FILE - In this June 23, 2014, file photo, a recruiter, at left, takes the resume of an applicant during a job fair, in Philadelphia. On Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits the week before. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)Four-point plan
Mayor Andy Berke’s new workforce development plan would hit on four areas:› Ladders to the middle class› Neighborhood talent pipeline› Jobs, not jail› Skills for the 21st century
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke plans to create a new Office of Workforce Development to oversee efforts to put more people to work and boost the skills and pay of those already employed.
"Training helps people help themselves," Berke said in unveiling a four-point workforce development plan on Wednesday. "As we look to build more paths to the middle class, this allows people to access the skills they need for today's jobs."
The initiative, released by the mayor's re-election campaign, includes offering jobs services which target neighborhoods with high unemployment, veterans and people with criminal pasts.
He said the city could use the youth and family development centers located in neighborhoods as training sites. Berke said the city could partner with other entities to offer both technical training in fields such as health care, manufacturing and appliance repair and so-called soft skills, including résumé writing.
"We meet with businesses all the time and they want to know where the workers will come from," Berke said. "We want to be able to answer that we have a qualified motivated workforce with skills."
The new Office of Workforce Development likely would be housed at City Hall, he said. It would be charged with coordinating efforts and making sure goals are met, the mayor said.
"Unemployment is down and wages are up," said Berke, who is seeking a second term as Chattanooga mayor in the March 7 city elections. "The next stage is for more people to benefit from the growing prosperity."
However, two of Berke's mayoral opponents, former City Councilman David Crockett and current Councilman Larry Grohn, said the efforts aren't specific enough or should have been done years ago.
Crockett said his plan is "concrete" and "deliverable," with specifics already up on his website for mayor. He said his plan promises to create 2,000 jobs from plumbers to Ph.D.s "and get everybody on the job ladder."
"If you want to read a study, vote for Andy. If you want a job, vote for me," Crockett said.
Grohn said Berke is "following my lead" when the councilman a few weeks ago proposed a 21st century Kirkman-type school for vocational, technical and construction trades training.
He said a workforce development office should have been created a long time ago.
"This isn't rocket science," Grohn said. "To me, this mayor is desperately trying to put forth a program to get re-elected and save his career."
Berke said his plan is aimed at providing people with the ability to get a job and move into the middle class.
"Creating more paths to the middle class to help struggling families prosper is a complex issue," Berke said. "There is not one simple solution, rather it will take a multi-pronged and researched approach if we hope to make strides and improve the lives of our citizens."
He said the city traditionally isn't as involved in the workforce as much as the state and Hamilton County, though it already has been doing a lot of training and partnering and he wants to grow that effort.
Berke said his plan includes helping people who may already have middle-class posts but want to take their skills to the next level, which could involve learning "21st century jobs" such as coding.
Or, he said, the effort can expand on offerings such as a recent felonfriendly job fair and help people find lawful ways to expunge their backgrounds and increase their marketability.
Berke said he's "going through the budgeting process" to find funds to support the initiative. Also, the city would partner with governmental and community organizations.
"This is our blueprint over the next few years," he said. "We want to make sure we have practical funding to make progress."
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.