Maryland Community News Online - Officials, Employers, Job-Seekers Gather to Network

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By Rebecca J. Barnabi

U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Christopher P. Lu touted Obama administration job programs at the third annual Nine Innings of Networking hiring event last week.

Keynote speaker Lu, who attended public high school in Montgomery County, said events like the one June 23 highlight what the Obama administration is trying to do, "to make a difference in the lives of Americans." He said its efforts are not just about creating jobs for Americans but also about providing child care and benefits for American employees.

Since the Great Recession began in 2008, Lu said more than 14 million people each year have come to job training centers for assistance in finding work. In 2013 alone, more than 2 million were served through the Workforce Investment Act.

Since the recession, the United States has seen 51 consecutive months of job growth, with 9.4 million private sector jobs created, Lu said. The Obama administration and events like the Nine Innings of Networking hiring event are "about creating an opportunity agenda."

"The business of government is creating opportunity," Lu said. The U.S. historically has been the place for people from other countries to come to for opportunity.

U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) spoke before Lu about "a critically important effort."

"Jobs is the No. 1 issue because it's critical," Hoyer said. Job creation has nothing to do with political parties, he said.

Hoyer said when someone asks a person for their name, the second question they usually ask them is what do they do for a living. If an individual does not have a job, it is "devastating to their psyche." The local hiring event last month was about connecting job seekers with companies that are looking for employees.

"It is, in my opinion, our responsibility to open up opportunity" for people, Hoyer said, adding that it is important to make sure that people are educated in a way that employers need because "education is the first step on the pathway to a career."

Good jobs and good pay are critical in order to build the middle class in the U.S., Hoyer said. He has traveled to many other countries and has seen that most countries have only rich people and poor people, but the U.S. is unique because it has a middle class.

"That's what Make It In America is all about," said Hoyer, referring to his initiative that seeks to promote job growth.

Hoyer said "the Obama administration understands well what we need to do."

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