Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/22/2000 03:32 PM House L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
March 22, 2000
3:32 p.m.
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Industry Involvement in Workforce Development Overview
TAPE
00-34, SIDES A & B
CALL TO ORDER
REPRESENTATIVE NORMAN ROKEBERG reconvened the House Labor and
Commerce Standing Committee meeting at 3:32 p.m. [For hearings
on HB 303 and HB 419, see minutes for this date, 3:20 p.m.]
PRESENT
Committee members present were Representatives Rokeberg, Halcro,
Murkowski, Harris, Brice and Cissna.
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION
KITTY FARNHAM, Alaska Human Resources Investment Council (AHRIC),
Vice-Chair, provided a general overview of business learning
consortia and industry involvement in customized training of
Alaska's workforce. She introduced the panelists assembled to
provide the committee with their views on specific industry
partnerships. Ms. Farnham also offered supplemental comments
following each presentation and answered questions.
LARAINE DERR, President and CEO of Alaska State Hospital and
Nursing Home Association, discussed program goals,
accomplishments, a recent federal grant award, partnerships, and
initiatives as they pertain to health care workforce development
in Alaska. She presented information on educational programs at
University of Alaska campuses and distance learning programs
offered by institutions out of state. She also introduced Cari
Rene who works for her as a workforce development specialist.
TIM SUNDAY, Teamsters of Southeast Alaska, discussed abundant,
well-paying employment prospects in Alaska's transportation
industry. He identified options in the airline, shipping and
trucking industries.
JOHN PAYNE, Alaska Process Industries Career Consortium, in
response to questions from the committee, provided a definition
and examples of the process technician career field. He
continued with an overview of the employment opportunities for
individuals trained in this field and information regarding the
cooperative efforts of five local school districts offering K-12
pathways to careers. He discussed plans for the use of grant
funding recently provided by the Department of Labor and
Workforce Development (DLWD).
MS. SUDDOCK discussed an Alaska High-Tech Business Council
(AHTBC) pilot project designed to identify, recruit, and place 50
new information technology (IT) apprentices into Alaska
companies. The project has four major goals: address the IT
labor shortage in the state; establish a cooperation
comprehensive consortium of employers having IT needs,
educational institutions, and workforce development
organizations; establish a long-term structure and plan for
continued development; and enable access to federal and other
grant funding for long-term IT workforce development.
REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI asked whether the military was included.
MS. SUDDOCK responded that they were included "at the table."
CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG asked about the number of consortium members.
MS. SUDDOCK and MS. FARNHAM reasoned together that the number now
totaled 60.
HENRY SPRINGER, Construction Industry Consortium, discussed
Alaska's current construction workforce, union- and
employer-sponsored apprenticeship programs, a lack of prestige
associated with employment in the construction industry, and the
lack of a structured public vocational education system to
promote job opportunities in the field.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO inquired about telemedicine opportunities
in rural Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI inquired about the average age of AHRIC
student beneficiaries and asked why the students, at age 31, are
older than most students.
MR. PAYNE responded that the average student is older because he
or she has comes to the program with a two- or four-year degree
and hoping to pursue a second career.
MS. FARNHAM stated that the training program started in January,
and this might have precluded the participation of younger or
high school students.
CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG asked about the number of students projected to
participate in the program next fall.
MS. FARNHAM responded that between 80 and 100 students are
projected then. She added that the skills developed in the
current curriculum are easily marketable in Alaska and the Lower
48.
CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG asked whether the curriculum prepares graduates
for jobs on the North Slope.
MR. PAYNE responded that the job market for graduates is
represented by a "broad speckling" all over.
REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI asked whether the program would be
possible without private donations and scholarship opportunities.
MS. FARNHAM responded that involvement of private industries is
critical to the success of the program. She further stated the
program would not be possible without contributions from private
industry.
COMMITTEE ACTION
The committee took no action.
ADJOURNMENT
CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG adjourned the House Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting at 5:05 p.m.
NOTE:
The meeting was recorded and a handwritten log was made. A copy
of the tape and the log notes may be obtained by contacting the
House Records Office at the Terry Miller Legislative Office
Building, 129 Sixth Street, Room 229, Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182,
(907)465-2214; after adjournment of the second session of the
Twenty-First Alaska State Legislature, this information may be
obtained from the Legislative Reference Library, Terry Miller
Legislative Office Building, 129 Sixth Street, Room 102, Juneau,
Alaska 99801-1182, (907) 465-3808.
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