by Marty Cook –
Vocational training for Arkansas’ workforce got a huge boost when voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment on Nov. 5.
Nearly 90% of state voters approved Issue 1 to allow Arkansas Lottery funds to be used for scholarships at public and private vocational and technical schools. State Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, was one of sponsors of the legislatively referred amendment and said the voter approval will address one of the state’s critical workforce needs.
“Obviously, Arkansans get it,” Lundstrum said. “They want the trades to have some support, and trades are important. It’s just amazing to me that this hasn’t already happened.”
Proceeds from the Arkansas Lottery were already allotted for use for scholarships at the state’s two- and four-year colleges and universities, but officials have long said that Arkansas’ workforce needed more skilled workers in fields such as welding, vehicle maintenance, transportation and the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning sector.
The exact parameters of the new amendment are still to be determined in the next legislative session. The wording of the proposal passed by voters said the General Assembly would decide eligibility requirements.
Lundstrum said the massive for-vote should make hammering out the details easier. Lundstrum said the vocational vote crossed all demographic lines, and it is much easier to get things done when public support is nearly 90%.
The bill to get the issue put on the November ballot passed the state House by a 97-0 vote and the Senate by a 30-0 vote.
“This is one that both the House and the Senate, and both bodies supported it, Republicans as well as Democrats,” Lundstrum said. “We are in uncharted territory, but there are some really good people that are helping. The support is statewide, across the lines, and everybody’s trying to go in the same direction, so that makes it a whole lot easier.”
Welded Together
One of the most-often mentioned trade skills is welding, which has been in high demand statewide for years. Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale has a popular, wait-listed welding program, and there is also the Arkansas Welding Academy in Jacksonville. NWTI’s welding program is a 10-month certification course that costs approximately $7,000.
Mark Moreland, the school’s director of public relations and marketing, said many of NWTI’s students, whether they are in welding or another program such as licensed practical nursing or automotive technology, require some sort of financial assistance.
Expanded scholarship monies from the passage of Issue 1 could help those already enrolled and also create new student pools.
“Really, it gives the opportunity for more students to be able to apply and actually start and enroll in school,” Moreland said. “There are a lot of people we do have, about 60% or 70%, that get some kind of financial aid, but this should open up some extra grants for some people who may have only got 20% or 30% or zero. It’s going to open up a lot of extra funds for people who may have thought they couldn’t even apply.”
Since the state Legislature hasn’t finalized all the eligibility parameters, Moreland said it is too soon to guess how NWTI or other vocational schools will specifically benefit. Moreland said the biggest benefit is that more students, who may have thought any kind of professional advancement was impossible financially, will now have choices.
“At least it’s going to open up doors to a lot more people that thought those doors were closed,” Moreland said. “It will open doors for a lot more people to be able to come in and apply and know that they can get enrolled if they pass the application process.”
Blue Collars Wanted
Lundstrum and Moreland said one of the best results of Issue 1 passing was that it showed that voters recognized the importance of blue-collar skilled jobs.
Northwest Arkansas, the state’s much ballyhooed economic engine, sees its population
grow dramatically on a weekly basis. For all the noise that big industry and innovative entrepreneurs generate, nearly 80% of the jobs created are for skilled workers who know how to drive a truck, weld a joint, draw blood or repair an air conditioner.
“Try summer in August without your air conditioner,” Lundstrum said.
The Northwest Arkansas Council, a nonprofit organization made up of business, academic and community leaders, created the Workforce Development Office. Joe Rollins, its director, said developing a trade-skilled workforce is absolutely essential for the state.
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., recently attended the presentation of the council’s State of the Region report during which panelists discussed innovation and information technology jobs.
Womack said a lot of students would be better served in trade schools rather than a traditional four-year university.
“One thing they’re going to need to start talking about, and it’s workforce,” he said. “The trades, particularly, the career technical piece, we are short on right now. We’re talking about the startup ecosystem.
“You create too much more of an attraction for people to move into this area for some of these high-paying jobs, and what you’re going to end up with is a lot of high-paying jobs and people looking for, you know, an HVAC technician or an electrician. They’re not there.”
Rollins said the council worked with Lundstrum to help develop the original bill.
“It opens up opportunities for exponentially more Arkansans to be trained,” he said. “It allows them to be credentialed, get certifications that qualify for about three-fourths of our open posted positions right now. And what it does is it takes those funds that have previously been relegated normally for college work, and it opens up more avenues to serve more students.”
Lundstrum said the new amendment is about helping students where they’re at while providing the best paths that will also help the state.
He said the Legislature will try to focus on the “hard trades” that will provide the most benefit.
“Not everybody needs a two-year degree, and a lot of times they had to do that just to get the lottery money,” Lundstrum said. “And that’s wrong. It needs to be about what’s the best fit for that person.
“[Barbering] is a great trade, but that’s not going to be where we’re going to focus. It’s going to be the most needed to bring industry into Arkansas or to help grow the industries that we have. So we’ll see how this all comes together. Now we can get in the front door.”
by Kyle Massey –
by Arkansas Business Staff –
by Kyle Massey –
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