Industry Partnership Talking Points
As the economy recovers, it’s time to speed-up PA’s upskilling initiatives and training for the future
o Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnerships have broad bipartisan support.
o In 2010, HB 2230 (which would have established the Industry Partnership program in statute) passed the House of Representatives unanimously (197-0).
o This year, the re-introduced Industry Partnership bill, SB 552, has 35 sponsors and passed the Senate 49-0 on May 9, 2011.
o Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnerships (IPs) are working—connecting workforce education and training programs to the critical needs of industry.
o Partnerships identify common industry skill needs and communicate those needs to training partners, including colleges and high schools.
o More than 6,300 businesses are actively involved in IPs with more than 87,000 workers trained since 2005.
o 84 percent of participating businesses report that Industry Partnerships and training have helped them significantly increase their productivity
o Industry Partnerships increase the ROI (return-on-investment) from all public and private funds spent on education and training.
o Small investments in Industry Partnerships (half a penny per worker per work-day at last year’s funding level of $7.6 million) help communicate the needs of industry to trainers and educators, increasing the ROI from the much larger sums invested by the public and private sectors in education and skill upgrading.
o Partnerships encourage more businesses to provide internships for students and collaborate with Educator in the Workplace programs for teachers. This translates into more students with the entry-level skills businesses need.
o Since Partnerships must provide at least a one-to-one match of public funds, the private sector has invested more than $100 million in Industry Partnership training and activities since 2005-06—a clear demonstration that businesses recognize Partnerships add value.
o With the economy starting to recover, now is the time to upgrade worker skills and position businesses for the future.
o IPs help to offset expensive training costs, which enables companies to sustain employee training in a slow economy.
o Individuals trained by Industry Partnerships are more valuable to their employer and therefore retained at high rates. (The six-month retention rate for workers trained by Partnerships is 91%, vs. 80% for other workers—less than half as many workers trained through IPs lose their jobs.)
o Partnership training helps workers cost-effectively acquire “middle skills”— between high-school and a four-year degree—critical to competitiveness and opportunity. (Since PA a launched its Industry Partnership strategy, it has climbed from 46th to 41st measured by the share of workers with more than a high-school degree—but 41st is still far too low.)
o Business leaders in Pennsylvania support Industry Partnerships
o "Pennsylvania's Industry Partnership initiative has become a national model of excellence in workforce development strategies," said Pennsylvania Business Council President and CEO David W. Patti. "The business community strongly supports the program because it addresses critical workforce shortages in key industrial occupations through the voluntary collaboration of employers in similar industries or product lines, or which share supply chains, often cooperating with the associated organized labor unions. IPs work."
o "On behalf of the [Greater Philadelphia] CEO Council for Growth,…I am writing you today to express strong support for the Industry Partnership legislation..." Robert C. Wonderling, Chairman of the Council wrote recently to legislators. "Our organization recognizes the unprecedented contribution Industry Partnerships have made to Pennsylvania businesses and industries."
o Governor Corbett’s proposed 2011-2012 budget maintained $1,632,000 for Industry Partnerships and the administration also supports Industry Partnership legislation. As the state surplus grows during the economic recovery, these funds should be restored to $6.6 million for 2011-12 (still a 13% cut) so that this national model program can deliver for businesses and families.