• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / News / Senator touts worker training programs

Senator touts worker training programs

January 26, 2012 By Matt Kelley

The chair of the Economic Growth Committee in the Iowa Senate is trying to rally support for two worker training programs as a means to cut the state’s unemployment rate. Senator Steve Sodders, a Democrat from State Center, says jobs are out there, and the unemployed are out there – they just need to be trained.

“But we have to invest, we can’t just talk about this…we have to put the money behind this program,” Sodders said at a statehouse press conference. “We have to invest in these folks who are unemployed or underemployed.” The gap assistance program, or GAP, and pathways for academic career and employment, or PACE, both use community colleges to train unemployed Iowans in highly skilled fields like welding or nursing.

“We have workers who can do these jobs in Iowa, we simply have to get them into these programs, raise their skill level and they’re going to have jobs. We could literally lower our unemployment (rate), in my opinion, by three percent,” Sodders said. Iowa’s unemployment rate in December was 5.6%.

 Mike Severt lost his job after the factory he had worked at for 32 years closed its doors. He credits the GAP and PACE programs for his return to the workforce.

“I’m a certified welder now…and if it hadn’t been for these programs, I wouldn’t be where I am at now,” Severt told reporters. Sodders said lawmakers can find a way to fund GAP and PACE, but Governor Branstad’s budget proposal calls for cuts to worker training programs.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Employment and Labor, Legislature

Featured Stories

Exhibit features lesser known works of Grant Wood

Testing finds 21 new CWD cases in deer

It may become a crime in Iowa to use fake urine in workplace drug tests

February trending 18 degrees below average temperature

Iowa House Education Committee votes to end tenure at UI, ISU, UNI

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

New look and new format at girls’ state basketball

Youngstown State takes action against assistant football coach

Iowa’s Jack Nunge lost for the season

Key stretch begins for #9 Iowa

Drake’s Roman Penn lost for the season

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2021 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC