Hartford Business Journal

16 Hartford Business Journal • August 27, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com millions of dollars for the "First Five" program, which among other features included money for employee skills upgrades. The bill also included a "Step-Up" program, which as of a year ago spent nearly $50 million to train and subsidize the salaries of more than 4,882 new hires. Since then, the state has made major bets on aerospace and submarine building, offering hundreds of mil- lions of dollars in incentives to Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky and Electric Boat. Those employers are also hiring thou- sands of workers, significantly con- tributing to the state's talent needs. The legislature has also created the Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which has spent $44 million since 2014, approximately half of it on skills training, according to DECD. Meantime, eight community colleg- es have established advanced manu- facturing centers with the help of $20 million in state money, and recently lawmakers authorized the state Bond Commission to set aside $50 million for an apprenticeship program that aims to train and certify as many as 10,000 residents to fill job shortages in manufacturing, health care and con- struction. That money has yet to be allocated, but would add to the state's 7,000 existing apprenticeships. Manufacturing has been the biggest focus of the state's efforts, which Gioia says makes sense, given major orders for aircraft engines and submarines and the broader impact the industry has on the economy. "We have roughly a generation of critical needs in aerospace and defense in this state, so this is not a short-term thing, this is a sea change," he said. Lawmakers have also created a $10 million technology talent fund, paid for a significant expansion of UConn's engineering program, and tweaked the rules to allow high school students to earn college credit for certain tech- nology classes, among other efforts. "What we've been focused on is the employers' perspective," said DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith. "Being nimble and responsive is task No. 1." Malloy said he has some regrets. Though the process is well underway, convincing community colleges to shift their academic identities more toward job training has been challenging. He also laments budget cuts to the state's network of universities and the impact that's had on the number of graduates with in-demand skills. But overall, Malloy celebrates the progress made during his tenure. "So much more progress has to be made," he said. "At least now we have a roadmap." CBIA has been a critic of some of Connecticut's regulatory and tax policies, but Gioia gives the state credit for its work- force-development progress. At the same time, he says it still hasn't kept pace with demand. He wants to see more promising programs scaled up. And he hopes Connecticut's next gov- ernor talks about workforce development like it's an emergency. "We've got to get away from terms of business as usual and start talk- ing in crisis terms, because we have a crisis," he said. "If we do not supply the quality workers companies need, they will build elsewhere." Wish lists What would DECD's Smith like to see if the state were gifted a major increase in workforce funding? She said she'd scale up what Con- necticut has already built. "I don't see any next big thing. I think it's about doing the basics really well every day," she said. "We have to keep looking over the bow to make sure we're not missing the next wave of real need for employers." The Workforce Alliance's Villano agrees with Gioia and Smith that ramping up certain programs, like a partnership between Electric Boat and local colleges that's led to hundreds of new hires, is key. "There are good models all over the state," Villano said. "What we need to do is take those good models to scale." Ram Aberasturia, director of labor operations at the state DOL, said he would spend additional money trying to boost literacy and math skills. There are people who come to Job Centers for help who have graduated high school but still fare poorly on aptitude tests that could help propel them into training programs and more promising careers. "People aren't talking about that," Aberasturia said. "They're stuck in that menial wage job. In a sense, they're in a hamster wheel and it's like, 'How do we get those individuals out?' " HBJ Editor Greg Bordonaro contributed to this story SPECIAL SERIES Scaling the right models By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com O ne workforce-development effort that many insiders point to as a model for fu- ture success is the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board's (EWIB) Manufacturing Pipe- line Initiative. The program is anchored by the hiring needs of Groton submarine maker Electric Boat, which must add hundreds of workers to meet its obligations under massive federal submarine contracts. Electric Boat has worked in coor- dination with EWIB and a network of area manufacturers, colleges and high schools, to develop employer- driven curriculum and standards that provide high odds of trainees landing jobs afterward. From Jan. 2016 to July 2018, Elec- tric Boat hired 1,023 program participants, equivalent to a more than 90 percent place- ment rate. Surprisingly, nearly four in five trainees have had no previous manufacturing experience. The $50 million apprenticeship pro- gram approved by the legislature earlier this year was largely based on the pipe- line program's success, officials said. Mark Hill, EWIB's chief operating officer, said the initiative's secret sauce is an unusually tight collaboration between key stakeholders, and using American Job Centers as portals for assessing and upskilling candidates to funnel them into the intensive pro- gram, which involves up to 300 hours of training in welding, machining and design and drafting. "You need the profession, the aca- demia, the organized labor, you need all these groups at the table so they all buy into it," he said. The program was launched with the help of a $6 million competitive federal grant, and has since been extended with the help of approximately $10 million in state and private foundation money. Hill said he believes the model carries broader promise and hopes it will be utilized by others. "This could theoretically be done in any geography or industry," he said. A successful program From Jan. 2016 to July 2018, the Eastern CT Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative has put up impressive numbers in terms of job placement success. Several officials around the state say the model can be applied to other industries and regions. Job placements 1,023 Placement rate 92% Placements with no prior manufacturing experience 78% Direct and indirect jobs 2,500 Total value of annual wages $88M Source: EWIB Mark Hill, Chief Operating Officer, Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board CT's workforce development rankings Between 2008 and 2015, Connecticut's federally funded workforce investment programs produced mixed results compared to other states. Each year, states' workforce development programs are ranked based on key metrics, including the percentage of job seekers who get a job in the first three months after exiting a training program; the percentage that retain that job nine months later; and wage levels. Despite the middling rankings nationally, Connecticut has largely met its performance targets set by the federal government. Below are Connecticut's average rankings from 2008 to 2015 for programs that aim to secure jobs for adults, dislocated or laid-off workers and youth. Avg. adult rank, 2008-2015 33rd Avg. dislocated worker rank, 2008-2015 24th Avg. youth rank, 2008-2015 10th Source: U.S. Department of Labor Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has been willing to shell out major incentives to keep big employers like Sikorsky housed in Connecticut. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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