Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego for Arizona's third district on Friday, Aug., 2, at Pima Community College's Center of Excellence in Applied Technology in Tucson, Ariz. From left to right: PCC governing board member Maria Garcia, Congressman Gallego, PCC governing board members Theresa Riel and Dr. Wade McLean, PCC downtown campus vice president Nina Corson and PCC Vice Chancellor of Workforce Development & Innovation, Dr. Ian Roark.
Democratic Congressman and candidate for the U.S. Senate, Ruben Gallego stopped at Pima Community College’s (PCC) Center of Excellence in Applied Technology on Friday, to talk about workforce development in Pima County.
Gallego toured the Advanced Manufacturing Facility which opened at the community college last year and houses programs such as Automated Industrial Technology, Computer-Aided Design, Machine and Welding, which trains students for careers that do not require a degree from a four-year university.
Due to changes in technology innovation, Gallego said the average worker might have to return to school multiple times to keep up with the convergence of AI.
“I think this concept that you have to always go to a four-year college, I think while it’s good and aspirational, doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the only pathway to success in this country too,” Gallego said.
The congressman hopes the CHIPS Act, which he supported, will boost high-tech manufacturing and bring more job opportunities across the state.
President Joe Biden bipartisan signed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act into law in August 2022, to make investments in microchip manufacturing in the US.
Dr. Ian Roark, PCC Vice Chancellor of Workforce Development & Innovation, noted that the primary constraints for workforce development are childcare, transportation, and the need to have multiple jobs because of inflation.
VIEW LARGER Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego for Arizona's third district with Pima Community College governing board members Maria Garcia and Theresa Riel on Friday, Aug., 2, at the downtown campus' Center of Excellence in Applied Technology in Tucson, Ariz. Congressman Gallego is interested in expanding Arizona's workforce development in careers that do not require a four-year degree. “Those things are sometimes prohibitive for learners so any partnership that we can do with industry, with our public workforce system, with our community-based organizations to offset those challenges, we have a whole infrastructure in place,” Roark said.
Gallego said that if elected to the Senate, he plans on help pass childcare funding legislation.
“Education is hard enough, learning new skills and competencies and things like that and if you’re working too much outside, it just slows the whole learning process down,” said Theresa Riel, PCC governing board member for District 2.
Roark and other members of the community college’s governing board also discussed federal policy priorities and implications that impact learners with Gallego, including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), aimed at improving the country’s workforce.
“Community college investment and scale is all that we’re asking for and also more federal policy to incentivize employers to do what some have already stepped up to do,” Roark said.
Gallego and Republican Kari Lake are vying to replace Senator Krysten Sinema in the Senate race this November.
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