MSSC April 2021 Community Update

Community Update

April 2021

About MSSC

Certifying over 100,000 candidates, the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) ®, an industry-led 501(c)3 non-profit, is America's leader in training and certifying foundational technical competencies for front-line technicians for in-demand, higher wage, higher skill jobs in advanced manufacturing and supply chain logistics.

Technicians with MSSC Certifications are qualified for 11.3 million jobs in front-line production, material handling, and distribution. 84% of executives surveyed agree there is a talent shortage in U.S. manufacturing. MSSC is helping industry close that gap as they prepare to manufacture the future!

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MSSC Updates

Implications for MSSC Community of $2 Trillion American Jobs Plan

On March 31, the White House released President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion+ program over 8 years to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure and create “hundreds of thousands of quality jobs.” The portions of the plan of greatest relevance to the MSSC Community are those related to revitalizing manufacturing and workforce development.

Revitalize manufacturing through:

Investing $174 billion to win the plug-in electric vehicle market, including training

Investing $300 billion to:

strengthen domestic manufacturing supply chains for critical products
develop medical countermeasures manufacturing
create a new Department of Commerce office to monitor domestic industrial capacity
invest $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research
invest $14 billion in NIST to advance technologies critical to future manufacturing competitiveness
quadruple funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
increasing access to capital for domestic manufacturing

Invest in Workforce Development through:

Investing $100 billion to proven workforce development programs targeted at underserved groups to:

provide for a $40 billion investment in a new Dislocated Worker Program and sector-based training, especially in high demand sectors including manufacturing
increase investment in job training for incarcerated individuals and justice-involved youth
prioritize access to computer science, high-quality CTE, and programs that connect underrepresented students to STEM and in-demand sectors, including manufacturing

For a copy of the full Plan, follow this link.

Policy & Trends

Marty Walsh Confirmed as Labor Secretary

The Senate officially confirmed the former Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh, as the Secretary of Labor. Secretary Walsh will replace Al Stewart who was serving as the acting Secretary of Labor. Secretary Walsh has a strong history of advocating for workers rights and labor.

Senate Confirms Dr. Miguel Cardona as U.S. Secretary of Education

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) shared a letter from Secretary Cardona following his confirmation. In the letter the Secretary names supporting high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) as one of the areas of focus for ED. Secretary Cardona writes that right now the top priority is to bring students back to school for in-person learning. He discusses additional goals, including:

Building better career pathways
Making college more affordable
Ensuring all students have access to high-quality schools with balanced coursework
Supporting teacher quality and improving teacher diversity
Ensuring teachers receive the support needed
Expanding access to high-quality preschool

See introduction video from Secretary Cardona for more information

House Appropriations Committee Restores a Version of Earmarks

Under the new proposal, earmarks are capped at 1% of all discretionary spending, which is currently around $1.4 trillion. If brought back, education stands to benefit. Higher education was historically one of the larger recipients of earmarked funds, having received nearly $2 billion in Fiscal Year 2010 for 875 institutions. Funding could be used, and has been previously, for various pursuits ranging from after school programs to school construction. Information on the announcement can be found by following this link.

State Policies Impacting CTE

Advance CTE and ACTE releases review of 2020 state policies. The report notes that despite the challenging fiscal environment, because of the critical role CTE plays in workforce and economic development, it is expected that more CTE-related policies will be enacted in the coming years to support upskilling and reskilling efforts to kickstart the economy after the downturn brought on by the pandemic.

The report can be found here.

ED Announces State Funding Allocations to Reopen Schools

The U.S. Department of Education announced the amount of funding that each state, DC and Puerto Rico would receive through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding authorized in the American Rescue Plan The ESSER funds, totaling approximately $122 billion, can be used to safely reopen K-12 schools and address the learning loss and disruptions to learning and teaching due to the pandemic. Additional information on the ARP ESSER Fund can be found at the OESE website here.

Webinar on new CTE Vision Held by Advance CTE

Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) puts forth a bold vision for a cohesive, flexible, and responsive career preparation ecosystem that will close equity gaps in educational outcomes and workforce readiness, and leverage CTE as a catalyst for ensuring each learner can reach success in the career of their choice. CTE Without Limits lays out five inter-connected and equally critical principles:

Each learner engages in a cohesive, flexible, and responsive career preparation ecosystem
Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by, and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem
Each learner skillfully navigates their own career journey
Each learner’s skills are counted, valued, and portable
Each learner can access CTE without borders

Webinar recording can be found at www/careertech.org

Webinar Series: Partnering for Success, to be held first Wednesday of each month