U.S. Secretary of the Treasury tours Mesa Community College campus
United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen visited Mesa Community College Saturday as part of her three day trip to Arizona to highlight the Biden administration’s efforts to further strengthen the economy and develop workforces across the country.
Yellen’s visit began in the Technology building in the southeast corner of the Southern and Dobson MCC campus where she was taken on a tour and shown equipment for use in manufacturing, automation and construction.
Yellen was joined by MCC interim president Kimberly Britt, Mesa Mayor John Giles, and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Chancellor for Maricopa Community College Steven Gonzales among other Maricopa Community Colleges district officials.
The tour began in a laboratory with stations set up around the room with displays of tools and both electrical and plumbing equipment.
Brian Kohlenberg, resident faculty at MCC, explained the equipment to Yellen in the first room before taking her to the second room of the tour which had two mechanical arms prepared for a demonstration.
The arms are used in the manufacturing training done at MCC, with one used for precise movement and the other for aiding larger movements.
Yellen’s visit to MCC would conclude with a demonstration by Kate Glantz, a construction trades student at MCC receiving job training through a certificate program at MCC for carpentry.
“Before I began the Construction Trades program, I could barely wield a hammer. Now I can build a house, with a little supervision of course,” said Glantz.
Yellen would attend a roundtable discussion at East Valley American Jobs Center with local workforce training leaders and government officials as they discuss additional ways to improve training for new industries coming to the Valley.
Among those in attendance include Mesa Mayor John Giles, Maricopa County District I Chairman Jack Sellers, Executive Director for the Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Institute Leah Palmer, Director of the Phoenix Electrical JATC apprenticeship program Sean Hutchingson and more.
“Since the start of this administration, we’ve been focused on creating good jobs and pathways to them, including investments into workforce development programs here in Maricopa County,” said Yellen when addressing the roundtable.
The roundtable took place in a room separate to where a podium was set up for remarks from Yellen, Sellers and Giles.
“The CHIPS Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the Inflation Reduction Act combined with investments [by] Intel and TSMC, not to mention all the suppliers who follow chip manufacturing, has been a gift to the region and an opportunity we must not squander,” said Sellers.
The impending construction of semiconductor manufacturing facilities by Intel and TSMC have accelerated the need for workforce training programs, including those provided by MCC.
“I hope you [Yellen] can tell that we have put this at the top of our agenda. We have some strong partnerships with the county, with the community college district, with our K-12 districts where we have really changed the paradigm of how we are doing workforce development,” said Giles.
The workforce development strategies within the district not only work to meet the needs of companies coming to Arizona, but to also aid the Biden administration’s efforts to give opportunities for Americans without a college degree to receive training for a well paying job, according to Yellen.
“This morning, I visited Mesa Community College, one of several community colleges partnering with the city of Phoenix to use funds to help prepare individuals for high demand industries in the Phoenix area, including through a specific program called Semiconductor Technician Quickstart,” said Yellen.
Yellen, Giles and Sellers all emphasized the importance of equipping those in the Valley with the skills necessary to get new jobs coming to Arizona, with MCC and MCCD playing a critical role in training the burgeoning workforce.
