News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 4, 2004
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, 360-664-4232

Gov. Gary Locke Announces Skill Panel Grant Awards to Help Keep State Competitive

OLYMPIA – Nov. 4, 2004 – Gov. Gary Locke today announced that five major industry sectors in the state have received grants to establish training programs to help ensure that Washington’s workforce remains competitive.

Public/private partnerships in the areas of marine manufacturing and technology, transportation, advanced manufacturing, construction, and homeland security will share $385,000 in grant money from the state Workforce Training and Education Board to establish skill panels designed to fill specific needs within those industry sectors across the state.

“Our state’s skill panels enable business, labor and education to work together to give Washington workers the skills they need and Washington businesses the employers they want in this global, high tech, 21st century economy,” Locke said. “Everyone wins.”

Details of the five new skill panels are:
· The Marine Manufacturing and Technology Alliance will help reduce the skill shortages in the boat building industry in 11 coastal counties. Partners include three Workforce Development Councils, four economic development councils; four community or technical colleges; K-12 tech prep programs; the local labor community; and a growing list of business and industry partners.
· An Advanced Center for Transportation Technologies will focus on vessel, truck, rail and air cargo capacities to enhance the cargo handling for the huge volume of exports traveling through the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Portland. Its partners include the Southwest Workforce Development Council, the Columbia River Economic Council and Clark College.
· The Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Initiative will use the Spokane Regional Chamber’s 1,400 members to develop a skill panel on advanced, high-tech manufacturing. Its partners include the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, Spokane Community College and the Spokane Area Workforce Development Council.
· Also in Spokane, a Construction Industry Skill Panel will focus on developing skilled construction workers as well as using green or sustainable construction methods. Partners include the Community Colleges of Spokane; Inland Northwest Chapter of the Associated General Contractors; Inland Pacific Chapter of the American Builders and Contractors, Inc.; Inland Empire Electrical Training Trust (JATC); Eastern Washington/North Idaho Carpenters Apprenticeship Program; Resource Efficient Rebuilding and Remodeling Council; and Spokane Public Schools.
· The Homeland Security Skill Panel will look strategically at the critical need for trained professionals in both the public and private sectors. Partners include Pierce College, which will build on its Homeland Security Center of Excellence to partner with the State’s Emergency Management Division.

Started in 2000, skill panels are private/public partnerships that work to ensure employees in key industries have the skills needed to keep Washington competitive. Industry-led, the panels include business leaders, labor representatives and educators serving a specific industry. Each panel is initially funded by the state’s Workforce Board and develops strategies to provide:
· Workers with better skills, jobs and career opportunities;
· Employers with more efficiency, less turnover and higher profits;
· Educators with the type of skills students need in order to succeed in that specific industry; and
· Public agencies with data on employers’ skill needs.

Washington state currently has more than two dozen skill panels across the state in such fields as health care, electronics, energy, gaming software and information technology.

“Employers still find it difficult to find skilled workers,” said Ellen O’Brien Saunders, executive director of the Workforce Board. “Industry skill panels ensure that both business and labor are actively engaged in developing strategies and programs that will help our education and training programs meet the current and future needs of our workforce.”

Related Links:
- Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board


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