Better Skills-Training System Needed, Senator Concludes

After a week of meetings with Missouri manufacturers, Sen. Claire McCaskill concluded that the state needs a better system for providing employment-skills training.

The Democrat embarked on what she called a "manufacturing jobs tour" last week, visiting with local businesses in St. Louis, Perryville, Jackson and other cities.

At the end of the week, McCaskill concluded that the state's network of skills-training programs is a "void" for many Missouri manufacturers.

"We need to look at our training and placement programs to figure out what is working and what we can improve," McCaskill said in a news release.

McCaskill on Friday praised the St. Louis Agency on Training & Employment (SLATE), asserting in a news release that "duplicative" federal programs need to be eliminated "so that that organizations like SLATE have the flexibility to be effective and can use their time to serve the community, not filling out dozens of pages of grants applications at numerous agencies."

McCaskill said she plans to continue meeting with Missouri manufacturers and to relay their input to the U.S. Senate this fall.