Pacific Business Journal - More Hawaii Jobs Require Additional Training

Op-Ed

By Representative Mazie Hirono

Recently, I met with several young people focused on their future: learning a trade and learning how to build a career.

Students like Jasmine, who's learning to install solar panels. And the young chefs at Kapiolani Community College , who are learning to cook with locally grown foods. And M, a young, single mother of three, who's turning her life around and working toward an auto mechanic certification.

I also met with some car dealers who need employees with the training for today's cars and the will to continue learning for tomorrow's cars, too.

This is the new norm. Research shows that by 2018, nearly two-thirds of Hawaii's jobs will require at least some postsecondary education or training.

It's why we have to make work-force development a top priority.

Let's start with our community colleges, which are leading the charge. We need to give them the tools and resources to think creatively and with a long view. That's why I co-sponsored the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010. This legislation provided $2 billion in competitive grants for community colleges nationwide to train workers. It's a win-win -- employers get skilled workers and trained folks get a good job.

Hawaii was a big winner, too, and received part of this $2 billion set aside: This past fall the University of Hawaii Community College (UHCC) Consortium won the nation's largest grant -- $24.6 million -- from this initiative.

UHCC's John Morton and Peter Quigley, along with leaders from all our community colleges, recently told me that in preparing their grant application they looked first at where Hawaii's businesses were growing. And they built their plans around them -- training workers for jobs in health, agriculture and energy.

As one of the most dependent states in the nation on imported food and oil, this focus on building a work force for a sustainable economy is exciting -- and needed.

According to a recent survey, the number of green jobs will expand from 11,145 in 2010 to as high as 22,766 by 2018.

What else can we do to prepare our work force? Foster public-private partnerships so students get real-life experience.

That's why I introduced the Renewable Energy Partnerships Act.

Under this bill, grants of up to $1 million would be awarded to partnerships between colleges, businesses, labor and nonprofits to support job training in renewable energy.

As we develop a work force for our future, how do we make sure everyone moves ahead?

I'm a strong believer in programs like Job Corps so that young people like these are not left behind. Chartered in 1964, this free initiative of the U.S. Department of Labor has trained over 2 million low-income students ages 16--24. Our Hawaii Jobs Corps serves nearly 400 students at campuses in Waimanalo and Maui.

The average Job Corps student doesn't have a high school diploma, has never held a full-time job and reads below an eighth-grade level. Yet, more than 80 percent of Job Corps students find employment when they graduate.

The curriculum also helps students with all aspects of career development, from technical to employability training. Many students earn GEDs along the way. They learn problem-solving and how to handle themselves in a workplace. And they also learn to live independently.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the young people participating in this program, probably because I see so much of my brothers and myself in their faces.

As a child of a single mother, I know how hard these students are working to create a life for themselves and their families. That's why I will continue fighting to strengthen this program and others like them.

Investing in our community colleges, encouraging collaboration between private industry and our schools, and making sure all young people can get the training they need -- that's how we'll build a work force for Hawaii's future.

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