At 4.4 percent, Minnesota has one of the lowest unemployment rates in America. Still, both here and nationally, too many employers struggle to fill positions because of a stubborn "skills gap'' — there simply aren't enough people with the right set of skills for available jobs.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., has been on a mission to close that gap for several years. As part of that worthy goal, he convened a conference earlier this week to highlight public-private partnerships that are successfully preparing people for good-paying jobs — many that don't require four-year college degrees. Attended by more than 300 educators, employers and others, the conference also helped attendees learn how to replicate and modify those collaborations to fit their own needs.
To encourage more partnerships, Franken will soon reintroduce his Community College to Career Fund Act. It's an initiative that deserves support.
The bill would create a competitive grant program to help fund collaboration between businesses, two-year colleges and training programs. To qualify for grants, the partnerships must focus on job training-related efforts, such as registered apprenticeships, on-the-job training opportunities, and paid internships for low-income students that allow them simultaneously to earn and learn.
This year the senator is wisely including K-12 schools as partners in his legislative proposal to help stimulate interest in high-demand fields among younger students. Career paths pursued in high school can be a low-cost alternative to traditional four-year degrees. And the bill would encourage programs that provide direct hiring opportunities for those burdened with barriers to employment as well as veterans and their families.
The idea is to support a workforce model that not only fills open jobs but also reduces the high cost of education for students and families.
Closing the skills gap is central to future prosperity. More than most states, Minnesota has an education-dependent economy. By 2018, according to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 70 percent of jobs will require postsecondary training, but only 40 percent of Minnesotans of working age today have a postsecondary credential.
That's why so many positions remain hard to fill in some areas of health care, light manufacturing and technology. Not only does the skills/job mismatch contribute to unemployment, but it also damages Minnesota's reputation as place with a strong workforce.
Minnesota already encourages partnerships between schools and local industries through grants and other incentives. In addition, the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank, is kicking off a two-year effort Wednesday to increase awareness of education and employment alternatives to four-year degrees.
Those efforts could use federal help. Congress should support Franken's plan.
