WASHINGTON – Chattanooga is at the front lines of a White House push to boost the nation’s high-tech workforce.
Mayor Andy Berke and a cadre of representatives of the Scenic City’s largest employers went to the nation’s capital Monday as President Barack Obama called on businesses, educational institutions and local governments to develop a home-grown, high-technology workforce that could help drive up higher-income employment.
The effort aims to attack a stubborn downside of the current economic recovery and fill a gaping demand for high-tech workers in the United States.
“We’ve got to keep positioning ourselves for a constantly changing global economy,” Obama said in announcing his “TechHire” initiative at a gathering of the National League of Cities, The Associated Press reported. “If we’re not producing enough tech workers, over time that’s going to threaten our leadership in global innovation, which is the bread and butter of the 21st century economy.”
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke speaks at The Chattanoogan hotel in this file photo.Obama has obtained commitments from more than 300 employers as well as local governments in 21 regions of the country to train and hire low-skilled workers for jobs in software development, network administration and cybersecurity.