David Hall was invited to join Governor Scott Walker and his Cabinet members for the “Forward Manufacturing” roundtable meeting last year held at Uline’s Corporate Headquarters. David attended and was able to directly ask Governor Walker his own question during the roundtable discussion—and we got it all on video.
David, along with Nelson Bros. & Strom are hoping that Technical Schools and High Schools will soon share assets (machinery) and teach the students manufacturing skills at the high school level so that if they choose not to go to college – they can still graduate with manufacturing skills and can go on to hold a skilled job after high school graduation. However, most high schools do not have the budgets to purchase the equipment that technical schools have and the tech class sizes are small and are not fully utilizing their equipment and potential. Within here, lies the “skill gap”.
Here is the question David asked:
“We have a small machine shop in Racine and we are struggling like everyone else to find employees, and at the state level is there, is much emphasis on career prep as there is on college prep and being able to get the kids when they graduate from high school be ready to work, work from the soft skills, all the way up to the math skills or what not? We’re working with the local Unified School District to try and get the counselors and the principals out to the manufacturers and form a partnership so that they see what we do and that the curriculums that are set at the state level are emphasized on the career prep so that when the kid comes out of high school he’s ready for a job and understands what the requirements are. Not only from soft skills to communication, but from the technical side.”
Watch the video below to hear David’s question and Governor Walker’s response:
Following the meeting, David received this personalized thank you letter from the Governor:
Dear Mr. Hall, Jr.:
I want to thank you for making the time in your schedule to join me and members of my Cabinet at Uline last week. We hope you found it beneficial to learn about ways we can partner together to help grow Wisconsin’s economy and focus on our number one priority, creating jobs.
If my office can assist you in any way, please let me know. I appreciate your interest in helping lead us through this economic recovery, and look forward to our continued work together.
Regards,
Scott Walker
Governor
