a formal recognition of a regional
approach to registered apprenticeship with the formalization of
legislation in Wisconsin in 1911.
In 1937, the Congress created the Fitzgerald Act which
formalized a national platform for registered apprenticeship.
Today, registered apprenticeship exists in about 25 states
through a state led office of apprenticeship and through the
remaining states through the Federal Government and the
Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship.
The National Urban League through its Urban League Movement
and its affiliates, some 90 located in 36 states and serving
some 300 communities including the District of Columbia have
been involved in registered apprenticeship programs from almost
the beginning.
Today that involvement extends. I would be remiss if I did
not point out through a contract with the U.S. Department of
Labor to expand the diversity and inclusion of individuals and
particularly women and people of color in registered
apprenticeship programs.
The National Urban League was also proud to serve on the
president's taskforce on apprentice expansion. There in that
role while the president sought to create a platform that led
to a wider adoption of industry based apprenticeship program in
particular in those industries and those occupations that had
not gravitated towards the registered apprenticeship program,
we lent meaningful engagement to ensure that in this more labor
based--industry based, excuse me, program that some of the
protections that are embedded in our registered apprenticeship
program were not lost.
As we move forward, I think it is safe to say that there
are certain lessons that have been learned from apprentice
programs throughout history.
One, apprenticeship has been and will continue to be a
viable alternative to those individuals who neither find higher
education necessary or find it viable in their immediate
future.
Apprenticeship can offer a platform to learn and earn and
bring employees into the workforce in a meaningful way that
meets employers where their need is best. Two, a self-regulated
system is a system designed to breed exclusion. If we have
learned anything from the registered apprenticeship program, we
learned that there has to be some regulation, some rules of the
road to guide participation or populations will be left by the
wayside.
And third but not least and I think the Department of Labor
has taken a lead on this, there has to be a blending of
requirements. 25 states operating their own program with their
own unique idiosyncrasies as well as the Federal Government
lends itself to not being able to meet the needs of regional or
national employers in a most seamless way and the Department of
Labor under Secretary Acosta has taken the lead on engaging the
National Governors Association on creating a better platform.
I will conclude by saying that the National Urban League as
a community based effort designed to connect disempowered,
disadvantaged populations to opportunities stands to ready to
meet employers, the Federal Government, and others where they
are to help those we need to serve best. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Marlow. Mr. Gee, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF TALBOT H. GEE
Mr. GEE. Thank you very much, Chairman Crow, Ranking Member
Balderson, and the Subcommittee for having us here to take part
in this.
HARDI, we are the distribution segment of the HVAC and
refrigeration industry. Our nearly 500 wholesale members, 80
percent of whom are classified as small businesses buy from the
manufacturers and sell primarily to the professional
contractors in all of your respective markets.
In fact, we have a member location in every U.S.
Congressional district and just earlier this month, we had 80
of our members here and many of them were in your offices for
our fly in talking about issues just like this one.
Overwhelmingly the number one issue addressing our industry
for the last several years has been the lack of talent or the
difficulty finding talent. Most importantly from business
standpoint, it's the single limited--single largest limiting
factor to growth for distributors and contractors, the
inability to add skilled talent to your teams so you can grow
and continue to scale your business.
Our industry offers a huge diversity of career
opportunities from advanced engineering and data science to
entry level, service technicians, drivers and warehouse teams
but a lot of people don't know about us.
Today I'm focusing on opportunities not requiring four year
college degrees or the debt that often comes with it. And the
challenges and the opportunities that come with the new
workforce and how they want to work as they come into the
economy.
For example the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that
demand for HVACR technicians will grow more than 2 times the
growth rate for all jobs through 2026. And by 2022, our
industry will face a shortage of over 115,000 technicians.
Now while we are the distributors, I'll take the honor and
privilege of helping to represent our brothers and sisters in
the contracting community because that is perhaps where the
most acute shortage of labor and talent is. So my comments will
cross both streams there a little bit. But what we realized is
we needed to be better at engaging the next generation of
talent.
So more than half of students aren't even aware there are
career opportunities in the HVACR industry. More than 80
percent of career opportunities in the HVACR industry do not
require bachelor's degree. However, nearly a third of all
middle skilled positions today are filled by those with
unneeded bachelor degrees.
The--our documentary--we decided to do a documentary
because we did the research and found that the new workforce,
73 percent of which Netflix--Netflix viewers watched a
documentary at least once in 2016 alone.
48 percent of Gen Z and Gen X viewers watch a video on
demand at least once a day. And all indications is the next
generation is an even greater rate than that going forward. So
HARDI and the HARDI Foundation commissioned a 50 minute
documentary called Hot Commodity. We based this and we intend
to put this on Netflix and other streaming platforms by the end
of the year. We actually extended the production time so we
could get more footage from the contactor community and add
that in to our distributor documentary.
Based on true stories from four of our actual industry
characters, it demonstrates the quality incomes, work life
balance, and career advancement commonly found in our industry,
and employees will have an access to all of this content to
help in their own recruiting efforts.
We focus on distributor and contractor careers that don't
require a college degree which are very secure, don't get
outsourced and compensate very well.
Overcoming debt quickly from unused bachelor degrees or
avoiding debt all together is something that's very common in
our industry now and were seeing faster than--and we are seeing
growth in employment rising faster than the average degree
holders. We invite the Subcommittee to view and use our
documentary.
But we need to overcome some biases that we see in the
community today. Median HVACR wage income in 2018 was over
$47,000 making it nearly 50 percent higher than the U.S. median
wage but no one knows it. Trades often considered only for
those troubled or academically challenged which is not
accurate. Parents often believe that success is tied to a
college degree while less than half actually graduate with
the--when seeking a degree.
Despite focus on pursuing college, 63 percent of students
lack math and critical thinking skills, 54 percent lack general
education readiness and 32 percent lack verbal communication
skills all of which are necessary for success in the HVACR
industry.
This Subcommittee can help us get the facts out to--that
college degrees and debt and the debt that often comes with
them don't necessarily result in success and there are too many
examples to list in the HVACR industry of success occurring
absent a college degree.
Empowering employers to attract new generation of workers,
I encourage you to read our written testimony outlining the
innovation three HVACR employers are using to attract and
develop talent in our industry.
Auer Steel and Heating Supply Company in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin helps high school seniors dual enroll and receive
credit for graduation for local and technical schools while
already starting their HVACR careers.
Isaac Heating and Air Conditioning and Isaac University in
Rochester, New York created their own technical school,
partnered with a local community college and now issues
associate degrees in HVAC technology. They also created a boot
camp to take students through 12 weeks of paid training that
guarantees full time employment if successfully completed.
And then finally DeFilippo's Service in Paoli, Pennsylvania
of course Congresswoman Houlahan, collaboration with a local
technical college and created a blended learning program to
prepare for apprenticeship. So it was a great collaboration
with the local school there.
In other ways Congress could employer employers trying to
find and hire today's new kind of workers is DRIVE Safe Act
which includes the creation of a training program to attract
new drivers which is a major shortage right now and this would
enable more young talent to come into the industry.
Continue to fully fund in the career and technical training
authorized through the Strengthening Career and Technical
Education for 21st Century Act.
Support 529 OPTIONS Act to allow 529 funds to be used for
apprenticeship materials and tools. Thank you to Congress for
extending it to allow for using tuition for technical schools
but now the tools that you need for those are important.
And then finally, support the Working Family's Flexibility
Act since 77 percent of millennials believe that a flexible
work schedule would make them more productive and we see that
in our own workforce and that of our members.
And support an evaluation of the Fair Labors and Standards
Act which is increasingly running counter to how the new
workforce wants to do their job, who want to use mobile
devices, want to be able to work off hours, want to be able to
contribute more but are prohibited by employment law.
And then finally with the apprenticeships, examples from
the three HVACR employers I cited earlier, could be examples of
industry recognized apprenticeship programs but we would like
the Subcommittee to help us understand why there is a currently
an exclusion for construction apprenticeships and whether the
HAVCR industry is included in that exclusion. Further, we ask
the Committee to help the--help DOL accelerate the development
of this program so we can get it launched more into our
industry.
And then finally partnering with our industry, I mentioned
that we are the distributes but I do encourage the subcommittee
to engage with the Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors
Association, PHCC, and the Air Conditioning Contactors of
America, ACCA, to help our industry head off this massive
technician shortage we are facing in the very near future.
Thank you very much.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Gee. We appreciate the
testimony that you have all shared with us. I would like to
submit this letter from the Associated Builders and Contractors
the record. Without objection so ordered.
I will begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes. Starting
with Mr. Broder, you had mentioned in your opening statement
the TIRAP program and the work you are doing with that and the
collaborations that you have developed with the community
college system. And I would like to just hear a little bit more
if I could on the nature of the collaboration and any kind of
barriers that you have encountered in establishing those
relationships and building out that pipeline?
Mr. BRODER. Certainly, Chairman Crow. So we have partnered
with the community college system in Maine, particularly to
provide a curriculum where apprentice participants can access
the training curriculum remotely from wherever they are. So
there are two other community college systems in the country
that offer onsite training for tower technicians.
And the barrier we ran into was with a highly mobile
workforce and even as a relatively small business working
across very broad geographies, the idea of resident training
was quite limiting given that these employees lived all over
the country and the work was happening where they needed to get
experience all over the country. So having a mobile solution
where they could participate remotely was important.
The second was that it needed to be transferrable. Our
belief was that if we were going to be part of the solution in
solving what is a problem for a largely transient workforce, so
technicians could move from company to company. Their
credentials need to be good and valid and recognized from an
accredited institution across all other areas.
So for us the main barrier was that there didn't exist a
program that we could leverage that would be usable everywhere.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. And you had mentioned one other
thing and it was in regards to administrative requirements
imposed by DOL. And I always get concerned when I hear, you
know, some great things that are being done in the private
sector and challenges being established by departments or
agencies that, you know, make it harder for you to do what you
are doing.
So if you could elaborate on that a little bit, what those
administrative requirements are that are actually serving as a
barrier to the bill out of your program
Mr. BRODER. Certainly. So in our implementation of the
TIRAP program, we have 80 technicians and to date we have only
been able to get reimbursement for eight which was facilitated
I think by an original program funds secured by the Wireless
Infrastructure Association.
And so far, we have been unsuccessful at prevailing in
navigating the administrative requirements at the Federal and
state level. Most of the apprenticeships we are interacting
with are fundamentally adjudicated at the state government
level and I don't believe even with full time staff focusing on
the administrative barriers associated what participating in
the apprenticeship have been able to secure reimbursement.
I would add though, that we are moving at a break neck
speed and I think this is the important point which is that
this process requires a fair amount of front-end coordination.
At the time of the hire of the employee, in many cases we have
elected to move on and press that employee into active
participation in the apprenticeship program and hire them
before other necessary hurdles have been overcome.
And so I would be happy as a follow up to this hearing to
provide very specific and textured color commentary from my
staff on what those mechanical problem might be either at the
Federal level or on a state by state basis.
Chairman CROW. It would be helpful. Thank you.
Mr. BRODER. Yes. We will do that.
Chairman CROW. And my final question, Mr. Marlow, you had
mentioned the issue of blending of requirements between the
state and Federal level and I just if you could very briefly
elaborate on what that would look like and in your experience
what is the best way to achieve that?
Mr. MARLOW. So, Mr. Chairman, I think when you have a
system in which 50 percent of the system is administered at the
state level and the other at the Federal level, and that we
should think about apprenticeship as a form of licensure or
certification, each state of course has added its own
idiosyncrasy to that licensing or certification requirement.
Which makes it a little difficult for a multistate or regional
or national employer who is looking to embrace registered
apprenticeship to navigate those idiosyncrasies of those 25
states in addition to the Federal Government.
Through the work of the Task Force on Apprenticeship
Expansion, the task force in pursuit of the presidents goal and
Secretary Acosta's goal to bring forward industry recognized
apprenticeship programs realized that one, if you were going to
have an industry based program you would have to have a system
of licensure or certification that would allow it to be mobile
across all 50 states.
But two, for those industries that wanted to remain
connected to the registered apprenticeship program, you
couldn't have IRAP on one hand being seamless but registered
apprenticeship being bulky and cumbersome on the other.
Secretary Acosta heard that clearly, heard it well, and is
now engaging the National Governors association in ways in
which the governors who have, many of whom have embraced
registered apprenticeship as a way of fulfilling the needs of
employer in their states to look at such things as a compact if
you will such that licensure or certification in one state
would be good in another state as a way of again making
register apprenticeship transportable across the system as a
whole.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. My time has now experienced. The
Ranking Member, Mr. Balderson, is now recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Chairman Crow. My first question
is to Mr. Gee and I was wanting to talk a little bit about the
clip but you have pretty well gone through that and again you
and I both encourage everyone in this room to take some time to
watch that.
But I also spoke in my opening statement about having a
roundtable last week in the district and one of the things
that, you know, we talked a lot about and the conversation
really surrounded most of it about was what state and Federal
labor regulations are most burdensome for your industry and
those businesses that you face?
Mr. GEE. Well, thank you for the question, I appreciate it.
The--I made reference to the Working Family's Flexibility Act
that has not been enacted, it has not come forward. We would
like to see that more forward.
That gives employers or employees the option of accepting
one and a half hours of comp time rather than overtime if they
choose to have that time versus the compensation. We have
noticed this within our own workforce and we have definitely
heard about it from the members that a lot of the new workforce
coming in really values that work life balance. They want to be
able to have that flexibility but right now employers are
prohibited from rewarding or compensating employees with comp
time. So that act would be a great way of going, of helping in
that regard.
And then the second one I had mentioned as far as the Fair
Labor Standards Act is even if an employee wants to respond to
an email off hours, it puts the employer at risk. The employer
is then liable and the employer may have even stated a policy
that they are not to be doing that off hours. But a motivated
employee, especially today who likes that balance and doesn't
mind working in odd hours in exchange for flexibility in their
day to day life are happy to do so.
And I want to make sure everyone understands, that's not
limited to just the executives. We are seeing mobile
technologies in the hands of the front line technicians now. So
this is all throughout the industry, this is not reserved to
the C suite or anything like that or the management ranks. So
that's just something I think maybe has gotten outdated and
just needs to be updated for the new workforce.
Mr. BALDERSON. All right, thank you. My final question, Mr.
Gee, for you is in your testimony you explained that the HVAC
industry needs workers from all educational levels ranging from
high school to advanced STEM programs. Do you use the same
strategies when recruiting high, middle, and low skilled
workers?
Mr. GEE. No, actually not. However, I know we focus for our
members on helping our members be the best employers possible,
right. So there are going to be core tenants to being a great
employer. However the recruiting process is going to be vastly
different.
We have a very large member headquartered in the southeast
but is national that is famous for its college recruitment
program. So they target in their management program college
graduates and Ferguson Enterprises does a fantastic job with
that and they rise throughout the organization but they start
even as a graduate from a prestigious university in the
warehouse and they learn every part of the business as they
come up through in their management training program.
On the flip side, as the examples I laid out here which is
just a handful of many that we received. Outreach and
coordination with trade schools or if there wasn't one,
building their own. Creating their own trade school so then
those kids who don't feel like college is the right fit for
them have a place to go. And the best part is they're out and
working and making more money than most college graduates in
less time and opening themselves up to a fantastic career going
forward.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you very much. My next question is for
Mr. Broder and I apologize, I am going to do this quickly, I
have not left you much time. But we hear a lot about 5G. I hear
a lot about it because part of my district is in Columbus, Ohio
and we will be one of the cities getting 5G.
In your opinion, I mean, would this backlog with the lack
of workforce out there for 5G installment, how far does this
put the advancement of the 5G installation?
Mr. BRODER. Mr. Balderson, it's my belief that the skills
gap and in particular the employment gap in my country--in my
company we have 100 empty positions in the context of a 550
employee company is a major challenge in the deployment of 5G.
And we already see in the field we are currently deploying
5G in dozens of markets around the country today that the lack
of skilled and available workers is impacting production
schedules. So we think this could be lengthening that
deployment by potentially years and needs immediate attention.
We do think the Communications Jobs Training Act of 2019
could be a positive step in the right direction in helping to
arm companies with skills-based training locally.
Mr. BALDERSON. And thank you very much. You made it. Well
done.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. The
gentlelady from Pennsylvania is now recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. HOULAHAN. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you gentlemen
for coming today. I have a lot of questions but only 5 minutes.
My first question is for Mr. Broder. I am a veteran as well and
I understand that you have been able to use the Maine Hire A
Vet Program and the employer's support of the Guard and Reserve
program. How did you find out about those programs?
Mr. BRODER. Thank you for that question. So we have
participated in the Maine Hire A Vet program which is companies
in Maine hiring 100 vets in 100 days. We found out about it
through our Vice President of Workforce Development, Adria Horn
who at the time was the then Executive Director of the Maine
Bureau of Veteran's Affairs.
And so the Maine Bureau of Veteran's Affairs has been
aggressively marketing the workforce pathway of both returning
veterans and veterans going through reskilling in the economy
and that's been just a tremendous asset for our company.
Ms. HOULAHAN. And how would you encourage other small
businesses to find out about programs like that other than
through the process that you had?
Mr. BRODER. So each state has some kind of an executive
agency that engages with veterans workforce transition and in
many cases those agencies act as clearing houses for accessing
Federal programs so that's been a tremendous boon to us and we
think is replicable in other states.
We also know that there are private partners and nonprofit
partners as well, for example, in the telecommunications
industry, Warriors for Wireless and Airstream Renewables have
been helping veterans transition and we would encourage others
in other places to find those in their industries that have
built those pathways.
Ms. HOULAHAN. And what do you think that we can do as a
Congress to help educate service members on these kinds of
programs? Is there something that we can be doing to be more
helpful
Mr. BRODER. So this is an issue close to my heart. When I
transitioned out of the military, I returned from five years
overseas so I had an Army career and alumni program experience
and largely that Army career and alumni experience as is the
case with many services, is very, very short as the veteran is
transitioning out.
And so the coaching that they receive prior to that is
about retention. And so the moment when the service has
realized that that employee is gone forever and is leaving the
Department of Defense and is entering an alumni phase, it's
simply too short. And so I think a bit more of thoughtful
approach to understanding that there may be a longer glide
slope than the last two weeks will be important.
Ms. HOULAHAN. That is really, really helpful. Thank you. My
next question is for Mr. Herbert regarding cyber seek, the tool
that you talked about a little bit.
Can you expand on how you think it is helping small
businesses look for talent and are there other tools out there
that you are aware of that are also helpful?
Mr. HERBERT. Thank you for the question. Based on seem of
the usage statistics, we certainly believe it is having a
positive impact and based on many of the conversations it
aligns to the missed cyber security workforce framework. So
it's important that it provides a common language for how we
discuss cyber security.
And especially today we have moved beyond the days of
generalists and there are many nuances to cyber security. And
we are moving into new areas, penetration testing, information
assurance, data loss prevention, and so forth. So I think it's,
it helps to provide that reference point for many companies to
really think about what their needs are.
And in terms of the other component of cyber seek which is
the career pathway so that is especially important in that it
is very difficult to just take a student or a job candidate and
make them a cyber security expert.
There are many feeder roles and I think it is important,
especially to help those that may be entering as a tech support
technician with perhaps a two year degree or going through an
IT ready program to show them what that path is like over the
next three to four years to move into cyber security.
And especially for small businesses as well because they
are competing. It's an incredibly competitive market and one of
the fastest growing skills over the next 10 years so for small
businesses to have a way to go communicate to their prospects
about what that career pathway may look like.
Ms. HOULAHAN. So that is actually my final question which
is sort of the inverse of what we were talking about on the
kind of demand side.
As a small business owner and operator new to this
industry, how do I know what I am looking for if I don't
understand the career pathways? What is the best way for me to
learn what it is that I am looking for in terms of a hire?
Mr. HERBERT. Well, there are certainly many resources from
the SBA and from many of the trade associations. One of the
challenges we often see because businesses they don't know
specifically what they need so they ask for the world.
And we have these really difficult situations where they're
asking for advanced degrees and they're asking for 10 different
certifications and in some cases they want 5 years of
experience in a technology that's only two years old. So it
doesn't make any sense.
But we do work very closely with employers to help provide
them essentially hiring guides so they can really right size
the job candidates and also the acknowledgment that they have
to think beyond some of the candidates that they may have a
certain sense of IT workers look one way.
And that's one of the missions of CompTIA to really expand
the pipeline. And beyond even the technical there are so many
different types of skills today so someone with a psychology
background may be very adept at studying social engineering so
we really have to be able to bridge the technical and the
business and the social side.
Ms. HOULAHAN. Thank you. I very much appreciate your time,
gentlemen. I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back. The
gentleman from Tennessee is now recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BURCHETT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Gee, some of the
statistics that you pointed out regarding those who are in
apprenticeship speaks to the desire to continue to grow
technical programs.
Along with funding support and incentivizing tax savings
accounts which you mentioned in your testimony, what can we do
to continue to grow these programs?
Mr. GEE. Well, I think the theme of my comments was
empowering the employer. Right. So I would certainly respect
your comments about how difficult it can be when you are
multistate employer and trying to deal with a lot of patchwork
but at the same time, every market is a little bit different
and every focus of every business a little bit different.
So the potential power in that industry led apprenticeship
program model is you can craft a program that's exactly what
your market needs. So getting, making that as easy as possible
to implement, as easy as possible to design, and then getting
the support you can get from the Federal Government to help you
pull that together.
A lot of people may want to do this but don't even know
necessarily what type of resources they might have to put into
it to do it right. So the best practice is the guidelines, all
that sort of stuff will be very helpful. But we have seen--I
have tried to give you some examples where I think we have
unintentionally already started to build these things. Now we
might have the chance of having the weight of the DOL program
behind it that can raise its stature and help attract even more
talent in other industry.
Mr. BURCHETT. Okay. But do you feel that there is just not
enough information out there for the tech programs and for
those that are looking to join the workforce? And maybe if it
is out there it is not accessible. You know, folks are working
and then they are looking for something and----
Mr. GEE. We are definitely seeing a lot of success for
second careers in this industry where their first attempt
didn't work out the way they wanted it to and then they find
our industry later.
But, you know, I don't know why this is but like it or not,
there seems to be a bit of a biased against the trades and the
vocational schools at the high school level and maybe even at
the middle school level. Kids that may show an aptitude in
those areas or maybe not have expressed an interest in college.
I don't think it gets presented to them as a real
attractive opportunity to go into those fields even though we
can document all day the incredible successes when you can go
into these fields and grow your own career.
Mr. BURCHETT. I guess I am one of those kids. I have a
degree in technological and build education so from UT which is
an SEC school by the way.
It is not a two year school like those earlier referenced.
No response. Okay. I was going to cut you off.
Chairman CROW. You didn't bring me any chocolates.
Mr. BURCHETT. No, I know. Well, give me a minute and I will
run out and get you some.
Mr. Herbert, the growing digital economy and cyber security
needs for small business portions for your testimony includes
skill gap issues. Could you elaborate just a little further on
how we can fix this and would small business and technical
schools or universities getting together for a round table be
beneficial?
You know, you see those things and generally we do those
and they are, I mean, you know, the press comes and everybody
makes there little statement and then maybe there is a study
and study gets put in a nice binder and it ends up on some
shelf somewhere. So I am curious what your thoughts are on
that.
Mr. HERBERT. Certainly as it relates to the skills gap,
yes, it is a pressing problem and something I tried to
emphasize that it's more than just technical skills. And that's
something that is often overlooked in technology, that there is
such an important component of soft skills which could be
collaboration, it could be project management, it could be the
basics of communications.
We have often gaps in location where we have trained
workers in one city, the jobs may be in another city. So
there's a lot of different types of gaps and certainly that's
something that we try to dissect and not try to overgeneralize
too much. And then in terms of the round table, that is
something that we are very active with business advisory groups
and especially in technology because it moves so fast that we
have to ensure that these skills that we are teaching aling to
the needs of the marketplace.
And too often we develop these programs that have very,
very long lead times and by time the student is trained, the
market has moved and the technology may be obsolete.
So we in the sense that I think a roundtable it does
confirm what these skills requirements are, what employers are
looking for and then it's also the feedback loop of what I
alluded to earlier that some employers, the technology is new
to them as well and they may not necessarily know what need
from a skills perspective so it really helps to align those two
in developing programs and training.
Mr. BURCHETT. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield back my
negative 12 seconds to you that I have gone over. Thank you,
sir.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, the gentlemen yields back. The
gentlelady from Iowa is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. FINKENAUER. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thanks for
everyone here testifying today. Obviously this is an incredibly
important topic and I know just how important apprenticeships
are to closing gaps in our workforce. And I have seen firsthand
how important union apprenticeships are when it comes to
actually achieving the American dream and keeping it alive. I
again got to see that firsthand.
I am a proud great granddaughter of an IVAW lineman and
also a bricklayer. But I am an even prouder daughter of a union
pipefitter welder.
My dad was in the United Association, still is for over 40
years and the building trades unions invented apprenticeships.
Theirs are the gold standard for providing workers with the
wages they have earned and the benefits they deserve.
As we look to expand apprenticeship opportunities to meet
the needs of our economy, we cannot do it at the expense of
worker protections and the quality of training. The building
trades built the middle class and truly provide workers and
their families with what they need.
While I understand that each industry faces very different
challenges when it comes to creating apprenticeships, we should
look to the building trade's model as a gold standard. Not just
for safety, not just for quality of life, but for all of the
benefits that again I got to see firsthand.
Building trades allowed for wages that put food on my table
and clothes on my back and helped my dad send all four of his
kids to first generation college graduates.
We were able to follow our dreams and he was able to watch
that which truly I believe is the American dreams where you can
see your kids work hard and be able to follow what they want
and that again is what the building trades has provided for my
family and countless others across my district.
It also provided for good healthcare and good pensions
where my dad was able to retire and buy a bass boat. And high
quality apprenticeship programs are also obviously incredibly
important to the future of our economy but so are pre
apprenticeship programs which I know you all care so much
about.
These programs help attract workers to high demand fields
and provide them with the strong foundation of the skills
needed to succeed. I am a very proud cosponsor of the PATHH
Act, the Pre Apprenticeship To Hard Hats Act which provides
grants to support pre apprenticeship programs for women,
minorities, individuals from high poverty areas, and folks who
have faced long standing unemployment. This bill aims to open
the door for underserved communities to compete for these good
paying jobs.
Mr. Marlow, with your experience and you have extensive
experience with workforce development, can you just touch on
more for the Committee about how pre apprenticeship programs
help level the playing field for women, people of color and
others that are traditionally under represented when it comes
to apprenticeship programs and how could these grants for pre
apprenticeship programs help with this need?
Mr. MARLOW. Thank you for the question. Pre apprenticeship
especially in the communities that the National Urban League
through the Urban League Movement serves are an incredible
bridge to the opportunities that exist in registered
apprenticeship.
Absent pre apprenticeship, we would not be able to connect
individuals not only to the opportunities but to help them move
from where they are to where they want to be.
In fact, under our current contract that we have with the
Department of Labor, we are able to recruit diverse individuals
not only into registered apprenticeship but to pre
apprenticeship. And it is safe to say that 70 percent of the
individuals that we recruited are into pre apprenticeship and
that's no fault of the client population themselves, that is
actually a reflection in many instances of the education or
educational preparation they did not receive while in high
school.
Ms. FINKENAUER. Yes.
Mr. MARLOW. In many instances, the pre apprenticeship path
is open primarily to individuals because they are not quite
ready to pass the aptitude tests that are required to make it
into registered apprenticeship.
And pre apprenticeship as you said gives them that
foundation in those educational tools as well as introducing
them to what a job and more importantly a career pathway means
in registered apprenticeship.
And so anything and everything that the Congress can do to
not only support registered apprenticeship and I think the
Congress has been on record in supporting registered
apprenticeship over a number of years including last year's
appropriation but extending that bridge one step further if you
will to making that pre pathway and the former pre
apprenticeship is very important as well and so anything that
can be done to help further that or lengthen that bridge would
be welcomed.
Ms. FINKENAUER. Well, thank you Mr. Marlow, I know my time
is about to expire but again, thank you all for being here
today and talking about this very, very important topic. Thank
you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlelady's time has
expired. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Joyce, is now
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. JOYCE. Thank you, Chairman Crow and thank you Member
Finkenauer for your incite. We as a team on small business view
ourselves as being bipartisan participants in the United States
Congress, something that is often not seen. Mr. Gee, I would
like to address what I experienced just four or five days ago.
I was honored to be the commencement address at Cumberland
Valley Christian School in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania where I
saw brilliant young men and women, some going to Big 10 schools
like I attended, some going into the military, and one
courageous young man who is going into the HVAC career.
This was announced and afterwards and during my
presentation I acknowledged him how important these people are
for our workforce development, for obtaining careers with jobs
that have family sustaining wages. We need to elevate these
people. That is what we see and that is what we hear from you.
Mr. Gee, I would like you to address who we as members of
Small Business Committee how we can continue to elevate the
course and encourage those individuals who look to enter into
careers such as HVACR.
Mr. GEE. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the
comments and I'm glad you had that experience. That individual
is going to have a great career and will probably be in
leadership or maybe even ownership at some point in time.
That's the way our industry works which is fantastic.
Awareness is probably still the biggest issue we have.
Don't take this as self-serving but please spread our
documentary far and wide. I think that is a medium that will be
readily consumed by the new workforce. I think it will get
attractive to them and it will open a lot of their eyes.
Secondly, we are happy to give you the list of the multiple
member locations in all of your districts and I encourage you
or your staffs to get out there and visit them and get to know
the workers and their backgrounds because I think you will get
100 times the stories of what you just experienced with that
young individual.
So engagement and awareness are the biggest things I think
the Committee can really help with. And then helping us
understand what are the roots of some of these biases? Again, I
don't know the root of it but I do know having young kids that
it is not encouraged through most of your scholastic career to
even consider the trades. And even though I know for a fact
what a great career it is, right.
And then representing wholesale distributors no one knows
what distribution is. Right. So that's the, that's even a more
hidden industry. So again any help from the Small Business
Committee in terms of awareness, in terms of getting to the
root of these biases against some of these skilled trades I
think could go a long way and create a lot more incredible
careers for a lot of young individuals.
Mr. JOYCE. Thank you. I would like to continue this
dialogue because you talk about encouraging and I might suggest
to you and, Mr. Gee, I will ask you to address this. But you
might want to consider your branding a little bit differently.
I don't think that I would call this boot camp. I think it
is difficult to encourage many people today to approach this as
boot camp. I would approach this as a career camp, as an
opportunity for people more rapidly to enter the workforce with
intense training. And your ability to provide that intense
training allows people to springboard into the trades. Can you
address that?
Mr. GEE. That's a great comment. I know that company well.
I know there is a lot of veterans in that company so that's
probably where their terminology may have come from. But I'll
pass that on.
You're right, branding is an absolute issue. We are working
as an industry to rebrand to understand how much technology is
in the HVAC and refrigeration industry. Most think it's
entirely in, you know, dark places, turning wrenches but there
is a ton of electronics, a ton of digital and communicative
capabilities that are built into it so that, we are helping our
members with their messaging.
I want to give a credit to our partners on this plumbing
side, the American Supply Association. They create a fantastic
toolkit for their members to go take to jobs fairs and
recruitment events and they help the members with all that type
of messaging. What, you know, who to brand your industry and
then therefore your business more attractively to the incoming
workforce.
So that's something that we should probably be doing more
of but your points well taken. We do have a branding issue. It
is an exciting high tech field and most people don't know that.
Mr. JOYCE. Thank you for your comments. Chairman Crow, I
yield back my time.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. Thank
you very much to all of our witnesses for sharing your time
with us today.
Apprenticeship programs and technical training create
pathways to economic empowerment for small firms and their
potential employees. Skilled workers will lay the foundation
for technological advancement and fuel the growth and
development of small employers.
The public and private sector must continue to work
together to solve this pervasive issue. Closing the skills gap
will require directed resources to support existing programs
and incentive the development of new ones.
Members of this Committee must continue to raise awareness
of the value of vocational education and the development of the
American workforce.
I would ask unanimous consent that members have 5
legislative days to submit statements supporting materials for
the record. And without objection, so ordered.
And if there is no further business to come before the
committee, we are adjourned. I thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 12:43 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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