MONROE - Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville, and Beth Schmidt, R-Orfordville, are drumming on the issue of closing the job skills gap but coming at it from slightly different angles, as they vie to represent the 45th Assembly District in the Nov. 6 election.
Addressing the job skills problem would help not only Green and Rock counties, but the rest of the state as well, Ringhand said.
Ringhand, who has represented the 80th Assembly District for two years until redistricting put her in the 45th district, said she has been working with Blackhawk Technical College and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to create a manufacturing technology center in southern Wisconsin and fund individual training.
Employers and schools officials are aware of the manufacturing and technology gap, she said, and BTC has been working with private industry leaders in Green and Rock counties to find out what they need and to bring students up to speed for those jobs. Computerized components have become commonplace in many manufacturing and technology jobs and tools, including robotics, drill presses and AutoCAD, she added.
"The level of education needed is not four years, but one or possible two," she said. "These are good paying jobs - $40 to $60,000 with benefits - if the skills match up."
The training center would provide a hands-on approach to the education and additional teaching positions, while opening the way for more manufacturing employment. Right now, the school is looking for property to remodel, she added.
Schmidt said the biggest issue facing Green County she will work on, if elected, is "obviously jobs."
"No matter where I'm at, people are still talking about the economy," she said.
Schmidt, currently serving as a trustee on the Orfordville village board, approaches the jobs skill gap with early intervention.
"It's about long-term education, starting with junior high and industrial arts classes. It comes down to counseling students," she said,
The problem is two-fold: "our (lack of) job skills in the market today and the coming retirement (of skilled labors)," she said. Learning to weld or run a lathe has become more complicated than in years past, she added.
Schmidt is also looking for job centers to help transfer veterans' skills to the educational credits.
At the other end of job creation, Schmidt said she is also looking at what regulations by the Department of Natural Resources and other department are doing that stifle business growth.
"They go hand-in hand," she said. "I'd like to see mandates slapped down. Businesses lack security. We have to do something different.
"And we can't raise sales taxes," she added. "Beloit and Janesville - and Monroe - are border towns; people come across state lines to shop here. It would be devastating for business and the middle class. That's not the route (to take) at all."
Green County towns of Spring Grove, Decatur, Albany, Jefferson, Sylvester, and part of Mt. Pleasant are in the 45th Assembly District.
Addressing the job skills problem would help not only Green and Rock counties, but the rest of the state as well, Ringhand said.
Ringhand, who has represented the 80th Assembly District for two years until redistricting put her in the 45th district, said she has been working with Blackhawk Technical College and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to create a manufacturing technology center in southern Wisconsin and fund individual training.
Employers and schools officials are aware of the manufacturing and technology gap, she said, and BTC has been working with private industry leaders in Green and Rock counties to find out what they need and to bring students up to speed for those jobs. Computerized components have become commonplace in many manufacturing and technology jobs and tools, including robotics, drill presses and AutoCAD, she added.
"The level of education needed is not four years, but one or possible two," she said. "These are good paying jobs - $40 to $60,000 with benefits - if the skills match up."
The training center would provide a hands-on approach to the education and additional teaching positions, while opening the way for more manufacturing employment. Right now, the school is looking for property to remodel, she added.
Schmidt said the biggest issue facing Green County she will work on, if elected, is "obviously jobs."
"No matter where I'm at, people are still talking about the economy," she said.
Schmidt, currently serving as a trustee on the Orfordville village board, approaches the jobs skill gap with early intervention.
"It's about long-term education, starting with junior high and industrial arts classes. It comes down to counseling students," she said,
The problem is two-fold: "our (lack of) job skills in the market today and the coming retirement (of skilled labors)," she said. Learning to weld or run a lathe has become more complicated than in years past, she added.
Schmidt is also looking for job centers to help transfer veterans' skills to the educational credits.
At the other end of job creation, Schmidt said she is also looking at what regulations by the Department of Natural Resources and other department are doing that stifle business growth.
"They go hand-in hand," she said. "I'd like to see mandates slapped down. Businesses lack security. We have to do something different.
"And we can't raise sales taxes," she added. "Beloit and Janesville - and Monroe - are border towns; people come across state lines to shop here. It would be devastating for business and the middle class. That's not the route (to take) at all."
Green County towns of Spring Grove, Decatur, Albany, Jefferson, Sylvester, and part of Mt. Pleasant are in the 45th Assembly District.