UPS joins Obama’s community college training initiative

UPS has announced plans to establish a new advisory group to help develop skills and career options for students at community colleges in the US. The company has joined a national initiative of the US Department of Education called Skills for America’s Future, which sees a consortium of employers working with community colleges to develop skills required for future jobs, and hire students once they have graduated.

UPS will form a new Workforce Advisory Board to expand career options for students in community college training programmes.

The company said the move would help improve job placement rates and promote economic growth.
Its announcement came during a U.S. Department of Education Community College Summit, held at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, applauded UPS for joining the initiative started by President Obama last autumn and run by the Aspen Institute.

“Partnerships between community colleges and business are key to helping students move from the classroom to the workplace and careers,” he said.

UPS already runs training programmes with community colleges by its WorldPort global air operations hub in Louisville, Kentucky, and at its logistics hub in Chicago. The Metro College programme in Louisville and Chicagoland Regional College Program have seen more than 15,000 students provided with training.

The company provides its employees with tuition, book reimbursement, bonuses and other benefits for attending the programmes, which it said provide a stable workforce and an educated pool of employees suitable for promotion.

Through the Skills for America’s Future initiative, UPS said its involvement would bring more Louisville employers into the process, helping students at the Metropolitan College to choose career tracks in high demand areas.

Teri McClure, UPS general counsel and senior vice president for Legal and Compliance, said: “Skills for America’s Future is the kind of innovative public-private effort that’s needed to encourage businesses to make bold efforts that will ensure Americans have the training and education to compete in the global marketplace.”