News: Online exclusive

Governor prioritizes retraining workers [ONLINE EXCLUSIVE]

Grant from The Joyce Foundation should helps state deal with rising poverty rates

A grant from The Joyce Foundation awarded Monday will give low-wage workers the opportunity to gain skills needed to get better jobs in Wisconsin.

Gov. Jim Doyle announced the state will receive $600,500 to apply toward offering education to workers in need, a plan the governor feels is a top priority in the state.

Doyle spokesperson Carla Vigue said Monday’s announcement coincided with numerous other statewide poverty initiatives, including a conference the governor and members of the Department of Health and Family Services conducted in Milwaukee Monday.

“This award recognizes the progress we are making with our [Regional Industry Skills Education] Initiative and the potential to help many low-wage workers learn new skills that lead to better jobs,” Doyle said in a release. “RISE will also help ensure a skilled workforce for employers in high-demand sectors, such as health care, advanced manufacturing and information technology.”

RISE is a program Doyle set up three years ago with the help of a $1 million grant from The Joyce Foundation. The initiative works in conjunction with the Wisconsin Technical College System to develop tech training that’s useful for low-wage earners in Wisconsin.

Last year, Doyle also created the Wisconsin Sector Strategies Initiative, a program intended to change the way the state and businesses work together to train workers.

Dick Jones, spokesperson for the Department of Workforce Development, said the initiative focuses on assisting workers who split time between jobs and family.

“It will help these individuals gain skills and set them on career paths,” Jones said. “And here we’re talking about individuals who either have no more than a high school diploma or may have dropped out of high school.”

Jones said nearly two out of three jobs require more than a high school education and many people in the state don’t meet this requirement. Although certain areas may have higher proportions of people with no college degrees than others, Jones reiterated the initiative is a statewide effort.

The SSI will receive $3 million in the next two years. The $490,000 in grants will be used in coming months to address high-growth sectors industry leaders feel need the most attention.