St. Paul, MN – Today, the Minnesota House Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division held a remote hearing to receive an update from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). No official action was taken on legislation, instead committee members discussed the status of Minnesota’s workforce development resources at DEED.
“Minnesota, like much of the nation, is seeing unprecedented unemployment numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the challenges faced by our workforce are immense,” said Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL – St. Paul), chair of the Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division. "This is not an issue that’s going to be solved by the time the 2020 Legislative Session ends, which is why it’s imperative we ensure our workforce training programs are prepared for the months ahead.”
Presenters before the committee were DEED Deputy Commissioner of Workforce Development, Hamse Warfe; and DEED Director of Workforce Training Programs, Marc Majors.
Other testifiers included Jeanna Fortney, the Director of the Minnesota Association of Workforce Boards; Eric Muschler from MSPWin; Joe Hobot, President of American Indian OIC and Chair of WorkforceNext; and Louis King, President and CEO of Summit Academy.
Supporting documents from today’s hearing and other information can be found on the committee’s website. A video recording of the hearing can be found on the House Public Information’s YouTube channel.
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