Granholm pushes jobs program at TC event

TRAVERSE CITY -- Phil Hoyt said nothing but good things about Gov. Jennifer Granhom's No Worker Left Behind program as he stood on the sunny decks of the Great Lakes vessel known as the State of Michigan.

Hoyt is the general manager of Biotech Agromonics, a Beulah-based biosolids management company. He told a crowd of people gathered on the large Great Lakes Maritime Academy ship Friday afternoon that his company hired four workers trained through the year-old program.

"It's been a very good experience," said Hoyt, who stood flanked by Granholm. "I'd recommend it to anybody."

The program gives laid-off workers up to two years of free tuition at any Michigan community college or other approved training course. The goal is to take workers who've lost manufacturing jobs or other positions and retrain them for employment in one of several high-demand fields.

"This is about steering people into the vacancies, and the training that leads to filling those vacancies, in Michigan's economy," Granholm said.

The state is bolstering the program in its second year to put more emphasis on preparing laid-off workers for "clean green technology jobs" and other alternative energy careers. It also will receive significantly more funding, Granholm said.

About 31,000 people enrolled in the program in its first year, and more than a third have completed their training. The Granholm administration couldn't say how many of those trainees have found jobs.

About 9,100 people are on waiting lists for the training, a number that could easily grow because of Michigan's struggling economy. The state's unemployment rate, 8.5 percent in June, is the nation's highest.

Granholm wants to train 100,000 people for high-demand jobs by the end of the third year, she said.

Most of the people gathered to see Granholm were presidents and board members of community colleges from around the state. Dick Shaink, president of Mott Community College in Flint, said the program has been well received by laid-off workers in his area.

"It's created a lot of buzz in the last year, and it's paying off," Shaink said. "We're very happy with it; it's a huge success."

At least 65 people have taken advantage of the program at Northwestern Michigan College, spokesman Paul Heaton said.

Photos

Jennifer Granholm Record-Eagle

Gov. Jennifer Granholm waves to a few people who contributed to the No Worker Left Behind program during an address aboard the educational research boat State of Michigan on Friday at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City. Granholm was touting No Worker Left Behind, which is an initiative to train 31,000 people for new jobs. Right, Gov. Granholm adresses the crowd. Record-Eagle