Putting America Back to Work: The Role of Workforce Development and Small Business Rehiring (House Small Business subcommittee hearing, July 16, 2020)
Summary
The printed record of a hearing before the Subcommittee on Innovation and Workforce Development of the House Committee on Small Business, Small Business Committee Document Number 116–087, titled Putting America Back to Work: The Role of Workforce Development and Small Business Rehiring, held July 16, 2020 in the 116th Congress. The contents list opening statements by Hon. Jason Crow and Hon. Troy Balderson. The four witnesses are Dr. Demetra Smith Nightingale of the Urban Institute, Kelly Folks of the Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Center, Joe Schaffer of Laramie County Community College and Kelly Moore of GKM Auto Parts Inc. The appendix lists their prepared statements and questions from Hon. Balderson to Folks, Schaffer and Moore with their responses.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Cite this document
“Putting America Back to Work: The Role of Workforce Development and Small Business Rehiring (House Small Business subcommittee hearing, July 16, 2020).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/putting-america-back-to-work-the-role-of-workforce-development-and-sma-861543aa4e/
, SHA-256 49c32945aabbb4a2c77c3ae1fb10c992d4019887488cb33ff746458ac0ef960d.Full text
PUTTING AMERICA BACK TO WORK: THE ROLE
OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL
BUSINESS REHIRING
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION AND
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
HEARING HELD
JULY 16, 2020
Small Business Committee Document Number 116–087
Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
41–298 WASHINGTON : 2021
SBD026 with DISTILLER
Congress.#13
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
NYDIA VELÁZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman
ABBY FINKENAUER, Iowa
JARED GOLDEN, Maine
ANDY KIM, New Jersey
JASON CROW, Colorado
SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
JUDY CHU, California
DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania
BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Ranking Member
AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa, Vice Ranking Member
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio
KEVIN HERN, Oklahoma
JIM HAGEDORN, Minnesota
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
ROSS SPANO, Florida
JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania
DAN BISHOP, North Carolina
MELISSA JUNG, Majority Staff Director
JUSTIN PELLETIER, Majority Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
KEVIN FITZPATRICK, Staff Director
(II)
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
CONTENTS
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Hon. Jason Crow ...................................................................................................... 1
Hon. Troy Balderson ................................................................................................ 2
WITNESSES
Dr. Demetra Smith Nightingale, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute, Wash-
ington, DC ............................................................................................................. 5
Ms. Kelly Folks, Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Director, Workforce Center,
Centennial, CO, testifying on behalf of Workforce Boards and Centers and
the Rocky Mountain Workforce Development Association (RMWDA) ............. 6
Mr. Joe Schaffer, President, Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne,
WY, testifying on behalf of the American Association of Community Col-
leges ....................................................................................................................... 8
Ms. Kelly Moore, Vice President, GKM Auto Parts Inc., Zanesville, OH ........... 10
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Dr. Demetra Smith Nightingale, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute, Wash-
ington, DC ..................................................................................................... 21
Ms. Kelly Folks, Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Director, Workforce Cen-
ter, Centennial, CO, testifying on behalf of Workforce Boards and Cen-
ters and the Rocky Mountain Workforce Development Association
(RMWDA) ...................................................................................................... 26
Mr. Joe Schaffer, President, Laramie County Community College, Chey-
enne, WY, testifying on behalf of the American Association of Commu-
nity Colleges .................................................................................................. 33
Ms. Kelly Moore, Vice President, GKM Auto Parts Inc., Zanesville, OH .... 40
Questions and Answers for the Record:
Questions from Hon. Balderson to Ms. Kelly Folks and Responses from
Ms. Kelly Folks ............................................................................................. 41
Questions from Hon. Balderson to Mr. Joe Schaffer and Responses from
Mr. Joe Schaffer ............................................................................................ 44
Questions from Hon. Balderson to Ms. Kelly Moore and Responses from
Ms. Kelly Moore ............................................................................................ 46
Additional Material for the Record:
International Franchise Association (IFA) ..................................................... 49
(III)
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 0486 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 0486 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
PUTTING AMERICA BACK TO WORK: THE
ROLE OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND
SMALL BUSINESS REHIRING
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION AND WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:00 p.m., via Webex,
Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jason Crow [chairman of the
Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Crow, Finkenauer, Kim, Davids,
Houlahan, Balderson, Hern, and Chabot.
Chairman CROW. Good afternoon. I call this meeting to order.
I want to thank everyone for joining us this afternoon for our
Committee’s official remote hearing. I want to make sure to note
some important requirements of this hearing according to the
House rules.
House regulations requires that members be visible through a
video connection throughout the proceedings. Please keep your
cameras on. Also, if you have to participate in another proceeding,
please exit this one and log back in later. Remember to remain
muted until you are recognized to minimize background noise.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, technological advancement
and changing trends in the labor market were disrupting jobs and
the skills needed to perform them. The coronavirus pandemic has
in many ways accelerated these changes and highlighted the ur-
gent need for workers to have the knowledge, skills, and abilities
needed in the 21st century economy. Workers and businesses in
every industry, especially those hardest hit by COVID-19 must fig-
ure out how they can adapt to these changing conditions. In par-
ticular, all firms have a harder time finding the employees that fit
their needed skillsets. However, as we all know, all businesses will
need to play an outside role in getting the country back to work.
Before the pandemic, small firms accounted for 99 percent of all
private sector employers and created nearly two-thirds of all new
private sector jobs. Even when unemployment was low and there
were still underlying problems, like a growing skills gap that se-
verely undercuts its public workforce system.
The Federal government was failing to prepare our people for the
future workforce even as our workforce was evolving. This chronic
underfunding of our Nation’s workforce development program not
(1)
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
2
only hurt the ability of many workers to get ahead; it neglected the
growing needs of our Nation’s small businesses as the driver of eco-
nomic growth and job creation.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 45
million workers have filed for unemployment. The unemployment
rate stands at 11.1 percent, and experts say that in reality it is
higher than that. This unemployment crisis is particularly hurting
young people, women, and people of color.
Retail clerks, restaurant servers, housekeepers and hospitality
workers are now out of job and may not have jobs to go back to.
Some experts estimate that upwards of 42 percent of jobs that dis-
appeared during the pandemic may never return.
And this is why we are here today, to discuss at length how our
Nation’s workforce gets the skills needed for the 21st century to
help small firms rehire and retain more employees. In the midst
of this unprecedented crisis, we must be bold in preparing our peo-
ple for the future of work and that will only happen if we have ‘‘an
all hands on deck’’ approach. That includes extending access to new
and innovative job training programs like remote apprenticeships.
It means we must facilitate intense collaboration between Federal,
state, and local government, the private sector, and our Nation’s
colleges and universities to determine what skills need to be
trained and how to help employers find talent.
That means we might to rethink incentives we provide employ-
ers, especially for small businesses so they are able to invest in the
workforce that meet the needs of their particular industry.
I look forward to hearing from our expert witnesses who will be
able to talk much more about the changing nature of work and the
skills necessary to get ahead in the 21st century, as well as the
way the local workforce boards, community colleges and Federal
policy can help smaller firms find the workers they need to grow
and once again become the driver of economic growth and job cre-
ation.
Again, I want to thank the panelists for joining us here today,
and I now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Balderson, for his
opening statement.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
hearing today.
The coronavirus has dealt a devastating blow to our Nation. Nei-
ther our people, nor our economy, is immune to its negative im-
pacts. However, Americans are resilient and strong. Our healthcare
providers have fought tirelessly to save lives. Our school systems
have rapidly evolved to meet remote learning demand. Many of our
small businesses from restaurants to manufacturers have adapted
to overnight challenges, loss of revenue, and ever-shifting local and
Federal guidance.
I am inspired by the flexibility, agility, and creativity of small
businesses in my district and across this country to demonstrate
the confidence we need during the recovery phase.
According to the Department of Treasury, the Paycheck Protec-
tion Program, also known as the PPP, supported 51 million jobs.
This means PPP supported over 80 percent of all small business
employees nationwide. I was proud to work with Congresswoman
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
3
Angie Craig, who also serves on this Committee, to ensure the pro-
gram would remain available through August 8th.
As states continue to move into the next phases of this public
health emergency and lift restrictions, Congress must do more to
prepare to protect small businesses and their employees. Many are
facing atypical expenses such as the purchase of personal protec-
tive equipment (PPE) to safeguard employees and customers and
on top of recent unexpected declines in revenues.
To meet the burden, I introduced H.R. 7216, the Small Business
PPE Tax Credit Act with my fellow Small Business Committee
Representative Joyce of Pennsylvania and two partners from across
the aisle, Representative Brenda Lawrence of Michigan and Rep-
resentative Mike Quigley of Illinois. Under the Small Business
PPE Tax Credit Act, certain small businesses and nonprofit organi-
zations will qualify for a tax credit of up to $25,000 for the pur-
chase and installation of PPE intended to reduce the risk of
COVID-19 transmission.
In addition to the PPE, new and returning employees will need
training on social distance requirements and other coronavirus re-
lated changes, procedures and regulations. Both employers and em-
ployees will need clear guidance and acceptable resources from the
local, state, and Federal government.
Here is another opportunity for us to work together. Our work-
force has the flexibility, agility, and creativity to meet the demands
of our new normal now. It just needs Congress to support them in
this effort.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Balderson. I appreciate your
comments and all of your hard work and the work you are doing
on both sides of the aisle to rep this issue.
I would like to take a moment to explain how this hearing will
proceed. Each witness will have 5 minutes to provide a statement,
and each Committee member will have 5 minutes for questions.
Please ensure that your microphone is on when you begin speaking
and that you return to mute when you are finished. That might be
the most important thing. It happens all the time.
With that, I would like to thank our witnesses for taking time
out of their busy schedules to join us.
Our first witness today is Dr. Demetra Smith Nightingale. Am
I pronouncing that right? Is it Demetra or Demetra?
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. Demetra.
Chairman CROW. Demetra. Dr. Demetra Smith Nightingale, an
institute fellow at the Urban Institute where her research focuses
on social, economic, and labor policy issues. She was chief evalua-
tion officer at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2011 to 2016
where she developed what is recognized as one of the premier eval-
uation units in the Federal government. Prior to that she taught
graduate courses in social policy and program evaluation at Johns
Hopkins and was currently a professorial lecturer at the
Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at
George Washington University. Thank you, Dr. Nightingale for
being here today.
Our second witness is Ms. Kelly Folks, the director of Arapahoe
Douglas Workforce Center. She has over 20 years of experience
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
4
working to develop innovative workforce throughout the program-
ming specifically designed to serve both jobseekers and business
and industry. She is viewed as a local, regional, state, and national
leader in workforce and economic development. Ms. Folks is the
president of the Rocky Mountain Workforce Development Associa-
tion, serves as a board member of Region 8 with the National Asso-
ciation of Workforce Development Professionals, and serves as the
Region 4 liaison for the National Association of Workforce Boards.
Thank you, Ms. Folks, for being here today.
Our third witness is Dr. Joe Schaffer. Dr. Schaffer is currently
the president of Laramie County Community College, Wyoming’s
largest community college. He considers himself a community col-
lege evangelist after an associate degree changed his life for the
better. Prior to joining LCCC, he spent nearly a decade at Montana
State University-Great Falls, serving in a variety of academic and
administrative roles. At age 34, he was appointed the dean and
CEO, becoming one of the youngest college executives in the Nation
at the time. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of
the American Association of Community Colleges and sits on their
Commission of Small and Rural Colleges. Thank you, Dr. Schaffer
for being here today.
I will now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Balderson, to intro-
duce our final witness.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It is with great pleasure for me today, a personal friend, to intro-
duce, and we have known each other since they came into our local
community since 2004 when her husband and I and her sons have
chased each other through the woods on motorcycles. So it is al-
ways good.
Our final witness today is Kelly Moore. Kelly is the vice presi-
dent of GKM Auto Parts, which is based on Zanesville, Ohio. In
2004, the opportunity presented itself for Kelly and her husband
Greg to purchase their first two Auto Parts locations. They began
by employing 16 workers, as well as several family members. In
2006, they bought two additional stores for a total of four with loca-
tions in Zanesville, Dresden, Conshohocken, and West Lafayette.
Additionally, Ms. Moore currently serves on our 12th Congressional
District Small Business Advisory Board, comprised of small busi-
nesses from every county in the district and representing many in-
dustries. There, she helps me, informing on challenges small busi-
nesses face on the ground. Thank you for taking the time out of
your busy schedule to join us today, Ms. Moore, Ms. Kelly Moore.
I look forward to hearing your testimony and great to see you.
Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Balderson. And thank you all
for being here today.
I would like to now begin by recognizing Dr. Nightingale for 5
minutes. Dr. Nightingale, you can see the timer on the screen here.
We look forward to your comments.
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
5
STATEMENTS OF DEMETRA SMITH NIGHTINGALE, INSTITUTE
FELLOW, URBAN INSTITUTE; KELLY FOLKS, ARAPAHOE/
DOUGLAS WORKFORCE DIRECTOR,WORKFORCE CENTER;
JOE SCHAFFER, PRESIDENT, LARAMIE COUNTY COMMUNITY
COLLEGE; KELLY MOORE, VICE PRESIDENT, GKM AUTO
PARTS INC.
STATEMENT OF DEMETRA SMITH NIGHTINGALE
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. Thank you, Chairman Crow, Ranking Mem-
ber Balderson, and members of the Committee. I appreciate the op-
portunity to testify before you today on the workforce development
system and small businesses.
The Nation’s public workforce development system is a partner-
ship of Federal, state, and local governments charged with pro-
viding employment-related services to both workers and businesses
and serve over 2,000 local one-stop career centers, also called
American job centers, the system which is authorized in the Work-
force Innovation Opportunity Act and the Wagner Peyser Act, oper-
ates a free labor exchange nationwide.
One goal of the system is to help anyone find a job, especially
the unemployed and underemployed, and dislocated workers. An-
other goal is to help businesses by matching skilled job seekers to
businesses that are hiring. Most local job centers also make space
available to businesses to conduct interviews. They hold workshops
for jobseekers and conduct various types of training assessments
for workers.
So what works in hiring and skills training? Evaluation suggests
four points that I would like to make.
First, public investment in training fills an important gap. Em-
ployers, of course, provide most job training in the United States.
Small businesses are less able than large corporations to invest
much in training, even in good economic times. The public work-
force development system helps fill the training gap by focusing on
smaller businesses and low to mid-level workers. The system’s very
limited funding, though, as the Chairman just mentioned, covers
only a small fraction of the hundreds of millions of businesses and
workers in the Nation.
The second point is that training connected to work has the most
positive effect. Not all training is the same, and not all training,
whether it is public or private, is effective. But evaluations show
that the most effective job training is that which is connected di-
rectly to real work, real jobs, rather than standalone training not
aligned with jobs that are in demand. This includes integrated
training models, such as apprenticeships and on-the-job training
with public subsidies.
The third point that I would like to make is that individualized
staff-assisted coaching and career services are important. Several
evaluations are now finding that the types of staff-assisted coach-
ing and services that local one-stop career centers provide and
sometimes provide virtually are important. Trainees who receive
assistance in selecting their training do better than those who
make choices on their own without coaching.
The fourth point is that comprehensive and integrated models
work equally well for youth and that as with adults, training that
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
6
is work-based is most effective for youth, especially those who have
less than college and those who are just coming out of high school
or college.
There are at least three ways that small businesses can connect
and avail themselves of services in the workforce system. First, it
is important for all businesses to stay abreast of the shifts in de-
mand or of skills in the labor market and the state labor market
information system which uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics
methodology and updates the data regularly. As we have already
heard, there have been changes in the demand for technology and
virtual skills, accelerated by the COVID crisis in telemedicine, vir-
tual customer service, delivery, transportation, retail, and online
support. Training workers now can have longer term payouts and
investment in the future.
Second, small businesses can partner directly with workforce de-
velopment systems for training. Many Federal grants require em-
ployer partnerships and small businesses can be those partners.
And third, businesses should prepare for a long-term period of un-
employment, high unemployment and hopefully from additional
funding that helps to expand the services that are available.
In conclusion, the workforce development system trains workers
who might not be otherwise able to receive it and provides support
and assistance to businesses that might not have all the resources
to do it on their own. Businesses can and do play a critical role,
and small businesses can be prepared to expand their role by ac-
tively partnering and connecting with the local workforce develop-
ment system and be aware of new funding as it becomes available.
Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Dr. Nightingale. Perfect timing as
well I will add. I appreciate your comments very much.
Ms. Folks, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF KELLY FOLKS
Ms. FOLKS. Good afternoon. I want to thank the Subcommittee
for the opportunity to discuss the needs of the workforce system.
Although WIOA has not been cut at a national level, unfortunately,
the current formula utilized for allocating funding to states and
then lags with the market and the current demands, therefore it
makes it very difficult at a local level to provide the level of service
delivery needed, especially during times such as this. The WIOA
system has not been funded nationally over the past several years
at a level to keep up with the demand or the speed of the market.
In order for the workforce system to meet the demands of the
jobseekers and business during the pandemic, the system needs re-
sources and funding. During the Great Recession, the workforce
system was put to the test, receiving an influx in funding to serve
the communities through a variety of mechanisms. The system as
a whole rose to that challenge. This type of bold and decisive action
is needed even more today with the current economy devastated by
the pandemic. Please consider additional resources added to the
overall WIOA and Wagner Peyser funding streams, additional re-
sources for youth employment programming, and additional re-
sources for local areas to be able to provide more robust business
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
7
service delivery which allows for the innovation needed to meet the
demands of business; in particular small businesses.
Our response to COVID-19 has taken the workforce system na-
tionally and within Colorado to the next level. When the State of
Colorado shut down for several weeks during the height of cases
in our state, we had less than 48 hours to get all of our services
remote and virtual. Many local regions in Colorado developed and
implemented local call centers to assist the state with the influx
and demand on the unemployment calls to the system by job-
seekers and businesses. All services went virtual with absolutely no
stop in service delivery to the jobseekers or the businesses.
The offices have reopened; however, due to the positive results in
offering virtual service delivery, both service models continue to
date throughout the state. The current trends that we are seeing
nationally, within the State of Colorado and at a local level include
people not going back to work with the company that they were
furloughed from due to the company either closing, or if the par-
ticular job is no longer available. The need for layoff aversion meth-
odologies and incumbent worker training availability to be put in
place with more flexibility to ensure that businesses can continue
to retool and skill up their current workforce rather than lay off.
Although work-based learning is a key factor in being able to put
funding into local businesses, right now businesses are having trou-
ble with having the time to look into developing apprenticeship
programs or allow for on-the-job trainings. They do not have the
bandwidth. Flexibility in being able to pay 100 percent for a period
of time of a jobseeker’s on-the-job training is needed.
A need for more flexibility in the formula funds so that local com-
munities can build the programming needed to put people back to
work quickly. And public service employment should be re-exam-
ined to be able to place unemployed individuals in opportunities
which assist both our local governments with recovery and their
families with a paycheck. Some examples of innovative business
practices during the pandemic include virtual business roundtables
and conferences with topic areas driven by the business commu-
nity.
Another example, the Close the Gap Program, an initiative with
the Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Board and one-stop, Arapahoe
County Government and Arapahoe Community College utilizing
CARES Act funding. A very significant technology gap was realized
in the height of the pandemic. This program closes the technology
gap for low-income individuals. Once the individual completes the
program successfully, they will receive a laptop in order to be able
to accept work-from-home employment opportunities.
Some additional innovative best practices that have been in place
within the State of Colorado pre-COVID and continue to be very
relevant during the pandemic are virtual hiring events through the
Connecting Colorado platform utilized statewide, the establishment
of the Business Service Alignment Group, which representatives
from each local area and the Colorado Department of Labor and
Employment. This group works to align business practices to en-
sure business and industry receive the same services and mes-
saging and the formation of a data expert group with representa-
tives from each local area who work to respond to data requests for
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
8
business and industry, education, economic development, cham-
bers, nonprofit, and other government agencies, as well as report-
ing the ROI of the workforce system for Colorado. The Nation’s
workforce system has the components, partnerships and infrastruc-
ture in place which will make certain that the current unemploy-
ment crisis from the pandemic can be addressed.
In short, the workforce system stands ready to put America back
to work. Thank you for your time.
Chairman CROW. Thank you for your opening statement, Ms.
Folks.
Dr. Schaffer, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF JOE SCHAFFER
Mr. SCHAFFER. Good afternoon, Chairman Crow, Ranking
Member Balderson, and members of the Committee. It is an honor
to be here representing my college, Laramie County Community
College (LCCC), about 100 miles straight north of the good Chair-
man’s district. But also to be here on behalf of the American Asso-
ciation of Community Colleges that has more than 1,000 members.
As you heard, I have been working with a commission on small
and rural colleges for the past few years and that will likely cover
my testimony today.
Mr. Chairman, there are not many things that are more Amer-
ican than its community colleges for our small businesses. Unfortu-
nately, we work hand-in-hand, whether it is through hunting re-
sources like small business development centers, four chapters or
business retention and expansion programs, or it is central for our
mission providing customized training and workforce development
programs tailored to the needs of our community’s businesses.
Today, I want to touch on four specific ways community colleges
support America’s Main Streets. And while we have many exam-
ples, I want to be clear that we need to be doing substantially more
in these areas. And selfishly, I believe we need a specific focus on
helping our rural communities ramp up these efforts.
The first is entrepreneurship and small business start. Commu-
nity colleges have a rich history of developing and delivering pro-
grams that prepare jobseekers for real opportunities within their
communities, states, and regions, so I believe we need a funda-
mental shift from focusing on just developing jobseekers, equally
emphasizing development of job creators. As you likely know, be-
tween the late 1970s and 2012, the share of young businesses,
those a year or younger declined by more than 40 percent. Cur-
rently, census data paints a pretty scary picture for America, one
where more businesses are closing to new ones opening. The busi-
ness recruitment model has sort of been the holy grail of economic
development. We need to shift our focus from business recruitment
of the primary economic development strategy to a mindset focused
on entrepreneurship and public community colleges are helping
drive the shift.
The second thing is small business growth and expansion. As you
stated, Mr. Chairman, small businesses have accounted for the ma-
jority of new private sector jobs.
But this growth does not come without intention and support.
Community colleges have and continue to play an instrumental
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
9
role in the growth and expansion of small businesses. One of the
reasons we collectively support the Department of Education’s Re-
imaging Workforce Preparation grants that include business incu-
bators as one of the program’s two primary priorities. Helping
small businesses move from start-up to sustained, stable growth
should be a policy priority for us all.
The third area is technical assistance. Small businesses, by their
very nature, are small. Owners and employers wear multiple hats
and they seldom have in-house access to technical assistance, pro-
fessional development, R&D, or other professional and scientific
services. Community colleges have historically stepped up, and
stepped in, to help small businesses in this area, either through the
direct provision of assistance or through the coordination with com-
munity partners.
The last area, and probably the one that we are most well-known
for is workforce development. Community colleges have perhaps
been the most progressive and instrumental in supporting small
business in the realm of workforce development. Workforce devel-
opment has been a hallmark of the community college mission for
nearly 100 years. But there are two primary challenges that we
face with workforce development. The first is the sheer lack of indi-
viduals available for work, especially in rural areas. Aging popu-
lations, lower birth rates, and issues with immigration policy have
all impacted the availability of workers.
And as you said, Mr. Chairman, the other one is the skills gap.
You stated numerous times that there are jobs available but not
the people with the skills necessary to successfully fill them. I am
proud of LCCC’s work and really being at the helm tackling this
challenge, our partnership with the Department of Labor on ex-
panding community college apprenticeships or tailored short-term
certificate programs, one of the things that we believe is essential
and why we support short-term Pell or the alignment of our degree
certificate programs that support workers and employers directly.
And there are policy things that can help us along this way. We
know that there is a skills gap, and one of the issues with the skills
gap is insufficient support for workforce education at community
colleges and other entities, especially so in rural areas. That is why
we support establishing a major community college job training
program to help the country move beyond and through the pan-
demic.
Mr. Chairman, I want to conclude with just two other real quick
thoughts that I think are germane to the conversation and they
deal with this increasing divide between rural and urban America.
We know that the formula for prosperity in rural areas is simple:
economic activity plus economic opportunity equals community
prosperity. We now have to start considering policy that helps us
redistribute population and redistribute jobs out of our metro areas
and back across rural America if we want to see this country and
its small businesses continue to thrive.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my remarks. I look forward to and
stand ready for questions. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Dr. Schaffer. I appreciate your
opening remarks.
Ms. Moore, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
10
STATEMENT OF KELLY MOORE
Ms. MOORE. Thank you very much, Chairman, and Ranking
Member Balderson for inviting me to give testimony.
I live the dream. I am a small business owner and operator of
a family-run business which Troy earlier described.
As a small business, our 19 employees are a valuable asset to our
company. Well trained, knowledgeable employees, those are the
keys to the success, stability, and growth potential for any busi-
ness, especially our business.
In the past few years, it has been challenging for businesses to
fill open positions with quality candidates. There is a shortage, par-
ticularly in our region, of qualified candidates for highly skilled po-
sitions. The National Federation of Independent Businesses re-
ported results of a member survey in 2019 that 22 percent of small
employers who have hired an employee for their most skilled posi-
tion in the last 2 years lowered the minimum qualifications for ap-
plicants that they previously required, and 24 percent lowered
them for the most common, less skilled positions.
As a leadership member of NFIB, I hear firsthand that hiring
and retaining qualified employees, particularly in the technical and
mechanical trades in our region, is hindering the operations of
small businesses. When a less than qualified candidate is hired,
improving that employee’s skills puts a strain on the tight margins
with which small businesses normally operate and puts a strain on
the timeframe of production. Money in the budget which could be
spent on expanding the business and hiring additional employees
is spent on training the less than qualified new hires. Finding the
time to train is also a significant burden to the small business own-
ers.
I just have a quick anecdotal account of a conversation with a
local garage shop owner that illustrates this issue.
I was dropping off parts. He asked me if we knew of any mechan-
ics looking for work. I asked if he had tapped into the recent grads
from the local tech program. He said he had worked with a highly
recommended grad the year before, but the tech was inadequately
trained in the basics. The shop owner said he spent too much time
retraining him on basics such as a simple oil change. He was not
able to stay on his schedules and it was damaging the customer re-
lationships, so they parted ways.
This challenge has become more pronounced post COVID-19 pan-
demic. Small businesses who furloughed workers in order to stay
solvent during work shutdowns and slowdowns are reporting that
some workers are slow to return and credit this primarily to the
Federal stimulus that has enhanced their unemployment benefits.
The investment in time and treasure in these employees’ training
is a significant loss when they will not return to the workforce. It
is creating a strain on the companies when they can least afford
this strain.
Local education, at all levels, primary, secondary and post-grad-
uate, is focused on developing the skills needed for the jobs avail-
able in my area of Ohio. The recent state budget decreases to
schools in Ohio due to the pandemic will impact this goal. When
schools can achieve this goal of marketable skills of students, the
financial burden on an employer is eased and the employee would
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
11
enter the job with the skill set at a level to be productive and to
earn better wages. Training budgets could then be spent on boost-
ing employees’ skills or on wages or benefits to retain that em-
ployee, which would benefit both the employee and the employer.
Also valuable to small businesses is a focused and robust retrain-
ing program available to assist the displaced workers and adults
with a desire to learn a new trade of which we in the small busi-
ness community feel there will be a significant number. A larger
investment in this arena would reap benefits not just to the em-
ployer but to the quality of life for the employee and the commu-
nity. I believe a consolidated effort between Federal and state
agencies related to training and vigorous marketing to those small
businesses regarding these programs would be most helpful.
Thank you very much for your time.
Chairman CROW. Thank you very much.
So there is an awful lot to talk about with everything that you
all mentioned in your opening statements. There is a lot of content
here on a very important topic right now.
So I am going to begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes for
a few questions before we go to the other members.
So I am going to begin on the issue of the technical skills and
trade apprenticeships because I know there are apprenticeships
that could be virtualized, that we can make virtual, but it is aw-
fully hard to train somebody to be a pipefitter, an electrician, a
plumber, a diesel mechanic in a virtual setting. So I would really
love to hear from you, how are we doing that? Are we going to be
able to do that in part virtually but also do in-person resident
training programs? I would love to hear your experiences with
those programs in particular.
Maybe we will start in reverse order from order of the state-
ments. So Ms. Moore, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Ms. MOORE. What I am hearing from our customers in the die-
sel mechanic area particularly is that what is being addressed is
how to break an engine down, how to refit the complicated proc-
esses in diesel mechanics. What the business owners tell me is that
they need them to have a good set of basic skills so they can build
on that with training. They often do not take somebody, a recent
grad, and ask them to tear apart an engine and put it back to-
gether. But they do need the employees to have a firm under-
standing of basic skills. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
Dr. Schaffer, I mean, you are very much at the front lines of this
issue. How are you doing in your college?
Mr. SCHAFFER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a very astute
question. Certainly during the pandemic I would say we were chal-
lenged in many ways this past spring as we shifted to a virtual de-
livery of our instructions. Really, to find ways to do that in the
technology trades and healthcare areas. I would say I was quite
pleased and impressed when I think across the Nation we saw
some great innovation come out of our instructors. I have a great
story of my automotive tech faculty member strapping a GoPro
camera to his head and doing virtual real-time labs with individ-
uals from their home or in their own garages, at their own shops.
So there are things we can do, but I will be honest; you simply can-
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
12
not replace the value of hands-on interactive learning that happens
either in the shop, in the lab, or through apprenticeship programs,
and we found quickly that we had to do that and create unique
ways for us to in a safe way bring our diesel technology students,
our welding students back to campus to carry those out. And this
is the same with the apprenticeship programs. We had to work
closely with our employers and small businesses to find ways for
them to be able to see value in having the apprentice in their envi-
ronment while they were facing shutdowns and all the issues asso-
ciated with the pandemic. And so it is not idea. There are ways we
can do it, but I would say we simply cannot replace the opportunity
for that in-person, hands-on interactivity in these areas. And I
would say if we do not figure that out, we will further restrict the
pipeline of new people coming into these valuable programs and
leading to the critical careers that they represent.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
Ms. Folks?
Ms. FOLKS. Thank you.
Yes, I would agree with Joe in the matter that it is very difficult
when it is not in person for the trades, but what we have been
doing as a workforce system is working hand in hand with our
community colleges and our trades, different trades, to look at how
do we work through the social distancing, no different than us com-
ing to work ourselves. So how do we work through the different so-
cial distancing guidelines? How do we make sure we make it safe
so that we get them back into training and get them back into the
shop so that they can get that on-the-job training? Lockheed Mar-
tin actually uses all technology to train, and we have been able to
keep that apprenticeship program going through this through uti-
lizing those methodologies.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
Dr. Nightingale?
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. There are a number of creative examples.
You have heard of some of them through community colleges spe-
cifically. And I will just highlight that the Urban Institute has a
forthcoming report that will be available shortly, in a couple of
weeks. It has some examples of sort of combining virtual and staff-
assisted. So they would come from some of the studies done over
the past decade.
Chairman CROW. Great. Thank you.
My time has now expired. I think I will have some additional
questions, but I do want to make sure we get to all the other mem-
bers first.
So let’s begin with the Ranking Member, Mr. Balderson. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Balderson, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Jason. Sorry about that. I lost ev-
erybody for a second.
My first question is to the full panel, and whoever wants to jump
in, jump right in. Every community has felt the ripple effects from
the government-mandated closures. Why is workforce development
a key aspect to our recovery at the community, state, and national
level?
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
13
And no particular order. If anybody wants to answer that, go
right ahead, please.
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Chairman, Representative Balderson, Joe
Schaffer here. I will take a stab at that.
I think we can take and learn some lessons from the Great Re-
cession that is far too close to this. You know, the next thing that
is going to impact us is COVID-19. During the Great Recession
what we saw were significant numbers of individuals displaced at
that time. The jobs they left were not the jobs that were there as
we recovered, and we are seeing a very similar trend here. As those
jobs disappear, while we will preserve some of them in the service
sector, employers are being forced in many ways to innovate and
rethink how they meet their business model, their business expec-
tations. That means we will have millions of Americans that will
be looking for new opportunities and will require training for the
jobs that will be here as we come out of this pandemic. And it is
what makes training and workforce development so absolutely es-
sential right now. And as I would say, that is especially important
in rural America where there is a substantial need for those folks
to find new opportunities for fear that they leave and further exas-
perate the problem of a shrinking population.
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. If I could answer that. In the Great Reces-
sion, the recovery funds, the supplemental funds were important
for a couple of reasons. One, as the additional funding that went
into the local employment services allowed for expanding employ-
ment services into remote areas. We saw an increase in use of mo-
bile job centers, libraries, and other community places were out-
fitted to allow better access in some of the remote areas. But it also
was a source for connecting subsidized jobs, workers into sub-
sidized jobs in the private sector and expanded the OJT type of
contracts. And third, we know that as we start coming out of the
recession, there are going to be more people who are looking for
jobs and they transverse to some of the local employment offices
that are available. So it is but it is the community for locale or re-
hiring.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you.
Ms. MOORE. I would just like to add, as a small business owner,
the Great Recession and the pandemic have diverted our funds. We
have very limited funds. And so they are diverting them away from
the requirements of training and more towards the requirements to
stay in business with PPE, with decreased revenues, and with the
inability to secure funds otherwise right now through banks, just
as we had a problem during the Great Recession.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you.
Ms. FOLKS. And if I could just add, this is Kelly with Arapahoe/
Douglas Workforce, who runs a true one-stop center, you know,
what we saw, the big difference we are seeing now, when we saw
at the highest point in the Great Recession, for example, Colorado
was at an 8.6 percent overall unemployment rate. We are seeing
in May of 2020 during this COVID at a 10.2 percent. We have mil-
lions of Americans as was stated already that are underskilled, un-
deremployed. We had that even when our economies were good. We
were still getting people coming into our workforce center and we
were working with businesses to try to fill their hardest to fill posi-
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
14
tions because there really, truly was a skill and training gap there.
And so that is where workforce development and the boards can,
in partnership with the community colleges, can really put that
training back into play and be able to help the small businesses
and medium businesses to get people back to work.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Ms. Folks.
Mr. Chairman, how am I doing? I cannot see my timer.
Chairman CROW. Fifteen seconds.
Mr. BALDERSON. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman CROW. The gentleman yields back. Thank you for
those comments. The gentleman yields his time back.
Now I would like to recognize the gentlelady, Ms. Davids from
Kansas for 5 minutes.
Ms. DAVIDS. Thank you, Chairman Crow, and to Ranking Mem-
ber Balderson for having this hearing today focused on the eco-
nomic recovery that our communities are going to need so badly
and that, you know, to recognize the workforce skills gap and really
the workers that we are going to need is something that we really
need to be thinking about long term.
As states and communities are reopening across the country and
we learn more about coronavirus and how small businesses are
going to be able to at least partially reopen doors, I know that that
has been helpful for some folks but things still are far from normal
and we are still figuring out how this is going to impact workforce
development.
Dr. Schaffer, I want to start with you, partly because I, myself,
am a community college graduate. I went to Johnson County Com-
munity College here in the district that I now get to represent, and
I spend a lot of time visiting with folks there and at the Kansas
City Kansas Community College here, too. And I know that the
education and training opportunity the colleges provide are impor-
tant, essential, and actually a lot more innovative than I think peo-
ple usually recognize and kind of mainstream.
So I am curious. I know you had mentioned the GoPro technique
and some of the other things that folks are trying to do right now
for the current students. I am curious what it is looking like for
people who are reaching out and might be interested in enrolling.
I guess I am wondering, what are folk saying to you? Are they ask-
ing you how you are adapting? Are they asking what you see as
the biggest needs? I am just curious what folks are asking about.
Mr. SCHAFFER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Representative Da-
vids. Yes, Johnson County Community College, one of the finest
community colleges in the Nation. It is great to hear that you are
an alum and support that institution and others.
You know, it is one of the challenges we face right now. I think
there is a great uncertainty about what fall looks like in education,
certainly in K-12. Community colleges are no different. For the
high demand programs and high demand careers, many that we
are talking about today in health care and the tech and trades
areas, those require some type of face-to-face interaction. And I
think as the colleges are waiting for perhaps better guidance, per-
haps we are all waiting for better guidance on how we safely oper-
ate in this environment, so are people. And what we hear mostly
from individuals is I know it is an opportunity for me to come back.
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
15
There may even be money on the table to encourage me to come
back to college, but I can only do that if it is truly safe. And so
I think a lot of folks are waiting to see what the reopening plans
of higher education and community colleges are looking like.
To give you a quick number, our applicants are substantially up
for fall. Our enrollment is substantially down, which tells us many
individuals are waiting to see essentially what happens. The other
issue is like our biggest opportunity for retraining is adults in this
country at this point, especially adults without a post-secondary
credential, using them to find a way to navigate their own personal
lives right now and the economic and social pressures on them and
come back to college. I tell you, it is a significant list, but it is one
we have got to figure out.
Ms. DAVIDS. And then, I appreciate that. And you mentioned
earlier the idea of supporting job creators, in addition to figuring
out ways to help us get to a workforce that meets that skills gap
that we keep seeing.
Dr. Nightingale, I am curious from your perspective what you are
seeing in terms of the entrepreneurial movement and that sort of
thing, big picture going into all of this. I do not know if folks are
looking at that sort of thing, but I would be curious.
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. There are two points that I would make.
First, certainly, entrepreneurial, sort of like self-employment and
new business development is critical, but it is not necessarily for
everybody. And so it has to be very carefully planned so that there
is a real business plan and understanding of what it takes. People
sometimes think it is easy to start a small business, but I know
that the small business owners here, Ms. Moore and others will
agree, that it is not easy. You have to have a lot of planning.
The second thing is that there are probably more opportunities
for entrepreneurial endeavors today because of the technological
advances that are available. So there are some opportunities——
Chairman CROW. The gentlewoman’s time has expired, so I
apologize. I am going to have to move back to that point at a dif-
ferent time.
Ms. DAVIDS. Thanks, Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
Now I would like to recognize the gentleman from Oklahoma,
Mr. Hern. Mr. Hern, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. HERN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member
Balderson. It is great to be here today and great to see the wit-
nesses. I apologize. I had to step away for another simultaneous
meeting so I did not catch all the witnesses’ testimony but certainly
being a small business owner for over 35 years, and this will be the
fourth of these type of catastrophic events. Obviously, the ‘‘best,’’
and I will put that in quotes, is the last. And so we always learn
from these type of events. Or we should be learning, and those who
learn come out stronger and those who do not usually do not come
out.
We talked a lot about what you all are doing, or really kind of
put a lot of onus on that. I want to get to that in a second. But
we, in Congress, and this is a very bipartisan Committee, and we
recognize the importance of small business and those entre-
preneurs that create so many jobs in America, and we have put a
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
16
lot of money into, I will call it ‘‘the system,’’ the economy over the
last 3 months, 3-1/2 months, particularly money into individuals’
pockets. An extra $600 a week that expires in a couple of weeks.
Direct stimulus checks. I have conversations on both of those next
week. What have you seen from citizens? You can go recruit all day
long but if there is not an initiatives by people who are getting this
extra money to see something beyond 2 weeks, what are you seeing
from folks that are levying one job that says, hey, this is my oppor-
tunity. I am no longer working there right now. I am furloughed
for an indefinite period. I am going to go get retrained in another
area. Are you seeing that kind of intake from your particular edu-
cational institutions?
We can start wherever. Ms. Nightingale?
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. We do not have a lot of hard data on that
right now, but we know that the training programs that are out
there are having difficulty in two ways. One, recruiting and getting
trainees to come in. The other is retaining partnerships with em-
ployers for some of the reasons that we have already heard. So it
could be that we are in a little bit of a lull right now and as the
economy starts improving, we may see more of an uptick on that.
But from what I am hearing is that some of the training programs
are having difficulty finding trainees and keeping employers en-
gaged.
Mr. HERN. Mr. Schaffer, in Oklahoma we have 29 career cen-
ters. I left Ohio a number of years ago, 30 years ago, I think. And
so one of the best examples is a career center in the upper part of
my district where they actually go out and talk to businesses and
create programs to match those businesses and then train some of
the businesses to produce workers for what they see emerging in
certain fields. And that is in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and that is
Tri-County Community College or Technical College.
But as we go through this process it is going to be really impor-
tant, and I think, I do not want to put words in your mouth, but
I think you mentioned a minute ago you were waiting on CDC
guidelines on how to reopen and things like that. People that are
entrepeneurs or businesspeople, I would bet you Ms. Moore is not
waiting on CDC or somebody else to tell her how to keep her busi-
ness open. She is figuring out every single day how to make that
happen. That is what businesspeople do. If you wait on the govern-
ment to tell you what to do you will be very ineffective. As the
needs arise for small business, I would encourage each of you, and
this is not a scolding, this is an encouragement, to not wait on the
Federal government to tell you what to do. The best ideas come
from out in the communities. Out in the, you know, you all are
very, very bright people. You have got great institutions. I assure
you no small businessperson worth their salt is waiting on the Fed-
eral government to tell them how to survive. And I would just en-
courage you, you know, I might just ask you that question, you
know, what are some of the best bets that you are looking at that
you might want to share here in my remaining one minute, to get
your schools reopened in a proper way? Because I know whether
you are a democrat or republican or do not give two hoots about
politics, you know it is important to educate our workforce and our
children.
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
17
Mr. Schaffer, do you want to start that?
Mr. SCHAFFER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Representative
Hern.
I would tell you, no disrespect to government or Congress, we are
having to act. Our Board of Trustees 2 weeks ago approved our re-
opening plan.
Mr. HERN. That is great.
Mr. SCHAFFER. That is an aggressive opportunity for continued
education. We are going to focus where the greatest needs are, so
our on-campus, in-person instruction is going to be focused in the
technology, the trades, healthcare, to make sure that that pipeline
of those workers continues even in a pandemic.
To your previous point, just quickly, Representative Hern, we go
out and we work with employers all the time to customize pro-
grams for them. They are oftentimes short-term programs very tai-
lored. It is one of the reasons why we support the concept of short-
term Pell. We have to find ways to provide financial assistance for
people to quickly get retrained and back to work.
Mr. HERN. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, thank you. I yield back.
Chairman CROW. The gentleman yields back.
And I believe the members present have all asked questions at
this point. So if additional members join, we will give them an op-
portunity, but I do want to go for a quick second round. And I will
start by giving myself an additional 5 minutes.
This issue of the urban rural divide that Dr. Schaffer and the
others referenced earlier is of particular interest to me. And I think
one of the issues, we had some hearings on the broader Committee
on this in the past and in doing some work with Senator Inhofe
and some others on this issue, is the issue of broadband, which is
really the long pole in the tent for so much of this in terms of how
do we make it as easy to start a business or run an apprenticeship
program or a job training program in Wyoming as it is in New
York, make it as easy in Oklahoma as it is in California. Leveling
the playing field here. I would love thoughts from all of you in
terms of the impact of broadband and what you think we need to
be doing more of at our level.
Maybe we can start with Ms. Folks on this one.
Ms. FOLKS. Thank you. Yes. I think that is a serious issue, not
being able to have the availability of broadband in the rural areas.
It is also a serious issue that we have seen through the pandemic
with our lower-income individuals as well. They may have
broadband available, but they do not have a way to maybe pay for
that and to be able to have Internet services or be able to know
how to access when things are shut down. And so some of the areas
we are really working on is how to develop, we have sector partner-
ships that we are building and broadband to work hand in hand
with the business and industry to really help tell us how to get it
out there, how to build apprenticeships, and how to develop that.
And we continue to work with our rural areas. I have some of that,
not much in our area, so we continue to work with them and our
community colleges on how do we develop those types of appren-
ticeship opportunities to be able to get that. But also, then work-
ing, like I said, with businesses to get the broadband out there.
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
18
Just quickly, one of the partnerships we do have is working to
get that into our customers’ hands. So part of not only paying and
supporting them and training; it is also supporting them with those
support services to get them that as well so that they can be suc-
cessful.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
In my 2 minutes I have remaining I would love to hear maybe
1 minute each from Mr. Schaffer and Dr. Nightingale on that issue,
and then Ms. Moore, I move back with you additionally in a mo-
ment.
Dr. Schaffer?
Mr. SCHAFFER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Broadband is certainly an issue for us. It is an issue across rural
America. And when I talk about Main Street, it is truly an issue
on our historical Main Streets in trying to find a way to bring
connectivity to our downtowns in smaller communities. The broad-
er issue I think really pertains to infrastructure because popu-
lation, and as a result, revenues do not follow substantially enough
to reinvigorate or install new infrastructure in these communities.
They are just hamstrung, and it makes it more and more difficult
to learn and to work and really have a life in that environment.
So broadband is a big issue, but I would say general infrastructure
is also an issue once you move out of metro areas.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. I was asked that. Certainly, additional
funding for infrastructure development that is focused on IT could
have a major effect, especially in rural areas just as rural elec-
trification many decades ago did. And with some investment on
subsidized employment which we heard a little bit about from Ms.
Folks, that there could be a combined investment by Congress that
invest in subsidized employment to provide the additional staff for
facilitating the use of the technology that the investment in IT in-
frastructure and broadband could support. So it is a combination
of developing the broadband but then also having the technical
training for people to use it appropriately.
Chairman CROW. Great. Thank you.
Ms. Moore, in 20 seconds, do you have any thoughts on that?
Ms. MOORE. I do. Not only is it the availability of broadband
but it is the quality of the broadband. Particularly, in our area
where it is very rural. We have stability issues. We have accessi-
bility issues. So that is another consideration that possibly these
companies will have to be incentivized to provide not only
broadband but quality broadband.
Chairman CROW. Okay. Thank you.
Now, I wanted to open it up. I think Mr. Balderson, the Ranking
Member, would be up next. I do not know whether Mr. Balderson
is still with us or not at this point. Troy, are you still on?
Give him a moment.
Well, we will see whether he is having some technical issues
which he might. I want to give myself another 5 minutes. That is
the benefit of being the Chair.
I actually would love to maybe give each of you a minute in that
5 minutes to ask a broad open question. If you had a magic wand
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
19
and you could have Congress focus on one thing to address the big-
gest challenge you are facing right now, what would that be?
So let’s maybe start in the reverse order again from which we
just ended, and we will start with Ms. Moore.
Ms. MOORE. I believe the assistance to the education system in
coordinating and advertising these programs and connecting them
with the employers who directly need these positions. Overseeing
a very coordinated effort.
Chairman CROW. Almost like a [inaudible] role.
Ms. MOORE. Exactly. Exactly.
Chairman CROW. Dr. Nightingale?
Dr. NIGHTINGALE. I think that probably to me one of the most
important things is to expand the resources for the local job centers
and to expand it in a way that allows the centers to have more peo-
ple there accessing the services, particularly in the nonurban areas
or in high unemployment areas because there are resources for
training that can be accessed but the people need to know how to
access those resources effectively.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Doctor.
Dr. Schaffer?
Mr. SCHAFFER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have trouble
choosing so I will only pick two. The first one of course is the estab-
lishment of a major community college job training program. Some-
thing similar on the magnitude, it is bigger than the TAACCCT
grants that were very successful, something similar to what is
being proposed in the Relaunching America’s Workforce Act or per-
haps the Access to Careers Act or even the Community College
Training Program and the Coronavirus Child Care and Education
Relief Act. We need to stimulate new training, new opportunities
in workforce development funding to community colleges at that
scale are critical as Dr. Nightingale said. I would also suggest dur-
ing the reauthorization of WIOA, we really think about resources,
we think about further [inaudible] of partners, and we think about
ways to streamline and maybe allow for the authorization of com-
munity college applied programs in a more effective and efficient
manner.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Dr. Schaffer.
And Ms. Folks, as the Coloradoan on the panel you get the dis-
tinction of having the final word.
Ms. FOLKS. Thank you.
You know, I think for us, similar to what was said, it is the re-
sources and the funding but most importantly also with that is the
flexibility to be able to meet what the local community needs are
and to be able to really listen to our business and industry and
what they are telling us. When we have a lot of regulation, and I
know it needs to be there but when there is too much it makes it
difficult for us to really build those innovative programs which we
really need right now especially to get people back. And so being
able to have that flexibility is very important for us along with the
resources and funding because then we can build programs that
are going to meet the needs of the business and industry and our
communities, and we can have those more creative ways of making
sure we get our people back to work.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Folks.
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
20
So with that, our time has run out here. I know we could prob-
ably talk for the rest of the day or days on this topic because there
is really so much to address, but we do appreciate your time.
So again, thank you to all of our witnesses today for your testi-
mony and for offering their views on how to get millions of unem-
ployed Americans back to work. By sharing your experiences and
expertise, we, as the policymakers in Washington that are looking
at how to guide resources and also coordinate the various efforts
going on, really need to hear your perspectives. So you all are
where the rubber meets the road here, you are providing the direct
resources, the direct training and making it happen in your com-
munities, and it is really your voices that are the most important
for us to hear during this crisis. So thank you. I look forward to
the opportunity to work with you and your organizations to figure
out ways that we can be more helpful and lift up all of your efforts.
So I ask unanimous consent that members have 5 legislative
days to submit statements and supporting materials for the record.
Without objection, so ordered.
If there is no further business to come before the Committee, we
are adjourned today. Thank you. Thank you all.
[Whereupon, at 2:06 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
SBD026 with DISTILLER
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
21
APPENDIX
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 21 here 41298.001
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
22
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 22 here 41298.002
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
23
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 23 here 41298.003
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
24
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 24 here 41298.004
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
25
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 25 here 41298.005
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
26
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 26 here 41298.006
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
27
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 27 here 41298.007
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
28
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 28 here 41298.008
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
29
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 29 here 41298.009
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
30
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 30 here 41298.010
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
31
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 31 here 41298.011
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
32
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 32 here 41298.012
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
33
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 33 here 41298.013
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
34
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 34 here 41298.014
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
35
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 35 here 41298.015
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
36
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 36 here 41298.016
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
37
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 37 here 41298.017
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
38
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 38 here 41298.018
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
39
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 39 here 41298.019
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
40
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 40 here 41298.020
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
41
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 41 here 41298.021
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
42
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 42 here 41298.022
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
43
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 43 here 41298.023
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
44
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 44 here 41298.024
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
45
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 45 here 41298.025
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
46
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 46 here 41298.026
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
47
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 47 here 41298.027
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
48
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 48 here 41298.028
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
49
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 49 here 41298.029
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
50
Æ
SBD026 with DISTILLER Insert offset folio 50 here 41298.030
VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:54 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6011 F:\DOCS\41298.TXT DEBBIE
File and source
- File
- CHRG-116hhrg41298.pdf
- Size
- 2,554,716 bytes
- SHA-256
- 49c32945aabbb4a2c77c3ae1fb10c992d4019887488cb33ff746458ac0ef960d
- Our copy
- CHRG-116hhrg41298.pdf
- Original
- www.govinfo.gov