Letter from MSSC Chairman, Leo Reddyjune1
 
As documented in the "Community News" section below, we are gratified by the recent growth in the number of school-based centers offering MSSC certification training and testing programs--despite the school closings caused by COVID-19. We attribute that growth to two factors: (1) MSSC's new ability to offer most of its certification assessments, courses, and instructor training fully online; and (2) the recent addition to our Certified Production Technician (CPT) program of transformational "Industry 4.0" technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D, and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT).
 
Students and workers studying online at home this summer can secure enhanced CPT and other prestigious MSSC Certifications inexpensively and rapidly. These credentials will set them apart in a more competitive labor market demanding higher skilled technicians as the country's economic resurgence begins. For information on how to acquire CPT 4.0 and other MSSC credentials, please contact Catherine Feeney, Senior Marketing Manager, MSSC cfeeney@msscusa.org    
Save the Date- August 20th Summit, "MSSC: Closing the Skills Gap in Texas in the Manufacturing and Logistics Sectors"june2

Join us on August 20 th for our virtual Summit , "MSSC: Closing the Skills Gap in Texas in the Manufacturing and Logistics Sectors." This Summit will be an extraordinary gathering of many of the most prominent business, government and education leaders in Texas. Click here to view the  full program.

It will highlight MSSC's unique role in training and certifying large numbers of Texans in both Manufacturing and Logistics (M&L), two closely interrelated parts of TX economy with about the same number of front-line jobs (543,000 for M, and 482,000 for L).
 
This Summit will be open to attendees nationwide and will give the MSSC Community an opportunity to learn from each of these agencies and consider applying these practices in their own states. More details on how to register and access the virtual Summit will be sent in the near future.
Community Newsjune3
New MSSC Authorized Assessment Centers

Welcome to the new MSSC Authorized Assessment Centers below who have joined our community since March 2020!
  • Academy for Advanced Studies/Henry County Schools- McDonough, GA
  • Advanced Atomization Technologies- New York, NY
  • Blackfox Training Institute- Longmont, CO
  • Bob Jones High School- Madison, AL
  • Citadel Community Development Corporation- San Bernardino, CA
  • College of Central Florida Jack Wilkinson Campus- Chiefland, FL
  • Cordova High School- Memphis, TN
  • Flagler Palm Coast High School- Palm Coast, FL
  • Florence High School- Florence, AL
  • Franklin County Career Tech Center-Russellville, AL
  • Heritage Christian University- Florence, AL
  • Indian Hills Community College- Ottumwa, IA
  • Intertape Polymer Group- Carbondale, IL
  • Iron Sharpeneth Iron Coaching and Career Center-Mulberry- Millville, NJ
  • Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest- East Orange, NJ
  • Kenwood High School- Clarksville, TN
  • Lakewood High School- Hebron, OH
  • LaPorte County Career and Technical Education- Michigan City, IN
  • Lawrence County Career Technical Center- Moulton, IN
  • Limestone County Career Technical Center- Athens, AL
  • Loranger High School- Loranger, LA
  • Madison City Schools- Madison, AL
  • MAL TDCJ- Huntsville, TX
  • McLennan Community College- Waco, TX
  • Melrose High School- Memphis, TN
  • Mishawaka High School- Mishawaka, IN
  • Monroe High School- Monroe, MI
  • North Texas Job Corp- McKinney, Texas
  • Northeast High School- Clarksville, TN
  • NW-SCC Phil Campbell Campus- Phil Campbell, AL
  • Plymouth Adult Education- Plymouth, IN
  • Rio Hondo College- Whittier, CA
  • Riverside High School- Decaturville, TN
  • Scott High School- Toledo, OH
  • Scotts Hill High School- Reagan, TN
  • South Medford High School- Medford, OR
  • South Milwaukee High School South- Milwaukee, WI
  • St. Thomas More High School- Milwaukee, WI
  • Sumner High School- Kentwood, LA
  • Swiss Hills Career Center- Woodsfield, OH
  • Venango Technology Center- Oil City, PA
  • Walters State Community College- Greeneville, TN
  • Westmoreland County Community College- Youngwood, PA
  • William Henry Harrison High/Southwest Local School District- Harrison, OH
MSSC Authorized Assessment Centers & ProctorU

M SSC would like to acknowledge our Authorized Assessment Centers listed below who are offering our remote assessment option so that students can earn MSSC certifications from the comfort of their home or remote location through our partnership with ProctorU!
  • Alamo Colleges/St. Philip's College- San Antonio, TX
  • Alief Independent School District- Houston, TX
  • Auburn Career Center- Concord Twp, OH
  • Bevill State Community College- Hamilton, AL
  • Bevill State Community College- Jasper, AL
  • Bishop State Community College- Mobile, AL
  • Blue Ridge Community College- Weyers Cave, VA
  • Bluegrass Community & Tech College- Lexington, KY
  • Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School- Tampa, FL
  • Broward College- North Campus- Coconut Creek, FL
  • Centerville High School- Centerville, OH
  • Chippewa Valley Technical College- Eau Claire, WI
  • College of the Redwoods- Eureka, CA
  • Community College of Allegheny County Mechatronics-Oakdale, PA
  • Community College of Vermont- Winooski, VT
  • Community College Workforce Alliance- Richmond, VA
  • Cordova High School- Memphis, TN
  • Craven County Schools- New Bern, NC
  • Eastern Florida State College- Melbourne, FL
  • Fox Valley Technical College- Appleton, WI
  • Gateway Technical College- Kenosha, WI
  • Hillsborough Community College Brandon Test Center- Tampa, FL
  • Innovative Educational Solutions Institute Inc.-Milwaukee, WI
  • Ivy Tech Community College- Fort Wayne, IN
  • Ivy Tech Community College- Indianapolis, IN
  • Ivy Tech Community College- East Chicago,IN
  • Ivy Tech Community College- Madison, IN
  • Jefferson State Community College- Birmingham, AL
  • Laramie County Community College- Cheyenne, WY
  • Maconaquah High School- Bunker Hill, IN
  • Marion County Schools- Jasper, TN
  • McLennan Community College- Waco, TX
  • Middleton High School- Tampa, FL
  • Mitchell Community College- Statesville, NC
  • Mohawk College Enterprise- Stoney Creek, Canada
  • Nature Coast Technical High School- Brooksville, FL
  • Normandale Community College- Bloomington, MN
  • Northwest-Shoals Community College- Muscle Shoals, AL
  • Olympic High School- Charlotte, NC
  • Ottumwa Job Corps Center- Ottumwa, IA
  • Ozarks Technical Community College- Springfield, MO
  • Polk County Schools Ridge- Davenport, FL
  • Rhodes State College- Lima, OH
  • Rogue Community College- White City, OR
  • Sandhills Community College- Pinehurst, NC
  • Schenectady County Community College- Schenectady, NY
  • School District of New Berlin- New Berlin, WI
  • Skillpoint Alliance- Austin, TX
  • South Central College- North Mankato, MN
  • South Medford High School- Medford, OR
  • Southcentral Kentucky Community College- Bowling Green, KY
  • St. Charles Community College- Cottleville, MO
  • St. Louis Community College Emerson- St. Louis, MO
  • St. Petersburg College- Clearwater, FL
  • State Fair Community College- Sedalia, MO
  • TCAT Chattanooga State Community College- Chattanooga, TN
  • TCAT Murfreesboro - Smyrna Campus- Murfreesboro, TN
  • The Foundry, Net Positive Inc.- Buffalo, NY
  • The Idea Circle, Inc.- Bemidji, MN
  • The Moore Wright Group- Olympia, WA
  • Trident Technical College- Charleston, SC
  • Tulsa Community College- Tulsa, OK
  • Wallace State Community College- Hanceville, AL
  • Washburn Institute of Technology- Topeka, KS
  • Washington County Community College- Calais, ME
  • West Shore Community College- Scottville, MI
  • Western High School- Russiaville, IN
  • WSWHE BOCES- Hudson Falls, NY
MSSC Authorized Instructors

From March 2020 to present, MSSC would also like to acknowledge the dedicated MSSC Authorized Instructors listed below who have become authorized to instruct MSSC training courses to their students!
  • Mike Peterson- College of the Redwoods
  • Jeanna Damesworth- Dyersburg State Community College
  • Eddie Gibbs- TCAT- Crump
  • Joe Coquat- George West High School
  • Todd Sloane- Finger Lakes Community College
  • Troy Bottem- Community Learning Center
  • Pete Nalepa- Westmoreland County Community College
  • Brian Sneider- Vanguard-Sentinel CTC
  • Amina Boyd- The Foundry, Net Positive
  • Charles Wiseman- Muhlenberg Job Corp
  • Ken Buchanan- McLennan Community College
  • Christopher Micucci- Mohawk College Enterprise
  • Steven Abner- Warren County Career Center 
  • Adam Storms- North Stanly High School
  • Tracey Watson- Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center
  • Jose Manuel- Piqueras Ruiz Highlands High School
  • Armando Marti- Highlands High School
  • Maurice Anderson- Chicago Center for Arts and Technology
  • Matthew Lind- Chippewa Valley Technical College
  • David Guinn- Warren County Career Center 
  • Scott Burton- Oakland City University
  • Cole Payne- Indian Hills Community College
  • Daniela Roman- Austin Community College
  • James Mehail- Innovative Educational Solutions Institute Inc.
  • Rodolfo Portillo- Laredo Community College
  • Leonel Diaz- Alamo Colleges/St. Philip's College
  • Joshua Dery- White Bear Lake Schools
  • Mark Pumphrey- Mid-East CTC
  • Nicholas Geurds- California Family Life Center
  • Larry Book- Central Louisiana Technical Community College
  • Kyle Fulton- Career & Technology Education Centers
  • Bryan Bartlett- ReadyToWork
  • James Nolen- Northwest-Shoals Community College
  • Martin Brown- Iron Sharpeneth Iron Inc.
  • Kahlomo Cunningham- The Moore Wright Group
  • Shawn Bingham- Blanson CTE high School 
  • Shelby Howard- Northwest-Shoals Community College
  • Ryan Laessig- St. Thomas More High School
  • Gloria Butts- Northwest-Shoals Community College
  • Dan Taylor- Indian River State College
  • Leigh Waters- Northwest-Shoals Community College
  • Ronnie Richmond- Central Louisiana Technical Community College
  • Tim Hill- Washington County Technical High School
  • Kimberly Winn-Ozment- TCAT- Newbern
  • Kendale Harris- Gary Job Corps
  • Stan Honeycutt- Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
  • Bill Burrell- Hampton University
  • William Hutchinson- Columbus Technical College
  • James Bohl- Calhoun Community College - Decatur
Policy & Trends
Commerce Department Clears US Firms to Work with Huawei on 5Gjune4

In 2019, when MSSC was considering whether to add 5G to the list of "Industry 4.0" technologies in our national Production Standards, the Trump Administration was working to wall off Chinese telecom giant Huawei, the principal developer of this technology. 5G will enable a very sharp increase in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems due to more available bandwidth and advanced antenna technology.

On June 15, Commerce Secretary Ross eased the Administration's opposition by announcing that U.S. companies will now be allowed to work with Huawei in matters involving standards-setting for 5G so they will have a greater say in how 5G networks will function across different devices. This process will greatly accelerate the use of 5G throughout the U.S. economy, include through a new generation of mobile devices used in American manufacturing.
The State of Play in Washington, DC on Increased Funding for Workforce Development june5

Recently the Administration has started to entertain the idea of a $1 trillion COVID-19 relief package with a narrower focus than its predecessors. The specifics of this bill are still unknown. However, several workforce organizations, including the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), will be advocating for increased workforce funding. Summaries of all passed and proposed legislation regarding workforce and COVID-19 can be viewed via this link.
COVID-19's Impact on CTE: Defining the Challenge and the Opportunityjune6

Advance CTE released COVID-19's Impact on CTE: Defining the Challenge and the Opportunity to identify the challenges that impact the design, delivery and assessment of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs across the country during COVID-19 and beyond.

What makes CTE unique, like the ability to participate in hands-on, work-based learning experiences, earn meaningful industry-recognized credentials and connect directly with employers, present specific and complex challenges when being delivered virtually. 

Within these challenges lies opportunity, and the pandemic can and should serve as a catalyst for change in the way states consider offering CTE programs to ensure that each learner - no matter their race, ethnicity, age, gender or zip code - is afforded access to and equitable delivery of high-quality CTE in their communities. Follow this link for the full report.
Events june7
The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) is presenting its Forum 2020 virtually on June 29-July 2.  Plenary and super sessions addressing the key workforce issues challenging business and industry, as well as 30 workshops highlighting best practices, will be presented.  Information on the agenda and registration can be found via this link .
Grant Opportunities june8
National Dislocated Worker Grants Program Guidance

#ETA-TEGL-12-19
CFDA Number(s): 17.277 -- WIOA National Dislocated Worker Grants / WIA National Emergency Grants
No Due Date Published Awards: $150,000 to $100,000,000

National Dislocated Worker Grants (DWGs) are discretionary grants awarded by the Secretary of Labor under Section 170 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to provide employment-related services for dislocated workers. The Department funds two types of DWGs: Disaster Recovery and Employment Recovery.
Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC)

FOA-ETA-20-04
CFDA Number(s): 17.280 -- WIOA Dislocated Worker National Reserve Demonstration Grants
Closing date: July 29, 2020 Awards: $150,000 to $1,500,000
If unable to find materials contact: mcenery.jenifer@dol.gov

This Announcement solicits applications for the WORC Initiative for grants serving the Appalachian and Delta regions. The purpose of this program is to demonstrate the alignment of regionally driven, comprehensive approaches to addressing economic distress and the necessary workforce development activities to ensure a workforce capable of succeeding in current and future job opportunities.
In this Issue