▶ 0:15:02from the great state of Minnesota, former Olympic hockey player and the hockey USA team we know won the gold medal. I want to say congratulations to you and your sport. And uh before we get started, I'd like to recognize Congressman Schmidt from the great state of Kansas to lead us in the pledge and of allegiance and the prayer. Please stand.
▶ 0:16:14Say good morning to everyone. I want to say uh call the committee on small business to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time. Uh I want to now recognize myself for opening statement and I want to say welcome to today's hearing. Career and Technical Education, Developing the Future of Main Street Success. First, I want to thank our witnesses for joining us today during the National Career and Technical Education Month. Thank you all for being here.
▶ 0:16:39And career and technical education programs, also known as CCT programs, play a vital role in society that is all too often overlooked. Today, the committee will focus on several issues holding Main Street America back. There is no denying that small business across the nation are facing a shortage of skilled American workers. Millions of trade jobs remain unfulfilled. And this crisis is compounded as baby boomers retire in record numbers.
▶ 0:17:03The shortage is even worse in rural communities like those I represent in Texas where employers face additional barriers to find qualified workers. And I hear from people back home every day that we need more plumbers, we need more welders, we need carpenters, we need nurses, we need mechanics. Yet there is a crisis. There is also an opportunity. CTE programs have proven to provide students with effective pathways to high wage, high demand careers.
▶ 0:17:29President Trump and his administration have made workforce development a priority to address the growing demand for skilled workers and skilled trades. The working families tax cut uh act created workforce PEL grants to cover the cost of shortage of short-term credential programs, not just traditional college degrees.
▶ 0:17:48In addition to the SBA's workforce development resources, the Department of Labor announced a $145 million investment opportunity on January 6, 2026 to support the national apprenticeship program and system. The earlier this uh Congress, the House passed my bill, HR1642, the Connecting Small Business with Career and Technical Education Graduates Act.
▶ 0:18:09in this bill requires small business development centers and women's business centers uh to provide educational resources to small businesses on hiring CTE program Now, I'd like to once again thank my colleagues for their bipartisan support of this measure and I look forward to hearing more today about additional actions this committee can take to strengthen the pipeline to high demand jobs and help address our nation's workforce shortage crisis.
▶ 0:18:36I want to thank our panel again of witnesses for taking the time from your home to participate in this important hearing and we look forward to your testimony today. Uh I now recognize the distinguished ranking member Representative Tran from the great state of California for his opening remarks.
▶ 0:18:52Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh for convening this hearing on one of the most pressing issues facing small businesses, a shortage of workers with needed skill sets. The American work workforce is facing a series of compounding crises. An aging population means millions of baby boomers are soon retiring. Aggressive immigration enforcement is removing capable and law-abiding workers from the labor pool. And artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping which skills are valuable.
▶ 0:19:22Investing thoughtfully in workplace development is more urgent than ever. These workforce shortages are hitting hardest in the sectors where affordability has become a defining challenge for young Americans. In healthcare, we'll be short over 267,000 registered nurses by 2028. In housing, we are already we already lack as many as half a million builders, contractors, and construction managers.
▶ 0:19:48And as we attempt to reshore critical manufacturing, we lack the electricians, welders, and the advanced manufacturing workforce to make it a reality. The trend is clear. Traditional education pathways are failing workers and employers. Revamping career and technical education or CTE is a promising solution that builds on a system that has that has existed for decades. It's already widely present in high schools and students who concentrate in it see successful outcomes.
▶ 0:20:17Despite this success, it has long been underfunded. Adjusted for inflation, it has been cut by more than 50% since 1980. Over the past two decades, high school enrollment has flattened while postsecary enrollment has dropped by 25%. Bolstering these budget is a worthwhile investment. Conversely, registered apprenticeships have become one of the fastest growing CTE strategies with the number of apprentices doubling over the past decade.
▶ 0:20:44By combining classroom education with paid on the job training, they provide a direct pipeline into a job. 94% of apprentices retain employment after completion with an average starting salary of $80,000. They don't they don't just benefit workers, they benefit businesses as well. By strengthening retention and growing the labor pool, they provide a proven return on investment.
▶ 0:21:09Despite the benefits, small businesses face significant barriers barriers to The registration process is timeconuming and complex, making it difficult for resource constrained small employers. Promising solutions like apprenticeship intermediaries and consortiums give us an opportunity to reduce that burden. These models removes much of the administrative work for small businesses and allow them to partner together to address shortages.
▶ 0:21:37I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about how strengthening CTE and apprenticeships can relieve our workforce shortages, bolster small business growth, and make life more affordable for the American people. Chairman, I yield back.
▶ 0:21:53Gentleman yields back. Uh we'll now turn to witness introductions and recognize Mr. Breahan from the great state of Pennsylvania to introduce his constituent testifying here today.
▶ 0:22:04Thank you, Mr. chairman and I am proud to introduce our first witness today, Northeastern Pennsylvania's very own Dr. Keith Ganuski. Dr. Ganuski currently serves as superintendent of the Walm Papac Area School District. He brings more than 24 years of experience in education, having served students in a range of roles, including special education teacher, assistant principal, principal, and assistant superintendent. Dr.
▶ 0:22:29Ganoski has been a strong advocate for expanding student access to career and technical education, helping ensure his students can pursue good paying technical careers after graduation in fields like aviation, construction, culinary arts, and more. And they have a real life 737 simulator in Pennsylvania. Career and technical centers allow school districts within a region to share high-quality facilities and equipment, partner with local employers, and provide students with hands-on training that aligns with local workforce needs.
▶ 0:22:56Yet Wayne and Pike counties in my district remain the only two counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania without access to a CTC. That is finally being fixed as the WPAC school district alongside neighboring school districts is stepping up to fill this gap. I am proud to work with Dr. Ganoski to make sure this project becomes a reality for the students and families in Wayne and Pike.
▶ 0:23:16Beyond his professional duties, he is actively involved in his community, serving on the Wayne County YMCA board and the Wayne Memorial Hospital Advisory Committee and volunteering for more than 30 years as a firefighter. Dr. Ganoski earned his doctorate of education and leadership studies with a concentration of disaster preparedness and emergency management from Louisiana State University, Shrefport. And thank you for joining us today, taking time out of uh the busy day up in northeastern Pennsylvania. And I'm looking forward to our meaningful conversation. I yield.
▶ 0:23:46Gentleman yields back. And I'd like to now recognize Congressman Schmidt from the great state of Kansas to introduce his constituent testifying here today.
▶ 0:23:54Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much for convening this hearing today, and we appreciate you having a canen on the panel. Um, it's my pleasure to introduce Mike Gibson. Mr. Gibson is the executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors of Kansas. AGC of Kansas uh often builds itself as the Chamber of Commerce for the construction industry in Kansas, representing over 300 Kansas general uh contractors, subcontractors, and professional service firms and their 20,000 employees.
▶ 0:24:21It's headquartered in Witchah, but we forgive that because they have their legislative affairs shop in Topeka. Uh before this role, Mike was involved in similar workforce development roles with the industry in New Mexico, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas. He served on the board of directors for the National Center for Construction Education and Research and currently serves on that organization's workforce development committee. Um he is here today to talk with us about the Buildup Kansas program.
▶ 0:24:47Each of our colleagues has a a pamphlet uh on their desk and I would just characterize it this way. Uh this is an industry and employerdriven effort to connect all of the parts that are producing uh uh plumbers and construction workers and electricians. um so that the pipeline is feeding the actual jobs that are needed uh and fit in the local dynamics in every community around the state. It's a a terrific initiative. Uh I would just finally say, Mr.
▶ 0:25:14Chairman, Mike attended Texas Tech, which we forgive him for, but uh he is married to his wife, Rachel, for which we are grateful he brought her today. Rachel, wave for everybody. And Mr. Chairman, thanks for having this hearing.
▶ 0:25:25Gentleman yields back and you're right on Texas Tech. next witness today is Dr. Nikki Nicks, uh, one of my constituents from the great state of Texas and the great city of Godly, Texas. Uh, Dr. Nick serves as a chief academic officer for the Godly Independent School District in Godley, Texas. And Dr.
▶ 0:25:47Nicks has worked for nearly 20 years in public education, serving as a teacher, dual enrollment instructor, academic adviser, director of career and technical education, and as chief readiness officer. She has served on district committees and advisory boards including the Godly Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Dr. Nicks holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Midwestern State University, a master of education from Lamar University, and a doctor in education from Arkansas State University. She is respected leader in our district and we appreciate her being here today.
▶ 0:26:17I now recognize the ranking member from the great state of California, Mr. Tran. uh to briefly introduce our last witness appearing before us today.
▶ 0:26:26I got the pleasure of introducing uh Mr. Zach Borne who is a senior vice president of Apprenticeship for America where he leads national efforts to expand and modernize registered apprenticeships across the United States with nearly two decades of experience in apprenticeship and workforce policy. He previously directed federally and privately funded apprenticeship initiatives at the Urban Institute and served as director of registered apprenticeship and policy at the US Department of Labor.
▶ 0:26:55His work has been featured in multiple publications including US News and World Report, NBC News, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Washington Monthly, and Real Clear Politics. Thank you, Mr. Borin, and I look forward to your testimony and welcome your family as well. Thank you.
▶ 0:27:11I yield back. gentleman yields back and I want to say thank you again to all of the witnesses. We appreciate you uh being here today. Now before recognizing the witnesses, I'd like to remind them we got some rules around here. Okay. Uh I'd like to remind them that their oral testimonies restrict is restricted to five minutes in length. If you see the light turn red in front of you, uh it means your five minutes have concluded and you should wrap up your testimony. And if you hear this, that means you're going too long. You're ignoring the federal government and all that stuff that goes with it.
▶ 0:27:41So, we won't have much of that, but we we do watch that very closely. So, you'll see the lights there. So, uh now before recognizing witnesses, uh uh I want to remind them that your old testimony is is restricted to 5 minutes in length. And if you see the light turn red, you'll know what the time is. So, I want to now recognize Dr. Ganeski for his fiveminut opening
▶ 0:28:03Chairman and members of the United States uh House Small Business Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It is truly an honor to speak with you about the critical role career and technical education plays in strengthening Main Street America and building America's workforce. I can say that this topic is so important to me that I literally drove through a blizzard to be here today. Uh it was more of a blizzard warning. Uh my name is Keith Ganeski and I proudly serve as superintendent of the Wall and Paw Peek Area School District in northeastern Pennsylvania.
▶ 0:28:33Our district serves 3,000 students from Wayne and Pike counties and is very rural, covering 325 square miles. I am proud to say that our communities are rich in work ethic, resilience, and commitment to opportunity. Wayne and Pike counties are unique in Pennsylvania. We are the only two counties out of the 67 counties in the state that do not currently have a dedicated career in tech center. Yet, despite this, we have never approached this career and technical education with a deficit mindset.
▶ 0:29:02Instead, we have embraced a do with the best you can with what you have mindset. Using limited space and shared facilities, we have built strong highquality programs and automotive technology, outdoor power equipment, building construction, child care, allied health, which is our nursing program, engineering, culinary arts, protective services, which covers law enforcement, EMS, and firefighting, rehabilitation aid, and aviation.
▶ 0:29:31These AI resistant programs reflect the real workforce needs of our region and provide students with meaningful pathways to employment, entrepreneurship, and life sustaining wages all while staying in the beautiful northern Pocono Mountains. I am privy to be a part of a school district with rich history of identifying community and workforce needs and aligning those needs to curricular pathways and creating opportunities for our students so that schools to work relationships can be strengthened.
▶ 0:30:01My predecessors did not wait for the perfect conditions to make CTE programs a critical part of our school. Instead, ro robust programs were created. And I'm happy to report that today, over 40% of our high school students participate in CTE programs. We have accomplished this by flipping the script on career and tech education. Our programs are no longer viewed as vocational ed programs for the non-academic or the non-olbound student.
▶ 0:30:27Our programs are driven by certifications and post-secary accreditation, which allows students to bank college credits in high school, thus allowing them to graduate from college quicker with less debt and allow the students to begin honing their skills and expertise earlier in their educational experience. At the same time, the demand for career and tech education in rural Pennsylvania is overwhelming. Our neighboring career and tech centers are o operating at full capacity with hundreds of students on waiting lists.
▶ 0:30:57For example, the Monroe County Technical Institute currently has more than 600 students waiting for admission. And they are not alone. These are motivated students who want to learn, work, and contribute to their communities, but who are being turned away simply because there is not enough space.
▶ 0:31:15We feel the same restriction in our own CTE programs as many of our class sizes are limited due to the lack of student space in our school where we might have 25 students in a CTE program in a CTC that is held we are limited to about a dozen students in our current high school. That reality underscores the need for a CTC in Wayne and Pike counties. Today we are in the progress of of building what will be the final CTC in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
▶ 0:31:44This facility will represent the completion of a statewide network of CTE infrastructure and will ensure that no region is left behind. A major reason for this project is possible is the federal government's investment secured through the leadership of Representative Breahan. Through his advocacy, Wayne Pike CTC was awarded $3 million in federal funding. This investment is allowing us to expand capacity, modernize equipment, and create learning environments that mirror today's workplaces.
▶ 0:32:14This funding is not about bricks and mortar. It is about access. It is about workforce readiness. It is about giving rural students the same opportunities as their peers in more opulent uh affluent areas. In our region, 60% of our students are considered economically disadvantaged. Career and tech education is not an alternative path. For many families, it is the primary pathway to economic stability.
▶ 0:32:38It connects students directly to local contractors, healthc care providers, manufacturers, service businesses, and entrepreneurs. It prepares them not only to work on Main Street USA, but to become Main Street USA. Our students graduate ready to participate in post-secary education if they choose, ready to contribute to our country in the armed forces if they choose, and ready to contribute to our workforce if they choose. Our employers gain skilled workers, our communities grow stronger.
▶ 0:33:06Today, I look forward to sharing how strategic investments in career and tech education can strengthen small businesses, expand rural economies, and build a workforce prepared for long-term success. Thank you for the opportunity to be here, and I welcome your questions and our
▶ 0:33:21Thank you. Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Gibson uh for his fiveminute opening remarks.
▶ 0:33:27Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, first I'd want to thank Congressman Derek Schmidt for his uh, leadership and vision of Kansas and his invite today. I also would like to thank your staffer uh, Colin Hall for his his assistance and having us today. Purpose of my testimony today is to share with you some best practices and uh, successes that AGC of Kansas has uh, uh, developed in Kansas. Uh, our program, our workforce development program for CTE is called Build Up Kansas.
▶ 0:33:55you have a brochure in front of you that is already outdated, but uh it gives you a little uh flavor of what's what it's all about. But uh this is the most successful public private partnership in the state of Kansas and maybe uh Midwest in terms of focus bringing together uh policy makers, educators and the construction industry to laser focus on CTE technical training uh for our younger generation. a historical perspective.
▶ 0:34:24Uh over the last 40 years, uh schools have been told to send everybody to college. We all know that. But with that, they've spent the lion share of their resources on preparing kids for college. In Kansas, we with our focus groups, and I believe this reflects the country, nearly 70% of our students either can't afford to go to college or don't want to go to college. So, what are they doing?
▶ 0:34:48Uh we we approached the Kansas border of regents which oversees the uh college and co community college and votech colleges and the Kansas department of education with our training curriculum partner the national center for construction education research NCCR to get the those that curriculum approved. It's the only construction trade materials approved by both agencies. The reason for that is it's has a credential component that the students have that they can uh demonstrate their their proficiencies.
▶ 0:35:17But it now has become the number one pathway uh cited by the Kansas Department of Education. Construction technology leads the way of every uh profession uh pathway in the state and we're real proud about that. Uh what brought us to this point in terms of CTE programming being a top priority for Kansas? Four years ago, Panasonic was looking to move out of California and they they looked at Oklahoma and looked at Kansas.
▶ 0:35:47The key question that they asked, and I would suggest to you why your committee is so important to this country, is the question they asked our governor, our lieutenant governor, and our legislature was, if we're going to invest $5 billion in your state, we need 13,000 construction workers to build that facility. But the question was, can you build and can you maintain our facility?
▶ 0:36:12I would suggest to each one of you as policy makers that is the s the key to success for every state that you represent now and well into the future. Can you build and maintain our facility? And we we stepped up with Buildup Kansas. We now with funding from the state which pays for the textbooks, the online testing for credentials and the train the trainer for the instructors.
▶ 0:36:37In less than three years, we have had 150 high schools and community colleges come online with CTE programs. 10,000 students uh in carpentry, welding, electrical, HVAC, sheet, she sheet metal, plumbing, and the core curriculum. The great news is 21% of those 10,000 students are female. The female population is being migrated or are drawn into construction because of the great careers and get great pay.
▶ 0:37:03Uh we also uh with this the NCCR curriculum, it's approved by the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, Department of Justice, our Kansas Board of Regents, and Kansas uh Department of Education. We're not just stopping with the high schools and community colleges. We have four correctional facilities. They're using our curriculum. The largest is right outside of Witchah. The the Elorado Correctional Facility has 150 low-risk inmates taking masonry training.
▶ 0:37:29those stu those those low-risisk inmates as soon as they being released or being hired by industry, they're telling me they're better employees than the ones they have. Uh the other component that the uh Department of Commerce likes with what we're doing, we have an HR platform that we provide at no cost to the construction industry to post their jobs by craft and by city. And we geoence the high schools that are partners with us. The kids can download their resume and send it directly to the HR director who posted that job opening for an interview.
▶ 0:37:58Uh that is something that no one else has. The publisher for NCCR curriculum is Pearson. Pearson has gone over the country. They have not seen a partnership like what Buildup Kansas has brought to the table. My recommendations to you uh in in closing increased funding to Perkins Act is critical. I also would suggest that the administration, whether it be this one or in the future, establish a CTE ZAR.
▶ 0:38:27Uh that way, business, industry, and education knows who to go to on the Department of Labor that specializes in CTE. I'd also take a page of my former life running the AGC highway. Look at a funding formula that if a state spends $1 on CTE, the feds matches that dollars. And then the last one, don't forget about construction trade associations. They have the finger on the pulse of policy makers, education, and business industry.
▶ 0:38:55They know what their workforce needs is, and if you put provisions in your congressional
▶ 0:38:59gentleman's time is up.
▶ 0:39:00I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. I I appreciate the
▶ 0:39:03Uh thank you again for that great report. I now recognize Dr. Nicks uh for her fiveminute opening remarks. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Tran, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the critical connection between career and technical education, CTE, and our nation's workforce and developing the future of Main Street success. My name is Dr. Nikki Nicks, chief academic officer for Godley ISD in Texas.
▶ 0:39:29With more than 20 years in education as a CTE teacher, coordinator, and director, I've seen firsthand how education and small business must work together to prepare students for meaningful careers. Godly is a fast growing rural community southwest of Fort Worth, Texas. Our district serves around 3,300 students and covers 122 square miles. Our residential growth has surged, but our large-scale industry has not grown.
▶ 0:39:56Strong public schools and thriving small businesses are truly the heartbeat of our community. In 2024, we opened the Wild, the Wildcat Innovative Learning Destination, a 77,000 square foot CTE center intentionally designed within a traditional football stadium footprint to maximize taxpayer dollars.
▶ 0:40:15What looks like a football stadium from the highway is actually more than 40 classrooms, collaboration spaces, and learning environments serving 13 CTE programs of study ranging from agriculture and health science to audio, video, and In these programs, students are in industry-based certifications aligned with rural workforce needs.
▶ 0:40:35Because local internship opportunities are limited for us, we intentionally designed studentran enterprises inside of the wild to replicate real world Shop the Wild, our school store, is a fullyrun student enterprise where entrepreneurship students manage every aspect of the business while selling apparel and spirit items.
▶ 0:40:55Shop the Wild also serves as a point of sale for programs within the facility, like our drone students, who are often hired to film aerial footage of properties for our local real estate agents and welding students building custom projects for community members. Wild Blooms is our floral design shop. It's open to the public during high demand events like homecoming and Valentine's Day, turning the classroom into a working retail business.
▶ 0:41:20I lead our information technology program supports and services all of our student technology devices across the district. Through this studentled enterprise, we are able to bring device repairs inhouse, eliminating costly outsourcing fees while providing students with authentic hands-on experience. Since opening the wild, CT enrollment has grown significantly.
▶ 0:41:41Our students are drawn to the authentic labs, real world equipment, and coursework that lead to tangible credentials and career Texas provides weighted funding for CTE courses, which is critical. However, in fast growth communities like ours, increases in the state homestead exemption limit local revenue growth. This directly affects our ability to expand facilities and meet the demand students have for highquality workforce programs. The small business committee can play a pivotal role in strengthening CTE.
▶ 0:42:11Some key actions from you might include things like creating tax incentives or direct funding for small businesses that hire high school interns or apprentices, helping to offset training and supervision costs. Providing incentives for local and regional workforce development organizations to formerly partner with public schools and building workforce ready talent pipelines. supplementing local salary schedules to create competitive T CTE teacher pay.
▶ 0:42:39enabling schools to recruit rec recruit professionals with real world prohibiting unfunded state and federal mandates and ensuring that K12 funding grows at at least the rate of inflation and restricting state actions that reduce or undermine local funding mechanisms, particularly those that limit bonding capacity for fast growth districts like Godley, such as excessive increases to homestead exemptions that erode district's ability to finance facilities and CTE infrastructure.
▶ 0:43:08Current technical education is no longer an alternative pathway. It is an essential strategy for economic growth and small business sustainability. When students graduate with certifications and real world experience, they strengthen small business. They fill workforce gaps and they often become entrepreneurs themselves. At Godley ISD, we believe education should launch students into opportunity, supporting small businesses and the future of Main Street.
▶ 0:43:37Thank you for your time today and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:43:42Gentle lady yields back. I now recognize Mr. Borne for his five-minute opening
▶ 0:43:48Chairman Williams, breaking member Tran and distinguished members of this committee. Uh, thank you for convening this hearing on how we can strengthen America's main streets by investing in career and technical education, including apprenticeships. Uh, I'm Zach Borne. I'm senior vice president of Apprenticeships for America. We're a national industry association advancing apprenticeships as America's first choice talent strategy.
▶ 0:44:12Our northstar is to reach at least four million active apprentices over the next decade, putting us on par with Germany, Switzerland, England, competitors that invest heavily in the trades and apprenticeships. I'm grateful to be here at a hearing about career and technical education uh because that's what apprenticeships are.
▶ 0:44:32Uh, apprenticeships are the oldest form of work-based learning and CT is where that journey begins, building real hands-on skills, and apprenticeships are where those skills turn into paid jobs, credentials, and careers. Together, they form this seamless pathway from school to work. I'm also the proud son of an apprenticeship graduate myself. Uh, my dad completed a meter technician apprenticeship in Indiana.
▶ 0:44:59Uh his apprenticeship didn't just land him a job, it built a trade that sustained our family and built our American dream for more than 50 years and still does today. My career includes a decade of civil service at the US Department of Labor, working across multiple administrations to expand registered apprentichips. During that time, we reached a 20-year high in apprentices and participating employers.
▶ 0:45:25We cut red tape by 70% and we expanded the GI Bill for veterans who needed access to those education dollars. I've worked with Fortune 500s like Google and GM to build apprenticeship programs. But just as importantly, I've worked with small employers uh with with similar talent needs. One example is Technically IT. It's a small minority owned business in South Carolina. Its founder, Ashley, turned to apprenticeships to grow in a in a tight labor market.
▶ 0:45:53With support for training and startup costs, she launched quickly and saved nearly $100,000 in education expenses, and her company grew. Her story matters because small businesses employ nearly half of America's private sector workforce. Yet, they consistently say that the biggest challenge is finding skilled workers.
▶ 0:46:16Registered apprenticeships allow employers to train workers to indust industry specifications with local flexibility while workers earn a paycheck from day one. The average Congressman Tran pointed out, earns about $80,000 when they complete that apprenticeship program and their earnings increase 50%. Employers see a good return, too. 144% return on investment while significantly lowering worker turnover.
▶ 0:46:45Yet today, just 3/10en of 1% of American workers are apprentices. With nearly 6 thou 80,000 Americans learning through apprenticeships each year, it's more learners than the nine largest public universities combined. But apprenticeships receive only a fraction of the federal investment for education. For every dollar we invest in apprenticeships, a thousand is spent on higher education. Small businesses face their own set of barriers to adopting apprenticeships.
▶ 0:47:14Those include upfront costs, administrative complexity, and slow state approval processes can hamper their success. I have experienced this kind of apprentichip bureaucracy myself. Uh, in Pennsylvania, a small business I supported waited more than 10 months and three council hearings for approval even though they had a solid training plan that met the state's requirements and they were ready to hire. Delays like that mean lost contracts and lost workers.
▶ 0:47:42If Congress wants to unlock apprentichip growth, then we must make it easier to start and financially worker workable for small employers. The most effective model is a group employer sponsor approach. It's where multiple small businesses share infrastructure and coordinate training and compliance. North Carolina really shows the way where more than 25 groups help employers collaborate with community colleges and to scale their own apprentichip programs in a variety of industries.
▶ 0:48:10When small businesses work together, they don't have to build everything on their own. They train together and they grow. Uh, this committee can incentivize groups of employers to start apprentichips through a payfor performance model that rewards hiring and completion, not paperwork and process that protects taxpayers and lowers risk for employers. This committee gets it. What drives Main Street is risk, cash flow, and workforce.
▶ 0:48:38Building and incentivizing apprentichip addresses all three. It's the most effective talent and anti-poverty strategy we have where Americans can advance through their sweat, not student debt. Strengthening families and hometowns. We do not need a new idea for small business talent. We need an old one. Registered apprentichip works. Let's scale what works. Thank you for your time. I look forward to your
▶ 0:49:06Let me also bring up some If you see members walking in, walking out is nothing you said. Nobody's mad. there's a lot of their hearings going on and so they'll come and go. So I just want to make sure we uh understand that. And uh now we'll move to the member questions under the fiveminute rule that we talked about and I'll recognize myself for five minutes. Dr.
▶ 0:49:24Nicks, uh, based on your experience teaching CTE programs, uh, these programs provide a pivotal solution to the skill workforce shortage and offer students a robust pathway to, uh, acquire hands-on experience, industry recognized certifications, and valuable partnerships with local businesses. My question is, what more can be done to increase awareness of skilled trades so students can utilize them as pathways to highpaying, in- demand careers?
▶ 0:49:52I think it starts with really recognizing the fact that you can graduate and enter the workforce with a skilled trade that costs you pretty much nothing if you're coming from public school. There's not a college tuition that you have to pay to get that. A lot of times high schools can provide that full certification um in your high school experience and you can graduate with little to no debt. Um I think incentivizing that and helping parents understand that is a huge part of promoting and recruiting students into skilled trades for sure.
▶ 0:50:19Perfect. Uh, additionally, how would an increase in CTE students and graduates benefit rural communities like Godley, uh, like the one that you serve in my district and other others around it?
▶ 0:50:32The more students we can get certified and ready to enter the workforce, the the faster our community is going to grow. As I mentioned earlier, we are a rural community and our growth has largely come from rooftops and not an industry or even a lot of small businesses.
▶ 0:50:47If we can graduate students who understand the culture of Godley and in keeping our small town field that our community loves, those students want to come back and live and work in our community and start new businesses there um to provide construction trades and welding and um masonry jobs right here locally um to our own community and that helps um our our own town in a in a tremendous way.
▶ 0:51:09Uh Mr. Gibson. Uh, by 2030, data suggests that if the workforce shortage is not addressed, it will cost the US economy $1.75 trillion in lost revenue. So, uh, can you explain how your member businesses have strengthened their partnerships with CTE programs?
▶ 0:51:27Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. One thing I I I'll build on uh with my confereie. We did a presentation last fall amongst a western Kansas economic developers. And after the presentation, a mayor of a little town of 500 came up to me and said, "Mike, y'all keep focusing on technical trades." He said, "We had a water main break in our city 6 months ago.
▶ 0:51:52It took three weeks to find a backhole operator and we had to have our residents use bottled water." That's one example. How how did that impact quality of life and and economic development? But I would suggest to you that going back to the the original question that Panasonic asked, building and maintain a facility, we're we're right now you are working to try to attract all those companies that left this country over the years to come back here. And I know they're asking the same question.
▶ 0:52:21Are you are we capable of building and maintaining our facilities? And the key to that is technical trades. I will promise you the return on the investment is multiffold in terms of what the the employer needs. The employee has a professional career in our state. We need 58,000 new construction workers. I told the speaker of the house, I made this comment two years ago.
▶ 0:52:43I said, "You have a partner with AGC of Kansas that cannot fail." He said, "You're making a bold statement in front of my colleagues." I said, "No, sir." I said, 'If we don't get 58,000 new construction workers over the next three to five years, I'm going to have a lot of construction firms going out of business because the first thing a contractor needs is people in order to bid a project.
▶ 0:53:02So, this has a a ripple effect throughout the economy and with the infrastructure the the we all know that our highways and bridges and overall infrastructure is aging. It's going to require uh a big amount of of professional career uh folks coming out of the high school and community college in VOTE uh more so than ever before.
▶ 0:53:27Thank you,
▶ 0:53:30Dr. uh Guski. Uh the Wayne Pike Career and Technical Center is a joint effort among multiple school districts in Pennsylvania to house 13 career and technical education programs. My question is can you discuss the importance of a dedicated CTE center for engaging students in CTE programs at a very young age?
▶ 0:53:50Absolutely. I think you know one of the things uh going back to a previous question of what else we can do. I think it is important to uh begin early exploration of the trades um in in career and tech education um starting at kindergarten on up. Um, it not only um really allows the students to hone in on an interest that they might particularly have, it also focuses on non-traditional students, students that may not have seen their their pathway going through the world of career and tech education.
▶ 0:54:20And so I do believe having that CTC, having a CTC is critical because it's it it puts the message out that this is important. Um, it also creates half-day programs. Right now, our students uh if they want to attend a career in teched program in our school from a neighboring school district, they must um actually withdraw from their current school and enroll in our school, leaving their friends and families behind. So, we're forcing kids to choose between their families and friends.
▶ 0:54:47My time is up. My time is up. Thank you for that. U I now recognize the ranking member for five minutes of questions.
▶ 0:54:54Thank you, chairman. Mr. Borne. Uh, I'm proud to co-lead HR1642, the Connecting Small Businesses with Career and Technical Education Graduates Act with my colleagues, uh, Chairman Williams, Congressman Oeski, and Congressman Brna Brashnahan. Our bill aims to help small business owners fill gaps in their workforce by connecting them with graduates of vocational programs through SBA's small business development center program.
▶ 0:55:22I think one of the largest missed opportunities in our economy is between connecting CTE graduates and the small businesses that desperately needs their skills. Right now, small businesses are often the last to know that a pipeline of trained job ready workers exist in their own backyard. From your work with apprenticeships nationwide, how important is it to formally connect small businesses with CTA graduates? and what best practices have you seen that ensure these partnership translate into
▶ 0:55:54That's a great question. Um, and you know, it's it really begins with CTE. CTE builds those foundational skills at the high school and community college level. Uh, but we've not yet built this pathway from career and technical education into registered apprentichips, which are those paid on the job learning opportunities.
▶ 0:56:14We have this real disconnect between what happens at the Department of Education under CTE and registered apprenticeship which has a large fairly large footprint of 680,000 uh apprentices nationwide. Um we can also look at uh pre-apprenticeship as a real bridge in between CTE and and and apprenticeships. And you know a really great example of that is what's happening in Iowa.
▶ 0:56:40So, uh, I worked with Central Campus in De Moine, Iowa, uh, led by a terrific director. They partnered with John Deere and a bunch of their suppliers to build apprenticeship programs at the high school that leverages the CTE training that's happening in the high school with what's happening at the factory.
▶ 0:57:02So this is really the idea of like how do we connect, you know, CTE leaders at the high school level with businesses that actually have those jobs in demand. You know, on that in your written testimony, you wrote about a uh secret sauce that helps small businesses apprenticeship program succeed. Can you further discuss those factors?
▶ 0:57:24Yeah, I think the secret sauce is really coming out of North Carolina. Uh and it's not just their barbecue. Uh it's it's really how they have built uh 25 different consortia uh across the state. You know these these consortium that bring employers together to design apprentichip programs to organize them with other employers who have like needs and then also to to bring them to scale. So a great example of that is apprentichip 2000.
▶ 0:57:54Uh it's a 30-year youth apprenticeship program just outside of Charlotte. It began with about eight or nine companies uh both German, Swiss, Austrian and American. And uh you know really amazing aspect of that is that uh they they had this need in 1994 for something called mechatronics.
▶ 0:58:14Uh and mechatronics is probably pretty familiar to everyone today, but it's really this combination of mechanics and engineering uh at the factory floor level, but the community college had no idea how to teach it. So they came together as a consortium to build the apprenticeship program together as you know kind of uh not necessarily competitors but people working in the same industry and they've been able to sustain that program for over 30 years.
▶ 0:58:43Uh one of the young men I met there was at Maretch Diamond Mold named Shawn. Uh he was 21 years old just finished his apprenticeship program. He was buying his second house getting married. We asked him what his friends were doing. Most of them were on their couch, you know, vaping and playing video games. Meanwhile, he's living the American dream.
▶ 0:59:04Question for the entire panel if I get a chance. Uh, how do we change the narrative nationally so that career career and technical education is seen as an equal value to traditional college pathways? Uh, why don't I start with you, Mr. Gani?
▶ 0:59:20Yes. Uh, just to re-echo what what I said before, I think it's the it's the early education. It's it's going to our um you know going to the elementary schools and the middle schools um and and giving them the opportunities to see what their what their pathway can can can include. I also think it's important to ensure that all of the equipment that we have is reflective of the equipment that's in industry so that we're not working on two different levels uh teaching kids one pathway and then they enter the field in an industry and they are working on different equipment.
▶ 0:59:50So I think mirroring that equipment is
▶ 0:59:52Thank you. I'm I'm out of time, but uh chairman, I yield back. Look forward to talking with you all a little more.
▶ 0:59:57Gentleman yields back. Now recognize Mr. Stabber from the great state of Minnesota and uh the hockey magnet in this group uh and champion for 5
▶ 1:00:08Well, first off, uh Mr. Chair, I appreciate you holding this meeting and I want to be real crystal clear. I actually tried out for the 92 Olympic team and I wasn't good enough. So that that was the way it is. Uh but my uh younger brother coached the women's team to the 2018 uh Olympic gold medal in Pyangqeng and uh I can tell you that uh these the women's Olympic gold medal and the men's gold medal something special for our country and I think we had to we have to congratulate the athletes and uh I don't know
▶ 1:00:38about you but you get chills and a tear in your eye when they've got that flag wrapped around them uh you know skating around the rink. both the men's and women women's team. We're so proud of them and all the athletes that uh made the United States proud. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh Mr. Gibson, a end of at the end of last year, there were roughly 6.5 million job openings nationwide in northern Minnesota and across the 8th district.
▶ 1:01:03Contractors tell me they have work lined up, but it can't it can be difficult to find enough skilled workers to get it done. From your vantage point, how is the skilled labor shortage impacting the construction companies you represent, especially small and midsize firms?
▶ 1:01:18Thank you. uh Buildup Kansas uh took this on uh several years ago uh because again we need 58,000 new construction workers to keep up with uh market demand. But the the bottom line is the small to mediumsiz firms are now having to be very selective on what they bid uh which keeps them from being able to grow their company, grow their expertise and and other related uh growth
▶ 1:01:45And that's what we want to do in small business, Mr. Gibson. Absolutely.
▶ 1:01:49Have the small business man or woman be part of that.
▶ 1:01:51Absolutely. The other thing and the thing I saw when I moved to Kansas 15 years ago was Kansas is ranked over the last 40 years 40 to 45th in the country for out migration of population. We're actually slowing that down to where employers are starting to see because of CTE programs.
▶ 1:02:09those young women and men taking technical trade programs and they're getting their credentials to where they can get jobs close to home where they grew up versus moving somewhere else and and their parents following where they go. And when their parents retire, guess what? They follow and and and sell their homes and and take their wealth with them to wherever their kids and grandkids are.
▶ 1:02:31So, our employers are really excited about what CTE has brought to the table because it has actually increased the number of a a working pool of of technical trade folks with credentials that they can immediately put to work on the job site.
▶ 1:02:47Right? You know, uh, one of the things that when I talk to, uh, high schools, I say u, the, uh, the, uh, at the graduation, you know, instead of, uh, when we recognize the highest, uh, GPA, uh, in the class, why don't we recognize the best mechanic? Why don't we recognize the best carpenter? Why don't we recognize the sheet metal worker that uh, made something to put on display? We have to we have to really uh, push for that.
▶ 1:03:16And I want to thank you all uh you know for doing that. Go ahead. Mr.
▶ 1:03:19G. I we actually with our community college in VTECH we actually have a a graduation ceremony where we're just as a graduation for our our college students. We're doing the same thing. But uh the the the bottom line being is uh you've got to look at how you provide those resources for that younger generation. They look for structure.
▶ 1:03:42And technical trade programs, apprenticeship programs. In fact, my good friend Mr. Boat Roy talked about uh the different programs out there. Kansas is now one of the leading apprenticeship programs, pre-appren pre apprenticeship programs, and the reason for that is it brings structure to the younger generation who is seeking that structure. I've got one minute left. Um and this is for anybody here.
▶ 1:04:05You have another minute.
▶ 1:04:06I can have another Oh, thank you, Mr. Chair. What would you say the impact will be from the new policy in the one big beautiful bill where Congress created the workforce PEL grant which will allow PEL funds to be used for components of registered apprentichip programs starting this July?
▶ 1:04:24I'm happy to take that one.
▶ 1:04:25Go ahead, Mr.
▶ 1:04:26Uh yeah, we're excited uh about Workforce PEL. I think, you know, PEL has long incentivized uh, you know, college students to to do well in college, be able to save uh, some of those dollars. That that gets really expensive. You know, uh, the average student loan debt is 38,000 across the United States. A whopping 1.7 trillion in student loans.
▶ 1:04:48And today we're really looking at workforce pel being able to bring new talent into the trades into a number of occupations that don't necessarily require a four-year degree and offset both uh the cost of the student uh as well as the small employer that wants to hire that talent. Uh we're going to see how this rolls out. We're really excited about what the Department of Education has done here.
▶ 1:05:14Uh, but it's going to take a lot of innovation at the state level to get it off the ground.
▶ 1:05:18And I think that you bring it up at the state level, I I I I want the states to compete. I want the states to compete uh, you know, for these for the workforce. And uh, I hope that every all 50 states agrees with that because at the state level, I think there's be great uh, things coming out of uh, u, you know, the discussions at the state level. Does anybody else want to talk about the workforce PEL grants? Because PEL grants have never been used for registered apprentichips. anybody. Mr. Gibson, go ahead.
▶ 1:05:45I I think you're going to see that uh the states that are focused on CTE are going to step up and take advantage of of these opportunities like no no tomorrow because again what we're seeing is our policy makers, our education uh uh deliverables. We we use community colleges and votech to deliver a lot of our training programs.
▶ 1:06:06And then the other thing that we told uh Congressman Smith, what a great story legislators have to tell to their constituents on how articulation agreements are being used by high schools and community colleges to use resources like resources and not having to duplicate it. But these PEL PEL grants will only reinforce that momentum that is being uh uh uh shown on CTE.
▶ 1:06:30Thank you very much. Thank you indulging me for an extra minute, Mr. Chair, and I yield back.
▶ 1:06:34Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Cisneros in the great state of California for five minutes.
▶ 1:06:39Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to uh all our witnesses for being in here today on this uh important topic. Um I'm going to start this first question with our two uh educators here on the panel, Dr. Gunny and Dr. Nicks. Um you know, back when I was in high school, uh which is not that many a few years ago, you know, we had electives where you could take whether it be wood shop, metal shop, auto mechanics, home economics, and a lot of that went away.
▶ 1:07:09And I know now we've created these pathways that students could get on. But, uh, the thing I kind of worry about, right, it's, you know, these used to be electives, things that could kind of go, you could go from this or that and kind of see what you liked rather than having to choose a pathway and then that becomes your direction that now you're, for a lot of students, if they do it for a little while and then decide they don't like it, they're still kind of stuck on that pathway on their way to How do we get back to a system where we can expose students to
▶ 1:07:39different things, let them choose these electives? So, so they don't have to kind of make this decision and they can kind of work. You know what? I think I like this. You know, maybe I didn't like that, but let me try this. How do we get back to that? Well, if you use myself as an example, I changed my major five times in college and got a degree and then still went back and got an alternative certification to become an educator. So, most times, even after you enter the workforce, you change the your job multiple times before you actually find where you land.
▶ 1:08:08I think that's an important distinction to make for our students as well. Um, and it's something that people have touched on in different arenas already. Um, PEL grants are great for you when you're graduating high school. Um, apprenticeships are great for you as you're in high school and leaving high school and going into college. These are all things that address the problem when you're ready to enter the workforce. But I think a bigger part of the core problem is addressing this from preK to professionals.
▶ 1:08:32It's an initiative we have in our district where we start with students as young as prek, start having conversations with students about what their innate abilities and strengths are. Um, if you aren't good at conflict conflict resolution as a kindergarten and you can't keep your your hands to yourself, um, you probably won't be a really good police officer if you're not innately good at that. Doesn't mean that you can't be. Um, but it's going to be a lot harder path for you to achieve that and be successful in it.
▶ 1:08:57So, we have a lot of conversations about students learning about what their abilities are, where their strengths lie, and then helping um them understand what careers align with that outside of just their sphere of influence. Because if you grew up in a household where your dad was a police officer and your grandpa was a police officer and your uncle was a police officer, that's what's familiar to you.
▶ 1:09:17So, we have to be very intentional about exposing students to careers outside of what they're immediately in contact with, helping them learn about who they are as individuals, and then helping connect them to careers that align with those so that they can make informed decisions as they move through life.
▶ 1:09:32Well, thank you for that answer. Uh, I think it is important to kind of work with kids young to find what they're good at and kind of um help facilitate that process. But, Dr. Gunksky, what would you uh how would you
▶ 1:09:43Yeah, absolutely. I think um that is a great question and what we do at our school is as ninth graders all students pick a wide variety of introductory classes that they can take short little bursts which are basically a microcosm of the pathways that they can explore and then the students once they pick that pathway uh they are able to change if that's something that they realize they don't like because it's not only important to find out what you want to do for the rest of your life it's also equally critical to find out what you don't want to do for the rest of your life as early as possible but
▶ 1:10:13I I think it's important and I'll use this analogy when you talk about taking a variety of classes. I think that you know when you when you if you were to look at each class as a brick and if you just take a smattering of classes throughout your entire career at the end of your high school career you might have a pile of bricks. If you take those within a given pathway you've taken those bricks and built a foundation of which you can now build your career on.
▶ 1:10:38So that's kind of the idea that we're that we're focusing on is ensuring that kids are leaving with a firm foundation, not a pile of
▶ 1:10:45All right. Thank you for that. And um you know, Mr. Borne and and um let me ask you this, right? Uh I've been told um I've heard it and actually the chairman kind of said the same thing here, right? But I've been told by many CEOs, I don't need more MBAs, I need more welders. Mhm.
▶ 1:11:05So, how can this committee help facilitate that process?
▶ 1:11:10Yeah, I think this committee plays an important role on um on really helping uh small employers work together. Uh as I mentioned in my testimony, North Carolina is a great example of how we build consortia of small employers, medium-siz employers with all the similar talent challenges. Um, you know, I talked about uh how these employers can come together through group sponsorship programs offered by the US Department of Labor.
▶ 1:11:41Um and certainly in California uh it's possible to bring together the the same training under the same roof with the uh same ability to recruit build a brand name just the way we see colleges build a brand name today and go out and build really uh first class training programs.
▶ 1:12:02All right. Well, thank you for those answers and I'm out of time so I yield back. M
▶ 1:12:05Mr. Chair, could could I just expand on his question?
▶ 1:12:0810 seconds.
▶ 1:12:0910 seconds. It's how you deliver to the younger generation. They get all their information here. We spend almost 40% of our total budget, workforce CTE budget on social media pushing out the careers and the the pathways.
▶ 1:12:25Gentleman's time is up
▶ 1:12:26and so keep that in mind.
▶ 1:12:29Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Muer from the great state of Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:12:33Thank you, Chairman. Uh thank you to our witnesses very much. Dr. Gnooki, nice to see you. I know you I know that ride very well that that you took on the way down here and I'm also not surprised at all to hear how Congressman Breznahan was very supportive uh as he uh works real hard for the district of course for the long term and and the short term. So that's that's outstanding work. Good to hear. Um you know career and technical schools uh we all get it um as far as their importance.
▶ 1:13:00All you got to do is walk in one and and see a a young man, a young lady whom might have their head on the desk in a traditional schooling and now's got a bounce in their step. They're taking care of business. They love what they're doing. It's fantastic. I love seeing it in the high schools uh in the public schools and uh and then you know in the uh in the CTE themselves. We fortunately in in in my district right outside of Congressman Brezahan's district have some great CTE schools.
▶ 1:13:27Pentech for instance, um SC Skookul County Technical Center, North umberland County, Lebanon County Technical Center, we have some great ones. Columbia Mour, Burks County, um Lazern County Community College has a outstanding program yet they're jammed. Um and they they could be uh more expansive and the the funding uh is not there necessarily for the capacity.
▶ 1:13:53And let's face it as well, the apparatuses and and and machines that they use uh is not always available because they need the latest things in order to develop the skills at the right level. So it's great how you integrate with you know it's really a training ground for a lot of businesses. So I know that's a that's that's a big piece of it. Um another big piece of it of course is um in 2019 our friend from Pennsylvania actually GT Thompson had a lot to do with the Perkins grants being expanded.
▶ 1:14:23So, that's very, very important, very meaningful. Last year, Pennsylvania got $50 million. I'd like to see that be a lot more than that, double if not triple. Uh, and as well, the Pell Grants under the BBB, as I think you know, um, the Pell Grants were expanded from not just a long-term, but short term. So, really, I mean, I got a list of questions here, but I'd really just like to hear from you all.
▶ 1:14:46What else do we need to do to help improve, expand, uh, provide the right equipment, uh, to the schools that you are all doing such a great job, uh, and and dedicated to to developing. I'll start with you, Dr. Gnooki.
▶ 1:15:00Yeah, I would just say um I think a a targeted infrastructure funding model of some kind where when you look around the country and and and you assess uh the CTC's that are successful that have 600 kids on a waiting list, which as I mentioned in my opening at Monroe County is is is sad. I mean, that is something that certainly needs to be addressed. So, I think an I think a targeted funding structure uh would be great. I also think and and you had mentioned Perkins and I can't agree more.
▶ 1:15:28That is something that certainly supports our funding and and uh for career and tech education, but in an indirect way, so don't uh so doesn't the other funding models that we have, including title funding, um special ed funding under IDEIDA. Um we have a number of special needs students who participate in our career and teched programs and uh are able to work and live independently because of those programs.
▶ 1:15:50And so I think identifying all of those sources and just taking a look and seeing if there's anything else uh where they could be supported would be helpful to to our programs.
▶ 1:15:59That's good. You mix a little bit bit of business um administration into that towards towards the end of the
▶ 1:16:04My business administrator will be happy.
▶ 1:16:06Yeah. Good. Good. Dr. Mr. Gibson,
▶ 1:16:08Congressman, I I I will tell you obviously increasing uh Perkins funds is one thing, but reaching out and working with trade associations. The reason for that is we can then reach out to our manufacturer reps and suppliers to donate materials. We've got programs in the high schools and community colleges where we'll get a sheet metal subcontractor to donate a sheet metal break which cost about $1500 to $200,000 a piece.
▶ 1:16:36But if they see that that school is committed to CTE programming,
▶ 1:16:40AGC can reach out to our contractors or subcontractors and suppliers and their manufacturer reps to say, "We want you to get involved." Why are they going to get involved? Why would Black & Decker donate materials to that? Because they know that those kids are going to be trained on the those tools and they're going to be on a job site. They're going to ask that manufactur or that company to buy those those tools that they were trained on.
▶ 1:17:03So that public private partnership really pays huge dividends, not just with the federal dollars and state dollars, but the private dollars that are contributed.
▶ 1:17:12Maybe some sort of tax deduction for such donations is something we could we could work on. I would tell you the all industries would welcome that.
▶ 1:17:20Yeah. Okay, great. Uh, back to Nicks
▶ 1:17:24Perkins funding is amazing and it it does support programs in our district. Um, and when you hear the the dollar value at the the national level, it sounds really big, but when you look at the dollar value at a local level, our Perkins allocation was just around
▶ 1:17:39We have I'm I'm out of time. I'm very glad you folks are in the positions you're in. Thanks for the great work you do. I yield back, Mr. Mr Chairman.
▶ 1:17:46Okay, gentlemen yields back. I now recognize Miss Goodlander from the great state of New Hampshire for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:17:51Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today for this really important and exciting hearing. In New Hampshire, our small businesses are the beating heart of our economy. And I hear the same story everywhere I go. Um, and the data bears this out. A third of our small businesses can't fill basic positions.
▶ 1:18:12It is about recruiting and retaining talent and the energy and excitement around starting that pipeline as early as possible in our schools is really overwhelming. You know, as I've talked to and visited our our schools and our tech centers, we have more than two dozen across New Hampshire. You know, I hear the same thing from students who have really lost faith in a traditional four-year college path and for very good reasons.
▶ 1:18:39you know, the the the national student debt balance right now is ballooned to over $1.8 trillion. It's all very understandable, and this is where I I really believe the power of career and technical education comes in.
▶ 1:18:52Um, as I've traveled around New Hampshire and seen uh at Alver High School in Hudson, the next generation of nurses, I've seen in in Claremont, at Sugar River Valley Regional Tech Center, multiple generations of people who whose live lives and livelihoods started right in these tech centers. And it's it's an inspiration to see. Uh, we've talked about a lot of the barriers that I've I've heard about again and again. Um, I want to start with funding.
▶ 1:19:22You know, as I look at the the federal budget, and you know, I serve on the Armed Services Committee. It's a trillion dollar budget for our Pentagon. And when I think about what you're doing with $20,000 in your district, um what my state has done in leveraging, you know, $7 million in Perkins grants, it's um it it should be humbling to to anyone administering a trillion dollar budget anywhere in this government.
▶ 1:19:50Um but as I understand it, federal funding for career and technical education has fallen since 1980 from around three and a half billion to just 1.5 billion in 2024. Um Mr. Ganeski, you you mentioned that there are several sources of federal funding, including IDEIDA funding um that's essential to the the programs.
▶ 1:20:11And by the way, I just want to thank anyone who does the job of superintendent deserves um a massive round of applause um for for what you do because it's one of the hardest jobs I think in our country. But can you say a little bit more? I mean, I I've been very seized by the fact that Congress now has chronically failed to live up to our obligations under IDA and funding it at the level that the level that we said we would. Can you just speak more to to to the other sources of funding beyond Perkins that are essential to your
▶ 1:20:41Yeah, absolutely. And and there there are three that I will that I will highlight. Um first, uh is the the title title funding that we receive. Title one for low-income students. um that is imperative uh in our area with 60% of our students um uh defined as economically disadvantaged that that funding is critical to to move our programs forward as I had mentioned being over 325 square miles uh access to our programs transportation is also a very big challenge that we that that we face.
▶ 1:21:10Um so the Perkins funding is there I I one of the items
▶ 1:21:14sorry do you you use Perkins for
▶ 1:21:16Uh we we do not use Perkins for for transportation. Um uh we use uh the the title one funding for CL Yes. And we can use it for really classroom supports aids uh that we may have teachers in our in our classrooms to support reading and and math work as well.
▶ 1:21:33Um, special education with IDA is huge as uh many of our students require teacher assistants to be with them to to help with their instruction, special education teachers to help process um and um modify curriculum so that it's understandable for the students. Um and so that that is that is very important. And then there's something called a WEOA that I wanted to mention uh which is the workforce uh innovation um uh act.
▶ 1:22:00And uh really that that is super important in helping us network with our workforce boards. Uh and it's a real collaborative approach that we have been able to work with in our community in just trying to leverage as much funding as we can and collaboration into getting having our students uh have as much experience as
▶ 1:22:19Thank you. Mr. Borne, you you mentioned that in your written testimony that the National Apprenticeship Act hasn't been meaningfully modernized in more than 80 years. Uh, I really look forward to working with you on that project. Uh, you mentioned that sometimes just the red tape, excessive paperwork, um, and registration requirements, which can exceed 35 pages, uh, have been a real barrier to getting small businesses involved with apprenticeship programs, and you chronicled some pretty outrageous stories of of
▶ 1:22:49red tape. Show us the red tape. Let's cut it together. Um, I'm I'm out of time, but I appreciate your testimony on this point and look forward to working with you.
▶ 1:22:58Gentle lady yields back. I now recognize Mr. President from the great state of Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:23:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to Congressman Muer for those uh kind remarks earlier. And thank you to the witnesses. I know it is quite timeconuming to take time out of your days and your lives to come here and and advocate for your causes in front of Congress, but it really does mean a lot. And Dr. Gnooki, thank you for making the trek through the blizzard uh from northeastern Pennsylvania and uh we'll be spending some time on Thursday. So, should you need a ride home, we'll we'll make some room uh to accommodate.
▶ 1:23:32But one of the first places that I got to visit after becoming a new member of Congress was your CTE and and something that really stuck with me was the excitement and the passion that we saw from your students, whether that was in the culinary program, the aviation program, uh the small automotive repair uh industry, and something that I also experienced in my last life as being a contractor, and I'm sure Mr.
▶ 1:23:59Gibson would agree is just the pipeline and availability of the future workforce and the careers and the education that you're providing for your students are are industries and jobs that will never be replaced by artificial intelligence.
▶ 1:24:14and the availability of work and jobs and family sustaining careers the day after they graduate from your program was something that was certainly inspiring which led us to support the $3 million uh community project funding for the enhancement and the new facility that I'm really excited for that I assume will be state-of-the-art um based off of all of the other programs you have to offer.
▶ 1:24:38Um, and I think it's an investment that's just one step to ensure that hundreds of students that are eager to pursue career in skilled trades and technical fields can do so in just an incredibly new facility. But something else that you do incredibly well was, and I'd hope that you could provide some insight back to the committee here on how you partner with small businesses with inside of the community and the curriculum that you're creating matches what the current workforce actually needs.
▶ 1:25:07So, are there any examples of successful partnerships with small businesses somewhere within your over 300 mile radius that you can point to uh that we can have some better insight on?
▶ 1:25:18Yes, absolutely. I'd be happy to share that. So, um one of the reasons that I think our programs are so successful is because they're celebrated and embraced by our community. Our community loves that we have these programs. They see the value in them. They just understand that we need more of them and we need them to grow. We need more more participation.
▶ 1:25:35What has I think greatly benefited um our program and it's something that I think Pennsylvania does very well is the requirement for every CTE program to have uh occupational advisory committees OAC committees that meet twice a year and those committees are required for small businesses industry professionals post-secondary institutions to come in and meet with us twice a year each program and really dissect what we're doing.
▶ 1:26:00looking at our task list, looking at what students are learning, looking at the equipment that we're utilizing and giving us um feedback as to are we hitting are we hitting the mark or we not what do we need to change? What do we need to update? And um so I would strongly suggest the the OAC's any school who is who is not doing that. I think that is a that is a strong complement to any
▶ 1:26:21How frequently will you adjust curriculum based off of that feedback?
▶ 1:26:24After every meeting. So after every meeting, uh, our teachers will take the feedback and they will begin adjusting task lists for the future. And again, that keeps us in sync with the small businesses. We're, uh, again, our small businesses are are terrific partners. Uh, we'd like to have more small business participation because we believe that the the the more numbers that we have, the greater value that we have um, in our programs and and the better feedback that we that we can receive and and and make those changes.
▶ 1:26:50How has the local community and surrounding area been um receiving the idea of such a large investment and the idea that out of two counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are the only two that don't have a dedicated CTE CTC? Uh how has the surrounding community been in response to this
▶ 1:27:11Yes, they've been very supportive uh because once again they they see the need. Um, as I had mentioned before, the difficulties that we now face with students sharing districts, having to disenroll in one district and reenroll in another district naturally puts up barriers for students and families that um are are really um is really inequitable when you look across the entire state where no other county has to do this except our two counties. So, it has been very wellreceived and very well supported.
▶ 1:27:37Well, I appreciate you uh making the trek out here. Thank you for all that you all do for their for your communities and I look forward to our continued working relationship. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time.
▶ 1:27:50Uh gentleman yields back. I now recognize Miss McCyver from the great state of New Jersey for five minutes.
▶ 1:27:55Uh thank you so much, chairman, and thank you to our ranking member for convening today's hearing. I want to thank each and each of our witnesses for joining us here today, especially with all of the weather and everything going on. Happy that you can be here with us across the country. Small businesses are struggling struggling to find workers with the skills they need, while too many young people are questioning whether a traditional four-year degree is the only path to economic prosperity.
▶ 1:28:21Last December, onethird of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill. At the same time, student loan debt is rising and recent college graduates are experiencing higher unemployment rates than the broader workforce. We must build better bridges between education and the workforce, which we've heard today on this panel. In my district, we see this both as a challenge and an opportunity. Institutions like Exis County College and North Vocational High School are working to empower students.
▶ 1:28:52They're helping young people earn industry certifications and hands-on technical skills that align with business's needs. At the same time, initiatives like the Urban League of Exis County's Microenterprise and Skill Trades Training Center show how partnerships between industry and educators can create pipelines into high demand careers. This strengthens vocational opportunities in our community.
▶ 1:29:16These programs show that when we invest in practical pathways, we prepare students for well-paying jobs and we ensure that small businesses have the talent they need to compete. With that, I have one question for Mr. Borant participation in career and technical education programs have remained largely flat for years and instructor shortages continue to limit expansion in high demand fields.
▶ 1:29:40From your perspective, what federal policy changes would most effectively expand highquality CTE pathways and better connect people to apprenticeships and employment opportunities?
▶ 1:29:52That's a great question, uh,
▶ 1:29:55It's a mouthful.
▶ 1:29:56It's a mouthful. uh and and I appreciate uh the the question because we just have underinvested in CT and apprenticeships. It was laid out earlier that uh you know we have 50% cuts in CTE since 19 1980.
▶ 1:30:13Um, you know, when we look at registered apprenticeship, uh, for every dollar we invest in higher education, we're spending $1,000, uh, uh, or for every dollar we invest in apprentichips, we're spending $1,000 on on higher education. So, there's a huge disparity. Um, you know, since 2016, uh, we want to thank the Congress for investing in registered apprenticeship. Uh, prior to 2016, the office of apprenticeship had absolutely zero dollars.
▶ 1:30:43Well, when I started there to invest in companies and intermediaries and in the trades, uh, today we're at $285 million. Um, still kind of a fraction in comparison to the 27 billion or more that we spend on on higher education.
▶ 1:31:01So critically important that we continue to think about modernizing apprenticeships, making them easier for small businesses to start, uh cutting red tape and some of the paperwork, as well as uh speeding the amount of time uh that uh it can take for for those programs to get approved.
▶ 1:31:20Thank you so much for that. And just in the small amount of time that I have left, I would love for each witness if they can. I know many of you have some have talked about this a little bit. Um, what strategies should Congress support to improve early awareness uh for these types of non four-year college pathways?
▶ 1:31:39One setting the tone
▶ 1:31:42uh again uh I hear and I I outlawed my office local control but it local control from the state down to the school districts. Most of the school districts we talked to and we're we have 150 partners and we've got 300 school districts. So, we're on our way to getting 100% uh uh saturation in terms of uh participation in CT. But most of those school districts are looking for direction. They're looking for direction from the Department of Ed. They're looking for direction out of Washington DC.
▶ 1:32:12So, I would suggest to you don't be afraid to set the tone because I can promise you, especially in rural America, they're looking for direction. and they're looking for help and and you as as as the policy makers here in in Washington DC can set that tone.
▶ 1:32:30Thank you. With that, I'm running out of time, but I will say thank you each for all of your, you know, expertise that you shared up here today. Um me, I'm a true supporter of skill trades. I used to work in a school district as a personnel director and I know how important uh skill trades is and I wish we can have more dollars, more funding to be able to support such and if I could do it all over again, I would have been an electrician for sure. Okay, thank you. With that, I yield back,
▶ 1:32:56that's your new nickname, the Uh, with that gentle lady yields back and I recognize Mr. Downing from the great state of Montana for five minutes.
▶ 1:33:06Well, thank you, Mr. chairman, and thank you uh uh to the witnesses for being here. You know, it's interesting. I was thinking the other day, it wasn't that long ago when I saw political slogans always talking about creating jobs. And I travel around my district. And you know, there's two big limiting factors in small businesses and industry across my district. You know, access to capital and the ability to recruit and retain uh employees. And that seems to be one of the biggest limiting factors is finding employees.
▶ 1:33:32And there's so many, you know, issues there from housing to, uh, you know, trades education to make sure that you have, you know, folks coming in that have the skills, uh, necessary. Uh, and it really underscores the need for more workforce development, more of this type of training. And one of the things that I noticed, I'm going to start, um, with you, Mr. Gibson.
▶ 1:33:52Um, according to a survey conducted by your own association, by the Associated General Contractors of America, 92% of construction firms nationally reported having difficulty finding workers to hire. Uh, can you elaborate on how this shortage of construction workers is impacting the companies that you
▶ 1:34:10Well, this didn't happen overnight and and one of the components of Buildup Kansas is to change the perception of our industry industry. Construction has always been an afterthought. Now it's becoming a back what it was in the 50s and 60s and that is a noble profession and investment of which Kansas is doing uh leading the way on CTE in the Midwest uh is is providing that pipeline. But I I said earlier setting a tone.
▶ 1:34:38We're we're setting that pace and that tone to to send a message to our membership uh across the state of Kansas and even across the country that uh it is a noble profession. It's got good pay. It's got a good career. And I said career, not a job. Uh and uh you have to also deliver the this type education materials the way the younger generation wants to receive it and that's through social media.
▶ 1:35:04But the the bottom line is uh it's costing companies uh in rework.
▶ 1:35:10So can I I want to elaborate that and I I think that's a really good message and I appreciate that. But um so to what degree do you believe that this shortage is contributing to the rising cost of both, you know, housing and commercial real estate in this country?
▶ 1:35:23There's no question about it. Again, if if a contractor only has X number of employees and they need Y plus, uh they are limited on how many projects they can bid, which limits the competition on on on commercial, industrial, whatever project it is. The more competition, the better pricing you're going to get and the better better uh quality that you're going to get all the way across the board. But it has a acrosstheboard impact on our industry uh starting with uh uh development of workforce
▶ 1:35:53and and briefly what role do you think CTE programs can play in bridging this uh current skills gap?
▶ 1:35:59CTE is the number one issue. The number one issue bar none. Uh and that goes for all industries across but especially construction. What was the first thing everybody did this morning and getting up? You turned on a light switch, right? Somebody had to install that light switch, right? Okay. So,
▶ 1:36:15appre I appre thank you for those answers. I I really like that message. I'm going to turn now to uh Dr. Gnooki. Um I want to discuss your experience as a superintendent in rural Pennsylvania. So, my district uh central and eastern Montana is one of the most rural congressional districts in the country and rural high school students notably participate in CTE programs at significantly higher rates than their suburban and and urban counterparts. So, uh Dr.
▶ 1:36:39Druski, can you elaborate on the benefits of CTE programming in rural education and why these programs uh are particularly effective in sparsely populated school districts?
▶ 1:36:50Yeah, as as I said in my opening statement, I think that, you know, with with having the high economically disadvantaged uh populations that we have, um for many of our kids, it's it's it's they get into it um as a way of life. and and many of our students, they when they graduate, they they they want to live in our community. And so, fortunately, what we are trying to do is continually match the needs of our community with what we're offering in school so that the kids can learn, be, you know, contribute to uh the local economy.
▶ 1:37:20They can stay, they don't have to leave, they don't have to leave with college debt.
▶ 1:37:23So, I appreciate that. And as emerging technologies like AI uh play an increasingly important role in our society, what ways do you think CTE programs can be leveraged to best prepare rural students for employment in this future economy?
▶ 1:37:36That's a great question and I think what we're seeing is a shift in the interest level of the CTE programs being demanded by students years ago. Um computers, uh computer programming, graphic arts, uh those were the most requested uh programs. Right. Now AI can create those for you in two seconds and create all types of coding. So again, everything that we're trying to do is that AI resistant program that allows that that AI is not going to take over.
▶ 1:38:02All right. Thank you, doctor. It looks like I've run out of time. So Mr. Chair, I yield.
▶ 1:38:06Gentlemen's back. I now recognize ranking member Oshowski from the great state of Maryland for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:38:13Thank you very much. Uh Chairman Williams, I want to thank you and uh ranking member Velasquez for holding this hearing. Thank you to all of our witnesses for your presence here today. Uh Mr. Borne, I appreciate that you ground a lot of your work in the teachings of Jesus. I know that our faith calls us look at policy as if we are our brother's keeper and I just want to say first I respect that you are doing that and hope that we can continue to see more of that perspective here on Capitol Hill.
▶ 1:38:40I know that you and many others in my state worked hard to pass Maryland's raise act to create more tools and expand registered apprentichips to new industries, employers, and communities. During my time as a state delegate, long before I came to Congress, I was proud to be the primary sponsor of the now nationally recognized employment advancement rate now act or earn program. For the past decade, ERN has strengthened the state's workforce pipeline to supply local and small businesses with a well-trained workforce and has placed residents into good paying jobs.
▶ 1:39:10Over 11,000 Marylanders have obtained full-time employment because of ERN and more than 15,000 incumbent workers have benefited from the program's upskilling opportunities. I'd commend uh to my chairman and my colleagues on the committee this successful statewide initiative be explored and perhaps replicated at the federal level.
▶ 1:39:28Uh back home in my district, Reicherstown main streets um is home to the nonprofit Kavanaaugh House, which hosts a partnering apprenticeship program for upholstery and sewing that matches students with workrooms and experienced trade people at industryleading businesses. These partnerships allow students to refine their skills, gain invaluable hands-on experience, and build confidence in professional settings. Unfortunately, as we know, not every small business can provide this type of paid service to train and retain its students as workers.
▶ 1:39:57And that's where CTE bridges the gap. It's why I was proud to partner with Chairman Williams to pass the connecting small business with career and technical education graduates out of the House last year. A bill that will help match students and graduates of CTE with actual job opportunities through small business development centers and women's women's business development centers. We'll have to get it done in the Senate soon. Mr. Chairman, uh we need more of this common sense type of legislation.
▶ 1:40:22Doing so will help ensure that America continues to be a place where small businesses, especially on those especially those on main streets, can thrive. Um, Mr. Borne, I'll start with you. We know that small businesses make up 99% of employers, but just a small fraction of apprentice apprenticeship sponsors. Is the main issue the administrative capacity or are there other barriers we should be tracking?
▶ 1:40:46Yeah, I think the the and thanks for your opening remarks. I I do appreciate um you being from my home state and and Maryland really uh being the second fastest growing apprenticeship state in the country has a lot to do with the the leadership of the governor and and folks like yourself. Um and one of the things that we're seeing uh where Maryland is leading is really in uh pay for performance for apprenticeships.
▶ 1:41:13So that that really came about in the raise act as you know and is uh being undertaken by the the state to pay for what works. You know oftent times we are using federal dollars where we put grants out bespoke programs and we hope that they work.
▶ 1:41:32this uh idea around pay for performance pays for success when apprentices are uh gainfully hired, retained, and ultimately what we hope to get to in one of our one of our new pilot programs is to where they complete. So if you're going to start an apprenticeship program, there is no reason why we ought not pay that employer or that apprenticeship sponsor for that completion. as well.
▶ 1:41:57Um, one area I just wanted to highlight too that I think is really critical for this committee is is helping our veterans. Uh, veterans are a critical component of how small businesses can grow. Um, yet the post 911 GI bill focuses only on higher education. Uh if we're uh to to really help expand uh apprenticeships with small businesses, uh we need to level the playing field, giving them their full housing benefits and tuition.
▶ 1:42:26Uh my calculation looks at if you choose apprenticeship, you're getting $200,000 less than you would if you decided to go pursue uh that French lit degree at Brown University.
▶ 1:42:37That's a really important perspective. Thank you for that. Uh with my remaining time, 30 seconds, Dr. NYX. Um, what percentage of your CTE graduates are going on to apprenticeships? And do you have any formal partnerships with employers to help create those pathways?
▶ 1:42:50In Texas, we have an indicator on accountability called CCMR, college career military readiness. 86% of our students graduate with an indicator in one way or another. 77% of students indicate that through career or military readiness. So, a large portion of our students do graduate with that indicator. Um, just to add one barrier that we have in in fulfilling apprenticeships are age restrictions and liability that apprentice um, providers face as far as housing students under age in their facilities.
▶ 1:43:20I appreciate all that feedback and thank you all for the work. Sorry to have time for questions for everybody, but thanks again for being here.
▶ 1:43:27Gentleman yields back. I now recognize uh, Congressman Schmidt from the great state of Kansas for five minutes.
▶ 1:43:34Uh, thank you again, Mr. chairman for convening this hearing and thanks again to our witnesses for being here. Uh I think it's been a great discussion. I I want to I want to look a little more down the road toward the horizon here and and uh talk about maybe some spin-offs and some entrepreneurship issues and I'm going to start with Mr. Gibson and then go down the line to the extent that my time allows here. I'm from a fairly little town. We've got about 10,000 people now. My wife's from Kansas City metro area.
▶ 1:44:01when we first contemplating getting married, she's from a town of two and a half million people if you count the metro and I told her I'm from the biggest town in my area, too. And I didn't disclose all the details. Uh sometimes the our our our local dynamics are a little different. Um and you know, one thing that strikes me and I I hear it everywhere I go, we hear the same dynamics that we don't have enough plumbers, we don't have enough electricians, we don't have enough carpenters.
▶ 1:44:24But in our world, that's not just having more folks at our regional construction companies, whether it's a Key or a Crossland or a Hutton. You know, we all have those. It's also having folks in our local communities who do that. And they're often mom and pop shops. There's somebody who hung out uh you know, Bob's Carpentry and and Joe's Plumbing. And they either don't have employees or they have one or two or they have a mad hawk and they live in a community.
▶ 1:44:48And at least anecdotally, it sure looks to me like in in big parts of the area I represent, we have fewer of those folks than we did a generation ago. So, here's what I'm wondering. Let's assume um you know, Mr. Gibson, you your your literature talks about needing 58,000 more workers in CTA space over the next 5 years in Kansas. That's great. Um let's assume we succeed in that through a combination of all these great things we're talking about. Here's what I'm guessing. Tell me if I'm right or not.
▶ 1:45:16I'm guessing that out of the several thousand young folks that we encourage and support and they get into this field and they become carpenters, plumbers, electricians, whatever, metal workers with these midsize companies, larger companies, some portion of them are going to have life events that make them decide they want to go back home or they don't want to work for somebody else. They want to hang out their own shingle and and uh they want to raise their kids where they were raised or near grandparents or whatever. And those may be in smaller communities.
▶ 1:45:44And what do we need to be thinking about? This is the small business committee. What do we need to be thinking about now as you're growing workers to also be identifying and be prepared to help grow the entrepreneurs who spin off 5 years from now, 10 years from now and become those that next generation. And Mr. Gibson,
▶ 1:46:04the line share of of the contractors that I represent are small to medium-siz firms. A lot of them started in entry- level positions and worked their way up. In fact, one of the contractors I wanted to bring with me today, uh, and I don't think he'll mind if I say who it is, Jeremy Barts, Barts Construction, he came out of, uh, a construction management program at Kansas State. Uh, went to work for Macau Gordon, which is a large firm.
▶ 1:46:31Got seven, eight years experience, but his hometown is Great Ben, Kansas. Uh, very rural community. uh but he saw a niche. There wasn't a general contractor in that area and he and his another uh Macau Gordon uh employee decided to break off and start their own company and they started that company three years ago and they are serving that that area very well. But I go back to my story about the mayor that was looking for a backhoe operator.
▶ 1:47:01if you don't have craft people in your community. And a lot of these folks that are coming out of CTE programs want to stay close to home and we're giving them that life skill early on uh because they're not interested to go to college. They're not they can't afford to go to college and they're finding their way to to stay close to home and meet their future spouse. We we are starting to see population growth versus out migration of population all because of CTE
▶ 1:47:31Thank you Mr. Gibson. Dr. Ganiski, you mentioned uh entrepreneurship in your opening. That caught my attention. And you know just because you're a great plumber and electrician doesn't mean you know uh how to how to handle HR issues or tax prep issues or advertising issues. What do we need to be doing with the SBA or otherwise?
▶ 1:47:46Yeah, I think uh then that's a great question. What we do is we bank entrepreneurship into all of our programs. So regardless of the career pathway that the students are in, we the kids have a rich exposure in in entrepreneurship. Um through that um students also participate in something called our seminar programs where they have a rich understanding of financial literacy, what it takes to start a business, to own a business, public relations, answering a phone call, um all of the the little things that mean so much today.
▶ 1:48:14So I think as as as we're doing this as a country, I think entrepreneurship has to be baked in across the board. Congressman, I would just say the Small Business Administration is a great connector to CTE programs because of the the resources that they provide. Just as as the doctor talked about, not only technical resources, but financial resources and small business coming out of CTE programs could definitely be that great connector to the Small Business
▶ 1:48:42Thank you. My time's expired. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:48:43A gentleman yields. And I now recognize Dr. Morrison from the great state of Minnesota for five minutes.
▶ 1:48:49Thank you, Mr. chair and ranking member for holding this hearing and thanks to our witnesses for being here today. This has been a really great conversation. Workforce training and development is critical, of course, to both helping our small businesses grow and ensuring the next generation have the skills they need to succeed and advance.
▶ 1:49:06Minnesota's third district is proud to be the home of Anoka Technical College, Henipin Technical College, and Normanddale Community College, which provide higher education and training through career and technical programs to ensure their students are equipped with the skills they need to succeed in today's and tomorrow's workforce. I had the honor of visiting Normandell Community College actually just last week and hearing about how they're shaping and preparing Minnesota's workforce. AI is increasingly impacting the way we work and changing the skills that employers are looking for in their employees.
▶ 1:49:36A common concern I hear from recent graduates entering the workforce is that AI is replacing many entry-level jobs. During my visit to Normadell, I learned about how they're training students to do jobs that AI can never replace. Mr. born. How can apprenticeships, technical education programs, and community colleges help ensure that students have the skills they need to succeed in an increasingly AIdriven job market and are able to find a job now and in the
▶ 1:50:04I I think you're exactly right, uh, Congresswoman. We are seeing a hollowing out of the entrylevel uh labor market due to uh AI replacing that early level uh early uh entrylevel jobs. The challenge is is, you know, we're going to need these folks later on, too. And we need to get them in the workforce today. Nobody can wait five or six years to get into the workforce.
▶ 1:50:29And that's where apprenticeship, especially registered apprenticeship, is a flexible industry-driven training program where employers drive the learning. It's not a train and prey model. It's where we invest today in apprenticeships as we have since 2016 and we see an 80% increase in the number of uh employers and the number of apprentices being engaged in a variety of fields.
▶ 1:50:55One of the exciting things is that since we've invested we see more than 50% of apprenticeships now being outside of the trades. So they can be in insurance, in healthcare, in IT. A number of different industries are now investing.
▶ 1:51:11Thank you. I appreciate that. You're perfect segue to my next question for you. I'm a doctor um by training and I'm really worried about the growing shortage of health care workers and how this impacts access to care especially in our rural communities. Um so Mr. Mr. Bourne, during your testimony, you mentioned that you've worked directly with small businesses as an apprenticeship intermediary, recruiting employers, designing programs, and helping companies across sectors, including healthcare, launch apprenticeship programs that meet workforce needs.
▶ 1:51:41Can you elaborate on how registered apprenticeships can help address workforce challenges such as staffing shortages in the health care
▶ 1:51:50Well, that's right. I I'm actually really excited to be here with my wife today who's a registered nurse, but she she ended up going the the the route of uh getting a master's degree, but we're seeing more states like Texas, uh Michigan, uh and a number of states create registered apprentichip programs for nursing where you don't need to go into debt. You can start that registered apprenticeship where you're learning at the hospital with a preceptor.
▶ 1:52:20Um, and that continuum goes on up to the receiving your your license as an RN. But we see there shortages in a number of occupations just like that. Whether that's surgical technicians or uh physical therapists, radiologists, a number of occupations that are now uh being created uh for apprenticeships, but we still have a lot of licensing barriers at the state levels that doesn't allow those apprentices to have that hands-on learning
▶ 1:52:50that we really need some relief from that regulatory burden at the state. And you kind of touched on this, but what skills do apprenticeships teach that can't be taught in conventional classrooms?
▶ 1:53:05Well, they they teach the hands-on. I mean, when you're in the when you're in a classroom, you're learning it by theory. Uh when you're on the job, you're learning directly from a mentor who and a journey person who has done that work as uh as a full professional. Um and in fact we're seeing uh what's interesting about apprenticeships is 85% of apprentices today are men. Uh and a lot of the last few administrations have treated that as a flaw not a feature.
▶ 1:53:35We're seeing a number of men drop out of college not being able to return. And apprenticeships are this great way where men and research is showing that men really do well when they have that hands-on learning. and it's a great way to get them into a great career uh that that pays really well uh as well.
▶ 1:53:54Thank you so much and a quick thank you to your wife for taking care of patients. Thank you. I yield back, Mr.
▶ 1:54:01Lady yields back. I now recognize Mr. Weed from the great state of Wisconsin for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:54:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all the witnesses that are testifying here today. Far too long, our education system has prioritized four-year colleges and has treated CTE education as an afterthought. Despite our nation's clear need for skilled tradesmen and the high demand from students, we have continued to see a lack of resources allocated to these programs. CTE programs offer a less expensive alternative to a 4-year degree, and students often graduate in as little as 18 months.
▶ 1:54:35prepared for good paying in- demand careers. In northeastern Wisconsin, many high schools and technical colleges partner with local small businesses to ensure students can begin an apprenticeship immediately after graduation. This not only provides students with paid, handson experience, but also helps small businesses connect with eager, hardworking students.
▶ 1:55:00I'm encouraged by the work of our witnesses here and uh all that you have done to bring technical education back into the high school curriculum. The demand from schools in my district for CTE education underscores the pressing need for these programs. Like all of you, I feel very strongly about this issue and I remain committed to supporting CTE in schools in northeastern Wisconsin and of course across our nation. Uh Dr. Ganeski from the uh great school district of Wallen Pawac.
▶ 1:55:31Obviously, you're doing a great job and what I'm impressed with is uh and you had mentioned the community uh support and that is key to building uh you know the uh the vocational education of course in your district and you also have great uh small business support in in your area. What what advice would you give to other school districts? you know, maybe some best practices that have things have gone very well in order to build the culture that you have. We we have questions.
▶ 1:56:01A lot of districts in our area want to improve and uh so what what would you offer to them?
▶ 1:56:07First and foremost, seeing is believing. Invite them in. Invite them in and to see the programs, to meet with the students, to participate in OAC's, uh to contribute. Um many times we will have um uh organizations and industry partners come in and uh they they ne didn't necessarily see how they fit into the overall picture of the curriculum how they can support the CTE and so by bringing them in uh it does not take them very long to realize that they are very uh integral in
▶ 1:56:37in in in part. So I would say seeing is believing is is is is absolutely critical. Um, in our school, we don't have um um we have a pre-apprenticeship program, but not a full apprenticeship program. Um, because again, we're not a not a CTC, but we do have students uh in the health care field that are actually working in the hospital for half a day, going out to rehabilitation aid, PTO, PTAs, um, for half a day. Uh, getting that hands-on
▶ 1:57:05We have, uh, a lot of great districts that do do very well in vocation. Luxembourg Casco for one is has built over a long time a great community support, great support with local businesses. Mr. Gibson, what would you say maybe some of the things that some some big wins that you've seen in partnering with local school districts? What would you say to contractors and businesses? What what can we do better?
▶ 1:57:28Well, the Buildup Kansas is the success has come down and and the doctor talked about advisory councils, industry advisory councils. I I would go one step further. One of the the things that have been successful is not only bringing industry in to share what type of professions that they're looking for, but we bring in recently graduates of that high school CTE program because they can relate to that younger generation better than the contractor.
▶ 1:57:56And that has really turned a lot of heads. In fact, I mentioned about social media. We do. If you go to buildupcanansas buildupks.com, you'll see testimonies of a lot of students that have graduated out of the high school CTE programs. Matter of fact, uh I've me mentioned Panasonic, one of our community colleges up in Topeka, Washurn Technology, graduated 300 electrical technicians. All of them received contracts to go to work for for Panasonic.
▶ 1:58:25So there they're get the industry and recent uh educate uh students that have graduated from their local schools to tell the story and I can tell you you will get a lot of of heads turning to CTE programming.
▶ 1:58:39That's fantastic. Uh clearly technical colleges we're talking about but apprenticehips. Uh Mr. Borne, what are that that you've seen? um what are some best practices in in building this community engagement and uh you know the relationships with school districts that that you've done that others could could use around the country.
▶ 1:58:58Yeah. And uh I I I just congratulate Wisconsin on being the oldest and one of the most robust apprenticeship states uh who's done a great job with youth apprenticeship. But I also look to Iowa who's created uh high schools as sponsors working uh sponsors of apprentichip programs working across different industries from being a butcher to being a cyber security analyst. Uh you can do it if you create the program at the high school level.
▶ 1:59:26Great. Thank you all. I yield back.
▶ 1:59:30Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Jack from the great state of Georgia for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:59:34Well, thank you very much, Mr. chairman, and I want to thank our witnesses for testifying today. Um, I'd be remiss if I didn't open my remarks, walking y'all through something that was very special to my district. Just last month, I brought uh our Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, to my district. And just for reference, uh I represent a part of Georgia that's just southwest of Atlanta, includes Kawita County. And very specifically within it, we've got a central educational center.
▶ 2:00:01And this is uh this provided frankly for the state a blueprint for success for how high schools can better prepare our students to be uh well equipped for the the ever evolving workforce um in today's technological age. And I I say that because we brought the Secretary of Education. We've had you know a lot of important people come but never a cabinet member.
▶ 2:00:23I was proud to bring her and um what they did is effectively this community nun Georgia about 30 40 years ago they said we've got high school students that are graduating that are not prepared for the workforce that we have now recruited to come into our community. So we've got to partner with our school and provide an opportunity for students to leave the the school place during the day for a small period of time go learn some technical skills then come back and participate just as they normally would.
▶ 2:00:50This blueprint was so successful, Central Educational Center encourage anybody to look at it that the state of Georgia has now replicated it in over 60 counties. Um they literally copy paste replace um in different cities and counties around the state. So I'm very proud of that and um in that vein if I could I just want to start with Mr. Ganeski. Um so as you think and we've talked about this today as we think about this global economy that we have today, new technologies constantly evolving.
▶ 2:01:18How can schools better integrate these kinds of tools and training into career and techn technical education? How does that help support small businesses that rely on a skilled, adaptable workforce? effective communication, communication with the small businesses, communication with your uh with your county and community. And I I I applaud what you've done in Georgia and the work that they have done.
▶ 2:01:40Certainly um is is a great example of that communication groups coming together, having effective communication, finding out what needs to be done, what workforce needs to be met, and how the schools can implement those strategies to to supplement the uh the workforce locally.
▶ 2:01:53And what would you say the biggest barriers are for schools that want to adopt and maintain these types of projects? How can federal policy help break down some of those barriers to help more students get to enjoy this?
▶ 2:02:04Yeah, I I know we've talked about funding because funding is the is probably the the biggest the biggest hurdle. I think um in rural Pennsylvania, another issue that we're facing um and I know my colleague mentioned this before is also the staffing the CTE teacher shortage that we're that we're experiencing. Um it is very difficult. A starting teacher at Wal and Paulac is right around $60,000.
▶ 2:02:25So when you take somebody out of industry who is making significantly more than that, tell invite them in and say here now you can teach 12 to 15 kids and you have to go back to college to get certification. It's not very enticing. And so uh it is something that we're continually trying to work on. And so if there was any type of um you know work that we could do with uh potential industry teachers to come back and and help you know be teachers in the classroom would be would be significant.
▶ 2:02:50Well, thank you very much. Um if I can next move to Mr. Gibson. I'd also be remiss if I didn't note my colleague to my right, Congressman Schmidt. Uh we're just talking about you. I was with Marty Jackley, the attorney general for South Dakota, who said you were one of the best attorneys general he served with. So you're well represented in Kansas. I want to absolutely uh make that clear for the record. But as I mentioned, um the in my district, the central educational center of which I'm very proud was created because the community recognized that students needed to access training uh to compete in this changing economy.
▶ 2:03:18And I'm curious from your perspective, um, how too, um, do you see especially within the the workforce that that you have to recruit, you know, what type of educational opportunities would you like to see better provided for students coming out of some of these technical schools? And and and frankly, I also have to ask, you know, we're seeing a more autonomous workforce. I see it across factories I visit all the time, and obviously, you're more focused on on general contracting, but I'm curious, um, how do we prepare ourselves for this autonomous workforce that's coming?
▶ 2:03:48First, I want to build on the question. Instructors are are critical. We're losing instructors as fast as we're losing the the older generation. And through our HR platform, we're giving the schools the ability to post their jobs. We've actually had experience of bringing back recently retired tradesmen to be to come back and teach at the local school. We actually got the state to change the legislation to where they didn't have to have a PhD or a masters to teach.
▶ 2:04:15uh if it was regarding technical training but uh the the key in getting everything to to a point where CTE becomes important is training. We use NCCR curriculum because it was it was uh developed by the construction industry with education in mind. It's got a credential that goes along with it. The the contractors and I represent general contractor subs and suppliers.
▶ 2:04:40They're migrating to it because there there is a a proven curriculum that the schools are embracing and that credential that comes along with it is like a high school diploma to where they can demonstrate like for example the core has blueprint reading OSHA 10-hour safety hand tool power tools all that accumulates like a high school degree to where that applicant can can show that that contractor what skills they have to go to work uh immediately in the industry.
▶ 2:05:09Thank you, Mr. Gibson. Mr. Chairman, I
▶ 2:05:12Gentleman yields back. And I want to thank our witnesses today uh for your testimony. And I want you to go home and always get asked, can't you reach across the aisle with these guys and gals? I think you've seen we can do that pretty pretty good hearing today. We were just remarking there wasn't I mean we all agree on everything. So this is great. We'll get something done. That's not true everywhere, but here we all agree on everything right now. But anyway, without objection, members have five legislative days to submit additional materials and written questions for the witnesses to the chair, which will be forwarded to the witnesses.
▶ 2:05:41I ask the witnesses to please respond promptly if that happens. If there's no further business, without objection, the