Southern California employers face a variety of challenges, and one of the most pressing is an ever-widening skills gap that often results in positions being unfilled for long periods of time.
That topic came up at a Policymakers Party that was held Thursday at the historic Avalon Hollywoodtheater in Hollywood. Sponsored by the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed), the event brought Southern California business leaders together with the region’s freshman class of lawmakers to network and exchange ideas.
Lloyd Johnson, a newly minted West Covina city councilman, said scores of jobs in the trades industry are left unfilled because there aren’t enough programs to provide people with the kinds of skills that are needed.
Some of the jobs might not be high tech, he said, but they’re still needed.
“I’m a former certified structural welder,” Johnson said. “Schools used to teach things like automotive, woodworking and welding, but people are not trained to do that anymore. In West Covina we’re trying to get after-school programs going for music and things like welding and mechanics.”
Johnson said some people simply don’t have the desire to go through four years of college, although they could easily learn a valuable skill that would lead to a good paying job. The alternative, he said, isn’t good.
“We need to prevent our youth from running the streets,” he said. “We’ve got to go back to vocational schools for kids. If we let them stay at McDonald’s they’ll waste their lives.”
California Treasurer John Chiang, who also attended Thursday’s event, said the state is making a concerted effort to implement more vocational kinds of training programs at community colleges.
“Schools need to know how to develop their curriculums with programs that provide people with 21st Century skill sets,” he said. “We need to get people focused not just on education, but on long-term career development. We need to bring this back into the schools.”
Luis Alfredo Vasquez-Ajmac, who also attended Thursday’s event, is an entrepreneur and Latino marketing expert who helps businesses expand by securing government contracts. Specifically, he helps women-owned and minority-owned businesses that are 8(a) certified.
The Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program was designed to help disadvantaged businesses compete in the marketplace. The program offers a broad range of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51 percent by socially and economically disadvantaged people.
“I can help businesses break into this,” Vasquez-Ajmac said. “I can help them write proposals for agencies like the Metropolitan Water District or Metro Rail. A lot of people spend a lot of time getting 8(a) certified, but then there’s no guarantee of anything. Very few succeed in the program.”
Vasquez-Ajmac said he can help business write proposals and complete all the needed paperwork to vie for contracts.
Participants in the 8(a) program can receive sole-source contracts up to a ceiling of $4 million for goods and services, and up to $6.5 million for manufacturing.
