The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $15 million in training funds to narrow the gap between the high-skilled tech jobs companies are offering and the inadequately trained workforce that schools in the state are producing.
The Denver-Boulder-Fort Collins area was among 13 regions out of 107 that applied to win a piece of $195 million from the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, also known as WIRED.
The initiative is part of the “competitiveness agenda” that President Bush unveiled Tuesday in his State of the Union address.
“I was pleased that President Bush talked about technology (Tuesday) night and even touched on nanotechnology,” said Su Hawk, president of the Colorado Software and Internet Association. “And on the heels of that speech, we get word we are recipients of the WIRED grant.”
The association was among 40 organizations that teamed up to apply for the grant, which covers Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Larimer counties.
“Colorado has a great reputation for being a high-tech mecca,” Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said in a conference call announcing the grant. “For Colorado to maintain this foundation, there needs to be a pipeline of educated and skilled workers in the state.”
The grant, spread over three years, will target the aerospace, bioscience and energy industries, along with improved secondary and post-secondary education, Chao said.
In making the award, labor officials cited the “Colorado paradox,” which has come to symbolize a technology-based economy that needs to import skilled labor to survive because its educational system is failing to train native workers.
Colorado ranks 30th in the nation for its high school graduation rate, costing the state at least $3.4 billion a year in lost earning potential.
Colleges in the state also have a high dropout rate, and math and science scores of graduates are so low that companies must recruit outsiders to fill high-paying jobs.
“The state cannot expect to continue to rely on this model for growth. It must take responsibility for its past lack of commitment and ability to ‘grow its own,’ ” Department of Labor officials warned.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
