Originally Posted in Daily Local News

Written by Lucas Rodgers

SOUTH COATESVILLE — About 50 community members gathered at the Chester County Public Safety Training Campus Friday afternoon to take part in a town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th Dist.

The topic of this meeting, which was the 13th town hall the freshman congresswoman has held in the district since being sworn in earlier this year, was the emerging skills gap in education and how it affects manufacturing in the local economy.

Houlahan said the economy is doing well, but she’s heard from constituents that it’s not doing well for everyone.

“Although we have a low unemployment rate in our community, in some parts of our community that is not the case,” she said. “In most parts of our community, we have jobs that are unfilled and people who are seeking jobs, and there’s a mismatch in skills.

“That skills mismatch is sort of what we’re trying to understand here. We’re trying to understand what’s going on in our community and the commonwealth and the country, hopefully so that we can fix that and provide pathways for people to be able to succeed in this economy.”

A panel of experts was also on hand at the town hall to answer questions from attendees: Patrick Bokovitz, director of the Chester County Workforce Development Board; Bill Adams, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 654; Marybeth DiVincenzo, senior vice president of the Chester County Economic Development Council; Denita Wright Watson, academic program manager, engineering division, Penn State Great Valley; and George Fiore, executive director of the Chester County Intermediate Unit.

Houlahan asked attendees to share stories of their experiences with the skills gap in the local economy.

A man with a background in managing development of computers and medical devices said the government should be investing more money in hands-on programs such as co-ops, apprenticeships and two-year degrees at trade schools. He said many of the people he worked with had bachelor and master degrees, but some of the best problem solvers in the field were people with two-year technical degrees.

Houlahan said she agrees that trade degrees are important, and there is an issue with trade schools being perceived as less valuable than four-year colleges.

Houlahan and the panel fielded several questions submitted by attendees at the town hall.

One attendee asked what job applicants with a criminal record could do to improve their chances of finding employment.

Bokovitz said there are local nonprofits, such as Life Transforming Ministries, that assist ex-offenders with legal aid and seeking expungement of records, and these groups work with employers that are interested in giving people a second chance.

Another attendee asked what can be done to help people find jobs that don’t require a four-year degree.

Adams said there must be more emphasis placed on worker training in the workforce, for example through an apprenticeship program. He mentioned that young people entering the electrical field often have difficulty transitioning to a 40-hour work week at a hands-on job because it’s a vastly different environment than a high school or college setting.

He said apprenticeships in the electrical union are funded through an investment model, so the current workers are essentially paying for the education and training of the new workers. This incentivizes new workers to take the program seriously, and if anyone slips up, they’re going to hear about it, he said.

DiVincenzo said it’s important to focus on efforts to give kids hands-on experience while they’re still in schools.

Wright Watson said the Technical College High Schools (TCHS) are a great option for students to get vocational experience while they’re in high school. She said she’s worked closely with the Oxford Area School District, and students there are presented with information on multiple post-secondary education options, including trade schools, four-year colleges or careers right after high school.

Fiore said there needs to be a comprehensive approach on getting kids career-ready exposure as early as possible in various fields like manufacturing and nursing. He said educating parents on this topic is critical.

Houlahan said there has been a disconnect in the community when talking about trade schools versus colleges. A lot of parents really want their kids to go to four-year colleges, she said.

Houlahan also gave an update on things happening in Washington, D.C.

She said that what she sees in Washington is very different than the view presented by most media outlets.

The impeachment proceedings of President Donald Trump are dominating most of the news out of Washington lately.

However, Houlahan said impeachment is just a small part of Congress’ job right now, and many members of Congress are still focused on legislating.

She said the House of Representatives has been very productive over the past 11 months, and it’s passed hundreds of bills, but the Senate hasn’t taken up most of those bills, and only about 60 have made it to the president’s desk.

Houlahan said that in the coming weeks, Congress will be working on legislation to reduce prescription drug pricing as well as a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, the USMCA, which would replace NAFTA.

She said she plans to soon introduce a bipartisan national service bill to help people pay for post-secondary education, which would be similar to the G.I. Bill, but would also include other forms of service such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.

Houlahan closed the town hall by taking some general questions from attendees about other topics.

One attendee asked how Medicare for All would work, a policy favored by several Democratic candidates for president.

Houlahan said she is not a proponent of Medicare for All or universal health care, but she believes that health care is a basic human right. She said the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, should be fixed, and she’s a proponent of a public option which could compete with the private sector.

“There are a lot of really good options on how to fix our health care, our very broken health care system, and a lot of it really means that we need to come together to talk about these issues,” she said, “and I am not an advocate of the extremes. I believe that the extremes end up with no progress and no help for anyone.”