Continuing to develop workforce skills

One of the biggest challenges facing employers across Florida and the nation is finding workers with the skills that are needed to fill some high demand jobs. At the same time, a lot of people are looking for some faster and maybe sometimes more affordable pathways to good paying careers. Colleges and universities are responding at times by expanding workforce training programs and developing some new partnerships with industry, also creating some new opportunities for students to gain the skills that they need to maybe get a job right away and oftentimes right out of high school even. Joining us to talk more about these challenges and what she's seeing in the workforce industry is Balinthea Berry. This is the Dean of Workforce Development at St. Petersburg College. Balinthea, first of all, thank you so much for being here. How are you doing this morning? I'm doing well. Thank you so much for having me. Of course. Well, let's start with the big picture. What are some of the biggest workforce challenges that employers are facing right now? Finding talent, local talent that can meet their demands and with the emerging technologies that's happening here at St. Petersburg College, we're working with all industries to meet them where they are, where they're at, and where they're going in the future. What has changed with those challenges? How have they changed really over the past several years? Over the past several years, it's just AI. Technology is here and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. But then again, you're looking at not just the labor shortage, but more so, companies are wanting to know they're scaling up. A lot of them are receiving funding from all over and not even just funding. They're also looking at people that are aging out, skills gaps, people are retiring. How can we replace those individuals who are leaving with new talent, but also new technology that's coming into place in all industries, healthcare, manufacturing, IT with cybersecurity? How can we integrate those new technical skills with the soft skills and the skills that are needed for our corporations today? Here at St. Petersburg College, we have what we call convenings. We're meeting employers every quarter in every industry to discuss what are your needs and how can we help support those? What are their needs right now? What are you seeing? The top need is I need talent. How can I get someone that is quick and ready? How can I help with the soft skills? How can you prepare them for the technical skills? I can tell you, for example, we're working on an industry 4.0 lab down at our midtown campus. We have several large employers such as Jable, Honeywell, and Lockheed Martin who are all invested, who are hiring. They're scaling up because there's a demand in soldering, so soldering chips. Right now, each of them are hiring 500, 300, up to 1,000 employees here in the next three years, but how can we do that? We sat down, we talked, we all worked out not a plan, but a plan of the state is providing grants, funding to help skill and train the next set of employees to help them in this industry. I'll give you an example. You're talking about new technology 4.0 skills, AI machine learning, automation and robotics, additive manufacturing, AR, VR, it's here. How can we get talent quick, fast, in a hurry? What we have provided is a short-term track, 15 weeks or less, meaning that you can get multiple certifications within that timeframe that will help pivot you to a good paying job. One of the things we mentioned going into this were Pell Grants. Can you just tell us what Pell Grants are? We've been hearing a little bit about that more and more in the last couple of weeks. Well, Pell Grant is a form of a financial aid, kind of like a scholarship or a grant, that will help with a short list for right now here in the state of Florida of different programs that will cover a fraction of the cost or a majority of the cost at no charge. Most of our short-term training programs right now, phlebotomy is what's eligible here at St. Petersburg College within the state, but there's a list of courses, everything from public safety, computer skills, you name it. Those courses, individuals can go through financial aid, fill out the application, be eligible and also get their skills paid for, tuition paid for at a small minimum fraction of a cost. And so it helps the student get to cover and get them ready for work, meaning short-term, quick, fast, just like I explained when it comes to making sure that you have the skills, the soft skills, the technical skills needed in order for you to get that good paying job. So that's what Workforce Pell is, to help individuals in the community with those short-term training programs to get them to work. And you're already seeing the impacts you were saying, right? Oh yes. So right now we currently have a wait list for our current short-term training programs, which is what we call our Electrical Board Assembly Operating Program. We have a 90% completion rate. We've ran several cohorts right now and many of those students have jobs with Jabil, Honeywell and Lockheed Martin already, making at least $20 or more. You know, we often hear that employers say they have jobs available but can't find qualified applicants. I think that's something that you've already kind of hinted at and you said you're hearing them, but what are you hearing from business leaders across the region? The reigning theme. They need support when it comes to the new technology and equipment, where's the funding for that? There are many grants out there. We have a grants department and we're working very closely with Pinellas County, the city as well, to position ourselves to make sure employers have what they need in order to be able to be operable and sustainable and scalable. Just wondering, are you seeing more, I guess, adult learners, like career changers or people looking to upskill in their current jobs? Yes, a lot of adult learners, those who are unemployed, underemployed, who are making the minimum wage. We're looking at students coming right out of high school, 18, saying, hey, I need to get to work. I may hold off on going to college, but this is the pathway entry into college because many of our programs have articulated credit and so those individuals, they're all over. Those who are laid off, want to change careers, I want to go from this major to this major or another career field, or they may do dual careers. I always say that you should be able to take education, have stackable credentials, take more than one course so that way you can pivot at any time when it comes to the industry and what you want to do and what you're passionate about. All right, let's talk a little bit about some exciting things happening at St. Pete College. You've opened the new S.M.A.R.T. Lab at the Midtown Center. Can you talk a little bit about that? What is the S.M.A.R.T. Lab? So our Industry 4.0 S.M.A.R.T. Lab is a state-of-the-art lab that will be held at our St. Petersburg College Midtown campus and so the S.M.A.R.T. Lab is what we call semiconductor, megatronics, automation, and robotics. That is the S.M.A.R.T. Lab. The S.M.A.R.T. Lab is for what we just discussed, more of the adult learner, your students, our collegiate high school, dual enrollment students, anyone in Pinellas County or anyone in multiple counties that would like to come to our facility. We offer hands-on real-world experience that prepare individuals for growing an advanced manufacturing semiconductor workforce. That is the new technology in manufacturing that most employers in the manufacturing industry are shifting to. And so we're talking about the A.I. learning, the automation, the robotics. So this lab will serve as that starting point to get people in short-term that goes into our semiconductor degree area as well too. So you can start from non-credit to credit, which is an academic pathway to get you to short-term but a long-term success. For viewers, we've already heard a couple times the terms like mechatronics. You just mentioned it in semiconductor. For people who aren't familiar with what those terms mean, what do those fields include? Well, automation production program. So it's all manufacturing. So manufacturing used to be this, what they called a dirty job. Now it's more advanced technology-based. And so you have tabletops, you have production lines. There's a lot of buttons, as I call it and say. But you have to be able to think analytically to be able to solve problems, solve different things, set things up so things can go through an assembly line to get where it needs to go. And so really, we'll call electrical board. It's our soldering program where you're soldering a board. Robotics and mechatronics, those are the technician programs. So maintenance, electronics, those type of program. I say, if you like gaming, you can come to our course and be successful. If you like math, if you like engineering, those type technology, it's all incumbents of what manufacturing is right now today. Yeah, I mean, we've seen a growing demand for computer chips and advanced technology. I know the governor has held several press conferences about it that I've covered, I think actually over at St. Pete College. So is that why semiconductor training is so important right now? Yes, it's important because that's the route of where the industry is moving. And so we have to move at the rapid speed of what industry is moving. And so with their support and help, we've been able to garner a lot of support, public and private, from corporations and just private donations to help us buy the state-of-the-art equipment that matches what industry has today. And we want to make sure that it's timely and relevant for individuals who take our program can go right to work and do the job that is asked of them. And that's the technical piece. Yeah. And just, I think people watching this may also be wondering what salaries are like for these types of jobs. Are they strong salaries, long-term career growth? Very strong salary. And we had one of our students who left our program and had a starting salary of $22 an hour. And so everything from $20 and up and some of all of those salaries can equate to about 45 to 60, 60k a year. And what we call is a livable, not even a livable wage, but a high-skill, high-wage job. And for a high school student or somebody maybe even looking for a career change, what is your advice? What's your motto to them when they're looking at these advanced manufacturing careers and technological fields? Well, some of our programs start at the age of 16, so you can start now. Get your certification at last two years. Start. You got to start somewhere. Our goal is to start having youth programs. And so that way youth can get exposed early. And as soon as you turn 18, you can get to work. If that is your desire to start there and couple it with continuing education, if that's with the state college and or university, that is my advice. You just start. The pathways are there at all state colleges when it comes to collegiate high school and dual enrollment. Dual enrollment is key to helping you, as I say, take the shortcut route of getting the credits you need and starting college early. And as you look ahead to the next five or 10 years, what do you think the future of workforce education looks like? The future of workforce education is here. It will look like it will continuously always evolve. And my advice and just colleges and just employers, partner with your education institution. We have to be lock and step in order for us to meet the needs of what you need and your future talent. And five to 10 years from now, it will all probably be technology based. And these are the roles, right? These are the roles that we're training for. For them is the future is technology. All right, Valencia Berry. Thank you so much. The dean of workforce development over at St. Petersburg College. Really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much. All right. Have a great day.