Governor Names County Executive Hickner to State Workforce Panel
Bay Leader One of 73 Members of Job Training, Education Council
February 3, 2005
By: Dave Rogers
County Exec, Tom Hickner
How does Michigan double the number of college graduates
How do we upgrade middle school training programs?
What will cause Michigan students to become more interested in the technology of modern manufacturing?
Those are among the questions that Bay County Executive Thomas L. Hickner and 72 other members of a new state council will tackle beginning this month.
Putting together entrepreneurship, job training and retraining programsto meet the needs of Michigan industry is another key facet of the Council for Labor and Economic Growth (CLEG) to which Mr. Hickner has been appointed.
"I'm very pleased to be able to bring back to Bay County information and connections to some of the most important programs in which the state will be involved," commented Mr. Hickner.
CLEG replaces the former Workforce Development Board and is charged with connecting the state to business and the education system.
The first "hot potato" Mr. Hickner and the new council will be tossed is the recommendations of the commission headed by Lt. Gov. John Cherry aimed at doubling the number of college-level graduates, a key goal of Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Another task will be to fill more than 100,000 professional and technical and health care jobs over the next 10 years.
The council will also find ways to merge job training programs in the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) and the Family Independence Agency.
The plan is to divide the council into subgroups that will work on different issues, said David Hollister, DLEG director and the state's top economic development officer.
Mr. Hickner, who earned a master's degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University, served 12 years in the State Legislature as the "seatmate" of Mr. Hollister.
CLEG Chair is Sharon Wenzl, of Novi, vice president of Tower Automotive. "I had a concern for the connection between business, the state and the education system," said Ms. Wenzl. "I've been looking for a forum to bring these three interest groups together."
Ms. Wenzl said the new council will address the need to change both the job training programs students can access after middle school but also how to change the attitudes of studentstoward those programs. "To get studentsre-engagedand excited about some of the industry we have in the state is a good first step," she said.
Other members of the prestigious panel include officials from labor, community organizations, state departments, K-12 schools, government and local workforce boards.
Other members from this area include Gene Pierce, of Caro, assistant superintendent of the Tuscola Career and Technical Center; Gene Yost, Midland, retired president, Mid-Michigan Central Labor Council; and Lynn Zuellig, Frankenmuth, director of hospice, Lutheran Home Care Agency.###