Wilmington – In his weekly message, Governor Markell highlights efforts to strengthen Delaware’s workforce through on-the-job training opportunities and partnerships between businesses and our schools.

“We need collaboration among the business community, schools, and our universities to give our students the training they need to make the most of their abilities,” said Governor Markell. “By working with our employers to ensure students have the skills they need, and by giving young people the chance to experience how their schoolwork relates to the real world, we’ll build a workforce that can compete with anyone. And we’ll keep Delaware moving forward.”

Every week, the Governor’s office releases a new Weekly Message in video, audio, and transcript form. The message is available on:

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Transcript of the Governor’s Weekly Message: Strengthening Our Workforce Through Collaboration and Education

The most important factor in our economic future is the quality of our workforce. Businesses today have more choices than ever about where to locate, and they’ll create jobs where they find the talent that they need. We know where we have gaps in our workforce. Hundreds of cybersecurity positions remain unfilled; our financial services companies need data analytics professionals; high-tech manufacturing and engineering jobs are available in numerous industries.

To fill these gaps, we need collaboration among the business community, schools, and our universities to give our students the training they need to make the most of their abilities. So we’ve announced a partnership between Del Tech, the Delaware Manufacturing Association, and our school districts to allow students to earn professional manufacturing certificates by the time that they graduate from high school. The SPaRC initiative involves commitments from ten companies to help students develop career plans and get on-the-job training. And our STEM Council recently launched an initiative to have hundreds of professionals volunteer time with our students. We’re grateful to Dow Chemical for taking the lead and encouraging STEM professionals to join them by signing up at jadelaware.org.

We need more businesses to get involved, recognizing these efforts are not about community service. They’re critical to a business’s bottom line and to Delaware’s economy. By working with our employers to ensure students have the skills they need, and by giving young people the chance to experience how their schoolwork relates to the real world, we’ll build a workforce that can compete with anyone. And we’ll keep Delaware moving forward.