We just had a lively discussion with secretary price. We are a bit delayed here. This discussion this morning is no less important, may be more important, maybe more important, just as important as the Health Care Discussion that we just came from this morning. We are very lucky to have two amazing leaders with us, judy marks from siemens, thank you for joining us, and zoe baird from the markell foundation. Today, we will be talking about workforce training and job training and specifically apprenticeships. This is near and dear to the hearts of every governor here and every governor in the city states can mainly because we governors have an incentive to get this right. The employers in our states are counting on us to figure out how to deliver them a trained workforce. That absolutely includes fouryour college, community college, career and technical education, but it includes and needs to increasingly include apprenticeship programs, which i know many of you have started and are expanding here in rhode island. We are big believers in the apprenticeship model. Very early on in my term, we received a grant from the federal government around apprenticeship. We have dozens of apprenticeship programs. They are working. Employers love them. And we are especially focused on what i call the nontrade apprenticeships. Things you may not think of as apprenticeships. We have one in cyber, one in i. T. , one in process technology. Nontrade, but importantly highgrowth areas. And we are looking to learn from both of you this morning to figure out how to expand and deepen the work we are doing. It gives me great pleasure to introduce judy marks from siemens. Thank you for joining us this morning. Judy is the president and ceo of siemens government technology. Before becoming ceo of siemens usa, she held several senior positions at Lockheed Martin and ibm. I have had the opportunity to chat briefly this morning with her in addition to being a seasoned, successful, experienced Senior Executive whos delivered complex systems shes a real believer and leader in the apprenticeships model. Right now they have thousands of open positions in the united states, 2,000 open positions. She needs to get them filled. She is a believer in apprenticeships as operating apprenticeships in four of their plants around this country and is expanding and were just delighted to have you here with us. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. Besides my [ inaudible ] i also have the [ inaudible ] chairing our [ inaudible ] foundation which is focused on work force, which is focused on apprenticeships and everything around facilitating that. But we believe this is more than just about higher paying jobs. It is. This is more than growing our economy. It is. But this is about creating talent. We need, today to be able to industrialize our nation in what we believe is truly an industrial renaissance. And that renaissance while its happening across the country, it happens at the state level. We believe this is not just a state issue but we believe that governors more than anyone else thank you. A good place to leave them hanging. Okay. We believe that governors have not only the most motivation but the most tools and ability to make this a reality for us. Let me share a little bit of what we have done at siemens and as the Siemens Foundation so that states can learn from each other. And that we as industry can learn more about what is needed and share more successfully overseas as well. We are working with the nga and the center for best practices because we find that is the best way to proliff rate best practices. Weve chosen six states that were already working with to be able to deal with skills and training. We are working with 12 states on apprentice registrations and how we can make that happen quicker and more efficiently. Most importantly, recently, we had a unique opportunity with nga and with the j. P. Morgan Chase Foundation to share what works in europe. We had the privilege of sponsoring and joining governor do guard, governor fallin, governor bevan, as you got an opportunity with your staff to see really what works in germany and switzerland firsthand. And more importantly, how can we tailor that when that comes back to the states . I dont want to forget governor hickenlooper. What youre doing with youth apprenticeships in colorado is just amazing. An we want to take those lessons as well. Today were facing some interesting challenges in the industrial economy and i see that as do my colleagues. Here at siemens, we have been in the u. S. For 160 years. Weve had to reinvent ourselves many times in those 160 years. We have 150,000 u. S. Employees and 60 manufacturing plants of our own. We are seeing the convergence of software and the Digital Economy. And thats whats driving manufacturing today. The advanced manufacturing were seeing is not the manufacturing you think of in the past. It is about automation. But its also about having those human skills coming out of the high schools in our country and being able to apply those skills in a Digital Economy. Now youll hear a lot about, but arent robots taking over . And i want to be really clear here and factual. In germany, we use three times as much Robotic Technology as in the united states. And yet there are twice as many manufacturing technicians in germany as there are here in the united states. There is a role for robots and theres a role for humans. But the humans we need need more than a high school education. They need a different skill and education program. And weve moved away from that Vocational Training that was the bed r bedrock of how we built the last Industrial Revolution. We are at a new Industrial Revolution today. Its all about manufacturing. We need workers who can do that. So what we did to fill our own openings is we turned internally to our roots and we applied the german apprenticeships model. In 2010 we started that in our facility in charlotte, North Carolina. We needed workers who could build large turbines. We started an Apprenticeships Program with the local community college. And these students after four years, they work for us parttime, we pay their tuition. So they have a debtfree education. They get an Associates Degree and a journeymans certificate and a guaranteed job with us. Ill share something with you at tend of this little introduction that i think youll find highly energizing when we talked to one of our apprenticeships. But beyond that we also think we have a possibility to employ a larger work force. We brought on 2500 veterans. But its not just about the people. We have to create the curriculum. We have to create the environment. We have to tell you what the demand signal is and what skills we need. We have to give the students the Community Colleges and universities the tools to be success. We granted 3 billion of Industrial Software to Community Colleges throughout the nation so that these students, whether theyre getting an aa degree, Associates Degree, or a fouryear degree come out with the tools, technology and ablics that they need to be able to purchase. I cant top this discussion without talking about one of the obstacles that we face. It is somewhat of a societal obstacle. It is a stigma associated with technical education. And it starts early in the high schools. It starts in our communities. It starts with our parents. Our typical apprentice when they graduate earns between 55,000 and 65,000 starting the day they finish their apprenticeship. They proudly wear their apprenticeships logo on their work clothes. Its something in germany where in our dual citizen, when you are selected as an apprenticeships that is looked on positively as selected to go to university. Here in the united states, we do not look at it that way. Our Siemens Foundation, we recently sponsored a survey and we talked to parents and students who were involved in Vocational Education and Career Technology education. And they are very pleased with where its going and they want to be part of what we call middle skills and industrial reskilling. We believe industry is ready. We believe the states are the absolute best place to get it done. We commend governors for making this real. As industry, we want to work with you to do that. And id like to share with you a piece that was just on the nbc nightly news from our charlotte, North Carolina facility. You will find Chad Robinson who, ironically, had the opportunity. He was accepted to a fouryear Mechanical Engineering school and he turned it down to become apprenticeships at siemens. He did not want the college debt. He will finish the program shortly. If he chooses he can go one and get a bachelors degree with tuition reimbursement. But you will find his energy and passion for what he does and what he learns remarkable. So let me share that video with you. This is the sound of manufacturing in 2017 at Siemens Energy hub in charlotte, North Carolina. I dont see or hear those big machines i think of manufacturing. Todays manufacturing is very different. It is custom, quiet, and it uses computers. Siemens ceo judith marks says that enables her company to be more efficient and competitive. But finding workers was one of her biggest challenges. We moved the product line from canada here. When we moved here we needed 800 employees. She says that only are 15 of those had the skills needed. So siemens started an Apprenticeships Program to build middle skills. Estimated 2 million jobs may go unfilled in the next decade. I had an interest in engineering. Reporter instead of going to a Fouryear College, Chad Robinson chose to be an apprenticeships. They pay for my tuition. They pay for my books. And on top of it all, i take the same class. Robinson works for siemens. At the end of four years he will have an Associates Degree, a journeymans certificate, a salary of at least 50,000 and skills crucial to the larger economy. If we dont provide a labor force that can fill that work, technology, foreign companies, outsourcing, are going to replace the opportunity to earn your living in those occupations. Taking a page from successful apprentice programs in europe, siemens now has similar training at three more u. S. Factories. It is an investment. And you have to start there. Its a strategic investment in people and talent and our future. Benefiting the company and the economy. Anne thompson, nbc news, charlotte. Great. Excellent. Thank you. Very impressive. And thank you for your commitment to this work. I now would like to introduce zoe baird. Zoe is the ceo of the markell foundation. She has held that role since 1998. And under her leadership, the foundation has really focused considerably on this exact issue. And i know shes partners with governor hickenlooper and other governors here in Public Private partnerships to invest in successful job training and Apprenticeships Programs. Prior to that, zoe had an incredibly successful career as a lawyer and in government. Shes a friend and a leader. Im an admirer. And i think shes the perfect person with the perfect background to partner with us governors to take a leadership role in apprenticeships. So welcome, zoe. Thank you. It is wonderful to be here with you at your nga meeting, which i understand is a tremendous success. And a tremendous success for all of you. I hope that we will contribute some ideas that you take away that are really actionable in your own states and thank you very much to the nga for having us here. I think its really important for all of us and i have spent a lot of my life in Public Service as well as the private sector and i think its really important for all of us who sit in a role where we are trying to address the pain that people are feeling in this country and try to create the opportunity for them that we know exist to look at this question of the Digital Economy from their vantage point. So how do people feel . People are excited to read most people have smartphones. Most people use netflix. So theres a lot of excitement about what the Digital Economy is bringing. But personally, most people feel that they dont see their place in it from an economic point of view. Most people dont understand what jobs to tell their kids to go after, what training to tell their kids to go after, what they, themselves, should be doing. We did a poll with pew that showed 87 of americans, this is one month before the election when the country was so divided. 87 of americans said they need to get training throughout the course of their lifetime in order to succeed in a career. But they look at the institutions that serve them and they see our schools ending at 18 or 22. They see our Financial Aid and they think it is for young people. They go to an Unemployment Office or Workforce Center and people arent trained in understanding what the Digital Economy jobs look like. They are talking about how to bring back jobs or how to get into a job that is highly competitive, but we are not able to fill 6 million jobs in this country and each of us and our states can talk about the hundred thousand construction jobs we cant fill today. If we get a great infrastructure bill, we are not going the have the welders who know how to use precision welding. We dont have people who know how to use a robot to break down the old construction to create the new. So, theres a great disjunction between what we have been telling people, which is go to college, get a fouryear degree and you will succeed, and what they actually need to succeed. We are not telling people that if you have not received a Fouryear College degree youre a failure. That is how 70 of americans see the world. Almost 70 of americans do not have a Fouryear College degree. We need a much more diverse sense of possibilities for people. That is what we are talking about with apprenticeship. There is excuse me so many other ways we can create opportunities for people. You know, 100 years ago when we moved from an agricultural economy to the industrial age, we invented the high school. You probably havent thought about where does the High School Come from . Why was it invented . It was invented at the state level to enable people to get the training they needed and understanding of the world to move from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. What we believe is going to be necessary to scale all of these great efforts of apprenticeship or employer educator matching is going to be inventing a Digital Economy labor market. And i want to show you a film which is full of coloradans thanks to governor hickenlooper we started this work in colorado and it has really taken off. We have almost 300 employers signed up. Im going to tell you about skillful and what you can do in your own states but first i want to show you a very short film that will give you a sense of what a Digital Economy labor market is all about. If you could run the video thats would be great. America is really going through the largest change in its economy since the time of the Industrial Revolution. And so Many Americans dont feel that they understand what their place is in this new economy. There are 7. 3 million fewer jobs in America Today held by people with a High School Diploma or less than there were in 1989. And in some ways the single most important question for all of us in this country is how do we move forward without leaving some people behind. For decades, we have been telling people, get a College Degree and you will be able to compete for the growth jobs with higher incomes. Today, its not necessary that that be the singular path that people take. Skills are not always measured by a diploma. They are measured by the experience that you gain and the type of training that you receive. What im seeing and hearing is there is a fear that jobs are going away and not enough opportunities out there. We see in the trade sector there has been a huge increase in openings for employment but theres not enough Skilled Labor to fill those roles. In Health Care People assume there are two people that work in hospitals and thats doctors and nurses but you have a gamut of different occupations. Technicians, i. T. , health information. The real opportunity is to look to the middle of the graph, to the socalled middle skilled jobs and equip more people to hold those kind of middle skill jobs and create more of those jobs. Skill based labor market makes it possible for people to see career paths they didnt realize were open to them before. We found people like a fedex truck driver in her early 40s doesnt know what the Digital Economy holds for her and she can see she has skills for higher tech, higher paying job with few additional hours of training. We need to do more training and apprenticeships. 87 of americans believe that skills training throughout ones lifetime is necessary