Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 20, 2000
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Partnership effort will improve work skills and lives of Washington workers, Locke says

PASCO - Gov. Gary Locke today joined business, labor and educational partners to launch a major effort to help workers gain the skills needed to work in the agricultural processing and packing industries.

"Today's focus in on raising the quality of life for so many Washingtonians, and making our state's most important industry more competitive," Locke said at the creation of the Eastern Washington Agricultural Skills Partnership.

The partnership was formally consummated with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at Columbia Basin Community College here.

The effort will be funded with a$750,000 federal grant, along with $500,000 from the governor's discretionary fund.

Locke said, "Washington's agricultural industry, so vital to our state's economy, is going through an economic sea change driven by consolidation, changing markets and rapid technological change.

"This wrenching transition has been hard on many operators in the industry. But when the smoke clears, we will have the strongest agricultural and food processing industry on earth," he added.

"To make this transition, we have to act now," Locke said.

The governor said that the partnership's aim is to make the state's agricultural industries more competitive by raising the skills of its workforce.

"When you raise the skills of a workforce, you also raise the income, education and quality of life for tens of thousands of people in the state of Washington," Locke said.

"When companies make education a priority, families make education a priority. And education has always been, and will always be, my number one priority," the governor emphasized.

Locke said the main goal of the partnership is to bring together sectors of the agricultural industry with other training providers and local workforce development councils so they can share information and best practices.

The partners will:

Identify the skills that will be needed in the future.

Develop skills standards and curriculum needs.

Begin education and training programs designed to fill skills gaps.

Develop an outreach program to communicate opportunities in the industry to students and workers throughout the state.

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