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.