 Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us here at the Department of Labor. I'm pleased to be joined today by Labor Deputy Commissioner Michael Harrington, Acting Education Secretary Heather Boucher, Betsy Bishop from the Vermont Chamber. And we also have additional members of our team from the Departments of Labor, Corrections, both rehab and the Vermont Community High School. So welcome and thank you all for being here. For the last two years, many of you have heard me talk about the importance of growing Vermont's economy and making Vermont more affordable. It's the top priority of my administration in growing and strengthening our workforce is one of the most single, most important things we can do to make Vermont more affordable and grow our economy. But for the past several years, progress in this area was elusive. And we saw a consistent and at times rapid reduction in Vermont's workforce. From April of 2009, to the time I took office, we had roughly 16,000 fewer workers in the workforce. These aren't just statistics we hear every day from businesses around the state who have good jobs and openings to fill but are struggling to find the people to fill them. Last fall, I appointed Sarah Buxton and Dustin DeGree to develop strategies and identify all our workforce assets across every agency and department that will help close this gap. And as it turns out, about half my cabinet was working on workforce issues this legislative session which shows just how important I think this issue is to our state. Secretary Shirling and his team worked on several bills, as did Commissioner Curley, Deputy Commissioner Harrington, and others at Labor as well as the Agencies of Education and Human Services. With so much hard work and focus on workforce expansion across the administration and legislature, I want to highlight some positive trends we've seen in our workforce data. Since the beginning of this calendar year, Vermont employers have in total added about 4,500 workers. This has increased the size of Vermont's labor force to over 349,000 people, the highest it's been since April of 2011. At the lowest point in October of 2016, Vermont's labor force had contracted to about 330,000. Since the beginning of the year, our labor force as a percentage of total population has also steadily climbed. This means for Monters who are here but not working or unable to find steady employment are making their way back into the labor force. I will, however, say that this press conference is not meant to declare victory. I want to repeat that this press conference today is not meant to declare victory, but instead the spotlight some encouraging trends, while recognizing we still have big economic challenges in front of us. And for the press in the room here outside of the Labor Department, you may at the very least be encouraged by this announcement because it means you won't be hearing me say 6-3-1 anymore, at least not the 6. Let me be clear, this is not to say our labor force numbers have returned to their pre-recession levels, because they haven't. But the 6 in the 6-3-1 referred to the average rate at which our labor force was seeing a decline from its peak of April of 2009 to the time I took office. While I know many of you love that talking point, the goal of using it was always to shine a spotlight on our challenges. But it was always meant to be retired. I will, however, continue our work to strengthen and grow the workforce and address our shrinking student population, which unfortunately still is standing at 3, as well as continue to lead the way here in Vermont on addressing our opioid challenges represented by the 1. I also want to note this progress is the result of a number of factors in the work of many across the state, particularly our job creators and those committed to becoming employed and moving up the economic ladder, as well as the work of my team, the legislature, educators, private partners, and many more. As I've said many times, growing our workforce should be the number one priority for all elected officials regardless of party, and I hope that continues as we have much more work to do. With that, I'd now like to turn it over to Deputy Commissioner Michael Harrington who will talk about some of the new and improved workforce development strategies taking place at the Department of Labor. Michael. Thank you very much. Thank you, Governor, and good afternoon. I, too, am excited to be able to share in this announcement. From the moment this administration touched down, staff at the Department of Labor set out to develop a new approach to workforce development, one in which employers and job seekers were served with equal effort and attention and priority was given to projects that directly impact our labor force participation. That said, it was quickly realized that this effort would require a collaborative approach, not only between and among state agencies and departments, but with educational institutions, training providers, technical centers, small businesses, industry leaders, local municipalities, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, and the list goes on. Needless to say, growing Vermont's labor force is a highly complex arrangement where both economic development and community development converge and, in some cases, collide. In the end, the focus had to change from a place-based system where individuals and businesses come to us for services to a people-based system where services are delivered to them. Our work with the Department of Labor has taken us from the Department of Economic Development to the Department of Corrections and has included a variety of stops in between, including the Department for Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, the Department for Vermont Health Access, and the Department of Libraries, just to name a few. As the Governor mentioned over the past 24 months, the state has aligned its resources to support a variety of workforce expansion efforts, and it is my pleasure to highlight just a few. In the areas of work-based learning, apprenticeships have seen an increase of nearly 40% over the past two years and a number of registered apprenticeships and an additional 17 new programs. In keeping with the collaboration model, the state has also created a state apprenticeship team made up of members from a variety of agencies and departments. Additionally, the state continues to invest well over $350,000 for internships and additional on-the-job training. In the area of re-employment and at-risk populations, Labor has partnered with the Department of Corrections to provide enhanced training opportunities to prepare individuals for release, as well as those who have been recently released and are trying to re-engage with the labor force. Through partnerships within the Agency of Human Services, we have also been able to place workforce development staff at at least one recovery center in each region of the state. And in the Department of Children and Families, our team is now able to collaborate across systems with DCF case managers to co-enroll youth in labor programs. In partnering with the Department of Economic Development, we have been able to offer additional grant opportunities to regional development corporations across the state to enhance workforce development efforts. Additionally, this past January, we were able to fund a pilot project in Rutland County by partnering with the Rutland Economic Development Corporation to place career coaches in both Mill River and Otter Valley High Schools. The program focuses on specialized skill development and employment in Rutland County after graduation. In the area of youth, the Department of Labor has seen a 66% increase in its summer youth employment program and a projected 2018 investment of nearly $200,000. Moreover, the Department of Labor has invested $100,000 in the Vermont Talent Pipeline Project with looks at growing industries and works to identify future industry demands. Over the next 12 months, we're excited to announce the Vermont Return Ship Program and an investment of $100,000 that will go to trained individuals who are looking to re-enter the workforce. And another exciting opportunity that we'd like to point out is an additional $400,000 we've been able to secure for adult career technical education equipment to be shared through tech centers across the state. And finally, we are looking at other areas within the Department of Labor, such as unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, and occupational health and safety for ways to encourage business growth by reducing costs and increasing employment opportunities. What I've just mentioned is a true weaving of services in both the areas of reducing duplication and improving efficiency and in the end an increase in funding by leveraging a variety of opportunities. Addressing our labor force issue has been the number one priority of this department, and I would dare say by most departments within state government. And there is no doubt in my mind that the uptick in labor force numbers is a direct result of the hard work of the employees here at the Department of Labor and our partners across the state. Thank you very much, and I'd now like to have Betsy Bishop come on. Thank you for having me. I'm going to talk a little bit less about the state programs and a little bit more about what I see from the private sector and employment area. But first I'd like to say just a big thank you to the state, to the governor for putting a real focus on the workforce. It's something that we have needed as we have seen a tightening labor market with consistent unemployment at under 3 percent, 2.8 percent, thinking about how to engage and recruit and retain employees. Recruit evolution in how employers are looking to retain and recruit employers. It's really a new world of work that we're seeing with all of the changes that we're seeing, how employers are reacting to that. One of the things that, in addition to the numbers that the governor has shown and that we have seen from the Department of Labor, the Vermont Futures Project has really looked at data about what we're going to need in the future in addition to what's happening today. And one of the things that we have done is we've done a calculation around what is the workforce gap? How many workers do we need a year? And when you take into consideration how many people are graduating from high school and college and going directly into the workforce, and then you think about how many people are leaving the workforce through retirements or moving, natural attrition, those types of things, the Futures Project has come up with a number of 11,000 workers annually. It's what Vermont needs to keep up with its current rate of growth, which is about 2 percent. So the concept is that we have about 8,000 people who are coming into the supply, but we need almost 19,000 workers a year. So that is the struggle ahead of us and seeing this change that's being announced today is very helpful. So how do we close that gap? Because we know that there's no one thing, one policy, any silver bullet, a bus that holds 10,000 people a year. There's none of that that can happen easily. So it's a series of efforts that need to happen. And we would start with both marketing and incentives. We have seen the governor and the legislature come together this year in both those areas and support a marketing effort to at least tell people who live away from here that we want them to come here not only to visit for a weekend, but to consider being here for a lifetime. That marketing effort is small and growing. Maybe you've seen the effort in that through Think Vermont, through the Digital Ambassadors program. It's excellent. I think DOL has got some strong programs that are working to do that as well. So telling other people is first on the list. We've seen incentive programs also be promoted this year. And I think that there's a willingness now that the problem is well understood. And these are the two first areas that we're seeing how we recruit people from away. In addition to the many programs that Deputy Commissioner Harrington just spoke of, well, those are not things that grab headlines every day. They are the programs that employers use, that employees need, prospective employees need, and continue. And we have to continue with those. Efforts are underway. We heard some of those programs that are through the Department of Labor, but employers are doing their part too to think about the Vermonters that are not in the workforce that need to be. So helping new Americans get into the workforce. I see that every day at private companies. I was at Burned Chocolates last week. They have a very active New American program. Food Science has moved their building from Essex to Williston to be on the bus route so that new Americans can find it easier to get to work because transportation is an issue. We've seen Autumn Park working on these things as well. As we address the opiate problem in Vermont, how do we get folks with substance abuse histories into the workforce? Employers with this tight ready, this tight market are ready to meet that challenge and are doing creative things to be able to do that. And we heard earlier, speaking about getting folks who were previously incarcerated. These are the people that we need to get off of the sidelines and into the workforce to fuel our economic growth. And employers, private employers are doing their part as well in being creative in how they retain and recruit workers. Competitive wages and benefits have always been a part of the equation, but we are seeing more flexibility and more innovation now. So tailored really based on employees' needs. This is new. We're seeing things like student loan help, down payment on first home help. We've seen progressive leadership for working teams, community volunteering. We're also seeing certain training for a whole career path as opposed to specific training just for your job today. And what's most encouraging that we're seeing is flexible work arrangements. While we hear most of this in relation to millennials, it's valuable to retain the older workers and encourage them to stay in the workforce longer. And it's also important for workers who have family pressures, either with children or on the parent population. So in conclusion, employers continue to assess their workplaces and even their spaces to address the new world of work. They need to be competitive to recruit and retain employers. Thank you. And at this point, we'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about the labor issues first. Are you just going out? All those competition for workers, fear you or fears? It seems like that'd be the best attractive. Anecdotally, I would say yes. Absolutely. Supply and demand always kicks in when you have a tight labor market and you're searching for workers so the employee wages do go up. I don't know if we have any statistics on that. I don't have statistics, but I can tell you with the employers that I've talked with, when they're looking to compete for talent, they are having to offer a higher wage. And we've seen that in a couple of very significant cases over the past two years. Keating, you want to add to that? Yeah, I'd love to add to that. I think wages is key. We always think about competitive wages as the first line of defense. Maybe if I raise their salary, they'll stay longer. What we're finding in this particular workforce in this new world of work is that wages is one part of the equation and that there's an expectation that there's a competitive wage and there's an expectation that there's 100 benefits, health care, paid time off those types of things. But these other ideas around flexibility in the workforce is becoming equally important to folks in the workforce. So the conversation is, yes, a little bit about wages, but there's also other needs that employers are addressing. And it's becoming more tailored to a person as opposed to across the board. As you can see, this was in November of 16 here. And it was fairly stagnant across until December of 17. It started being uptick at that point. We weren't sure. I mean, many have identified that time as seeing some increase. But we weren't sure if that was going to be sustainable because as you can see, it does have a slope throughout this phase in time. It's getting uptick, uptick, uptick, and continuing. Our challenge, of course, is going to be workers for the workforce. We can continue to grow the workforce, but we're not people to fill the jobs. We're not going to see that increase. And that's why we have to focus on demographics. We have to bring more people into the state in order to continue that increase. Obviously, some of this is done nationally. We're seeing some positive trends and we want to continue to highlight this because a lot of what we see in business and in economics is consumer confidence. If we have confidence in the economy, it will continue to grow. If we see some downturns, then we see contracting at that time. So we see some growing trends here, which are encouraging. That's a pretty blind, but going from 3.45 to 3.49 is a percentage increase. I don't think that will compromise that, but it doesn't seem very much. How significant is that? It's a lot better than right here, but this one now. And this we're seeing a stagnant. This is dramatic, and I think if you look over time, about 2%, which is that it's sustainable. So you're staying economists last Friday said that the economy was going about as fast as it can, and unemployment was basically historic lows, and there isn't any capacity for the economy to grow any more than it has. So where does your confidence come from? Well, again, seeing the numbers and the increase in the workforce, I think that that's encouraging. The businesses that are looking to expand, that's encouraging. We have the largest investment in housing Vermont has ever seen, a $35 million housing fund, leveraging another $65 million for the largest investment in housing Vermont has ever seen, that's encouraging. So what we need now, again, is to focus on bringing more people into the state. And this is something that I've highlighted over the last couple of years and through trying to keep people here in the state, finding opportunity for them, decent affordable housing is important, opportunities as well as affordability. And that's why we're focusing on the affordability issues, the property taxes, and some of the tax burdens that many Vermonters face. So, again, it's all working together, for the common goal and the prosperity of Vermont. So, what, what on average now is the number of people Vermont is losing from its labor? Well, at this point in time it's difficult because we're actually we're increasing the number at this point, right? So we took the average over from 2009, I believe until, until I took office. That's where we came up with the average of six. But at this point in time we're, we're increasing, we're still below what we were in 2009, where I think it's by about 12,000 people. But again, as we increase tough to put a number behind there, but if you, you know, between now and 2009 it's about four to four and a half to one. The administration has had a few sort of small initiatives to stay, to stay initiative in the production for state colleges. Have you seen anyone who just mentioned this? Well, I mean again, we're seeing everything that we're, every tool in the toolbox is being utilized and I believe that we are seeing some positive effects, results from that but nothing that has been measured other than what we're seeing here. It's going to take some time for that to work. The many, thousands of people that have signed up for this day-to-day and I think there's only been, there's about one and a quarter. So there's only been I think two actual statuses at this point. So we'll have to check if there's been anybody that's moved but the thousand registrants that have signed up is three months in. So the, the leap started at the end of last year, beginning of this year what do you attribute that to? You know, I think I attribute it to a lot of different factors again, confidence the job creators, the businesses that are, that had the confidence to start expanding, bringing more people in, offering more employment as well you know, just confidence of everyday Vermonters and trying to spending more, seeing some hope on the horizon, the national economy heating up and again our economy starting to improve in small steps. So it's it's all the above. I think it's an effort by those that I mentioned from all different sectors of our state government of legislature, of the national economy and of course the job creators who are providing for opportunity for many Vermonters. The, we're not seeing, statistically we're really not seeing any wage growth. In fact, last month again, the state economy some Friday reported that in June purchasing power actually dipped a little bit. There seems to be a fundamental disconnect where at this point in the economic cycle, we should be seeing dramatic wage increases and we're not the, you know, the benefits of the economic expansion seem to be going all to the top earners. Well, again what's, I believe again this is anecdotal, when I'm talking to those businesses, the job creators, I spoke to some this morning and they are increasing wages and benefits because there's competition for those workers. So I think we'll see that increased growth. It will happen. It is happening and I believe it will continue as long as we continue to focus on those areas of affordability and growing the economy we'll see a natural progression of wage growth. They basically attributed the growth of the economy entirely to two things. One is federal tax cuts, the other is federal deficit spending which is sort of supercharging the economy. In terms of Vermont's prosperity, Vermont's economy is there a portion of the growth that you can attribute to your policies in the administration's work? Well, again I don't, I'm not staying here to take credit, but I think we are focusing in the right areas and again when I took office I pledged to focus on the economy, focus on the demographics, focus on the areas where we can continue to grow the economy, make it more affordable protect the most vulnerable all at the same time and I think as a result we're seeing some positive trends. But it takes those again those job creators, those businesses there who are out there to have the confidence in growing their businesses and expanding their businesses I think bringing some of those businesses from Canada. We've had some success there and I think that there's more of this fertile ground in that regard. I believe we can have more Canadian businesses coming into our state in the near future. So I think everything together and again in the corrective action we've taken in terms of taxes and fees over the last two years has a positive effect on those keeping more money in the pockets of those hardworking Vermonters and giving some encouragement to the businesses that were paying attention I think all told all of us pulling in the same direction has led to what we're seeing on some of the charts. This might be where you don't have to stay or can stay if you want to get into some other areas. This is something that's obviously they're going to have this conversation on National 11. We're seeing it right now 3D printing. Who would have thought we could produce firearms with 3D printing just 10 years ago? I certainly did not but it's an area that appears that they'll be dealing with on a National 11. How do you feel about keeping the state employees standpoint? We have a responsibility as the employer as the administration to keep our state employees safe. We'll continue to work in that regard to make sure that we're doing just that. So this does, you know, plastic firearms does I think increase the complexity of some of the metal detectors and so forth and so on. So we'll continue to do what we can in terms of everything that we've got in the pipeline to keep our workforce safe. Are you concerned, sir? Well, I'm always concerned. I mean, I'm always cautious. I'm always concerned. Again, the responsibility follows on us to make sure that we're doing all we can to protect them. Do you support the efforts to ban the publication of these blueprints on smartphones? I certainly, you know, it's a bit of a slippery slope in some respects. If you're mass producing weapons of this nature, there should be some oversight obviously. And again, it's difficult because at this point in time, I believe you can still build your own weapon right now, I believe. But I'm not sure, you know, with this new technology that anyone would have foreseen this coming. So again, I look forward to the conversation on a national level. I think it's even treated or spoken about it. And so there's a lot of interest in Congress at this point in time. So we'll see where it all plays out, but I think that it's something that should be at rest. Your Climate Action Commission put out its report yesterday. Have you read it? Do you have any reaction to it? I have not read it yet. It was brought forward yesterday. I'm going to sit down with the committee in the next two to three weeks so that they can tell me about it and then we'll move on from there. As I understand it, there's about 50 recommendations within the report. And I'm sure there are some that will be able to move forward on. So I thank them for their good work. I think it was well worth it and look forward to having positive results as a result of their good work. One of the recommendations was increasing funding for weatherization of homes. Absolutely. I've been a supporter of weatherization. It's like being a true conservative because you're preventing something from happening. And I believe that that approach has benefits across the spectrum. So we had moved forward. We tried to move forward with a plan to do the best more in weatherization. We're going to continue. That didn't make it through the legislature. But we'll continue to work in that regard. Senator Patrick Lee is looking to secure funding federally for election security grants. Do you have any security risks that are part of the professional system? I'm not aware. I'm probably a better question for Secretary of State. But Secretary Kondo, from what I've heard, feels that our system is secure. But a better question for him. Where are you at with your search for a new education secretary? We are very close. Stay tuned. We'll be hearing something very, very shortly. And is the acting secretary in the running for that position? She was not in one of the finalists. She never applied for that position. Governor, you're hosting the newly-governed ZAMB careers coming up. What's on the agenda for that? Well, we'll be talking about energy. We'll be talking about NAFTA. We'll be talking about our regionalization, how we can work together. And certainly in trying to do whatever we can to further the region forward. So I think it will be well worth the effort of having the commanders and the governors there. Are the NAFTA national NAFTA discussions going on? I wouldn't say it will hinder us at all because I believe those of us in the Northeast are certainly on a different wave-like communication than the rest of the country. We mail to here in Vermont, Canada, with that particularly as our largest trading partner, valuable to us, and we need each other. And I believe that the premiers as well as the new governors appreciate that and recognize that. You've got a primary election coming up here in a couple weeks. What is it like campaigning hasn't come with that? Yeah, it's it is much different when I'm around when there was an open seat. Obviously I take this seriously. There are issues with a low and expected very low primary turnout because when I'm speaking with many Vermonters they don't even realize we have a primary in August. So it's concerning. We need to make sure that Vermonters get out there to vote that here are the candidates and vote for those who they think will best represent their values. Do you think 14 year olds should be legally eligible to run for governor? I think we should probably take a look at that to be perfectly honest with you, but at this point in time it's perfectly legal and Ethan's doing a great job and when I hear him on the radio I'm amazed at his age and his sense of maturity. Do you support perhaps aggressing that and I think practically speaking I think you should at least be able to get your driver's license at the time you become governor. You get driven all over the place. That is true. Okay, thank you very much for coming in. We're coming out. Coming out. That's right. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.