Radio Address : One-Year Anniversary of No Worker Left Behind
This week’s radio address celebrates the one year anniversary of the No Worker Left Behind initiative. NWLB helps workers receive the job training or college degree that can place them in the high-demand jobs available in Michigan today.
This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
One year ago, my administration launched the No Worker Left Behind program to give 100,000 workers who have been hit hard by our changing economy the opportunity to get the college degree or job training they need to get new, good-paying jobs.
So here’s how it works: for three years only, free training is available for workers who have lost their jobs or who are ready to advance beyond low-skill jobs. It’s first come, first served. With training and certification through No Worker Left Behind, Michigan workers can get good-paying jobs and fill existing job openings in high-demand fields like nursing, or accounting, or auto mechanics.
Standing with community college presidents, Michigan Works! leaders, local business owners, and citizens in need of training, I was proud to announce that Michigan was launching this one-of-a-kind program.
Today, I’m even prouder to announce that just one year into the program, more than 31,000 citizens have enrolled in training for new careers, 11,000 have already completed their training, and another 9,100 are waiting for their opportunity! So in just one year, the program’s Website – which is www.michigan.gov/nwlb (for No Worker Left Behind – that’s NWLB) – that Website has gotten more than 1.3 million hits. That’s thousands…or maybe tens of thousands…of citizens who are looking for the path to a better career and a better future!
One of those citizens, for example, was Joanie who lives in Shiawassee County. After ten years of work with a tier 1 auto supplier, Joanie was laid off. Thanks to No Worker Left Behind, Joanie enrolled in a registered nursing program, and earlier this year she graduated with honors, and she now has a good, new job in the ICU at a local hospital. There are thousands of people like Joanie across Michigan who can benefit from No Worker Left Behind. The tremendous response we’ve had in our first year means we are well on our way to our goal of getting 100,000 workers trained for good-paying jobs in just three years.
The budget for 2009 that I signed into law last week includes $15 million in state funding to help even more people get into training and into new jobs. We’ve also won more federal funding to help No Worker Left Behind reach more people.
So if you or someone you know has been hit by this challenging economy, there is something that you can do. Stop in to your local Michigan Works! agency or visit our Website and see what job openings and job-training opportunities exist in your area. Go to: www.michigan.gov/nwlb. In Michigan, we are working hard every day to make sure our people don’t get left behind in this tough, global economy. That’s what No Worker Left Behind is all about.
Thank you for listening.
Today in Traverse City, Governor Granholm will announce that No Worker Left Behind will be expanded to include the Green Jobs Initiative- around $6 million will be set aside to train workers for careers in the alternative energy field.
Granholm plans to announce Friday in Traverse City that the No Worker Left Behind program will put more effort into preparing laid-off workers for alternative energy careers. The program overall will get a financial boost in its second year.
The governor is carving out about $6 million in the budget year that starts Oct. 1 for her Green Jobs Initiative that will promote job training in alternative energy industries including wind, solar and biofuels.
Granholm’s office said that Biotech Agronomics, a Beulah company that converts wastewater sludge into usable materials for agriculture, already has hired five No Worker Left Behind graduates for such jobs.
Visit the Green Jobs Initiative page on the web at http://www.michigan.gov/greenjobs to learn more!
Update 7/26: 9 & 10 News covers the governor’s visit-
