I went to Detroit yesterday to participate in a fantastic event called Accelerate, put together by the CEO of the Ford Motor Company. Jim Farley and I have been discussing the essential economy for several months now, and I was honored to join him on stage with the current Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, to talk about the pressing need to reinvigorate the skilled trades. Lots of other CEO’s were in attendance, and lots of influential people nodded in violent agreement about the pressing need to close America’s skills gap by making a more persuasive case for the opportunities at hand. Toward that end, I was delighted to share the success we’re seeing in Texas 
around the next round of work ethic scholarships, thanks to the incredible support of my friends at Wells Fargo.
With every passing week, the way forward seems obvious. Big companies need to prove to a skeptical generation that truly excellent opportunities exist within a wide variety of essential industries, and then, those same companies must help train the next generation of skilled workers. Through our work ethic scholarship program, mikeroweWORKS is already configured to help make that happen. In fact, we’ve been making it happen for over a decade. Now, with a smart and targeted media campaign behind us, we can move the needle in a truly significant way.
I was also encouraged by The Secretary of Labor’s position around the workforce in general. Lori’s Dad, (she insisted I call her Lori), was 
a proud Teamster, and in her role, she often speaks on behalf of America’s trade unions. But she also understands that unions do not represent the overwhelming majority of American workers, and that a true renaissance in the skilled trades will require a movement that goes 
far beyond anything organized labor can spearhead. I really enjoyed our conversation and appreciated the opportunity to share the stage with two genuine leaders in this area.
Stay tuned…
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