 Thank you, and thank you all for being here today. She shared that I started my business at 21, but the truth is I had an apprenticeship from being a very young kid by luck of birth. Because my dad was in manufacturing, and so at a very young age, I would go to work with him, six, seven, and eight years old. And so it was no surprise that when I was in college and had the opportunity to take on an extra credit class, I picked forming a business as my challenge. And that idea became the company I run today. But when I walked in the door at 21 years old with 12 employees, I had not much more experience than an apprentice. But what I did have is a vision of a company that I wanted to build, and over the last 37 years, that's exactly what I've done. But within that process, and it's interesting from day one, and I was the first trainee, what I realized is the biggest challenge I had in my business was to find the right talent to drive a growing business. And in advanced manufacturing that has gone from relays to solid state, that technology drove skills and needs that just weren't out in the marketplace. So really, from early on in my business, I assumed that if I couldn't find the workers, then I needed to do something about that. And the best place to start would be in the classroom with our schools, because the assumption was, and I think too many times we assume this in business, well, if they don't have the skills, it must be the schools that are at fault. So I began working with a local high school, which has turned into a lifelong commitment. And what I learned in that process is that they have a challenging job, obviously. In my business, if raw materials come into my plant and they're out of spec, I send them back. In public education, we teach and are responsible for all kids. So it was pretty clear to me early on that their challenge was a big one. And I've spent time teaching in classrooms for three years, once a week. I would go in and teach a marketing course with members of my InterTech team. And I learned just how hard it was to develop curriculum, keep the attention of 32 kids if you're lucky the class is only 32. And I began to realize that, man, there's a missing link to this problem. And so I started in the classroom. And then I also worked within the community because we have some neighborhoods in Denver, usually their low income, usually housing projects, where the dropout rates are in excess of 90%, if you can believe that, 90%. So through a program called the I Have a Dream Foundation, my wife and I sponsored 42 kids for a decade in that neighborhood with 90%. Our goal was to graduate 90% of those kids. And we spent 10 years with those kids. We had one staff person committed to them because our promise is if they would graduate from high school, we would pay for their college education. 10 years later, we graduated 90% of our kids. We turned those statistics upside down. So once you know that you can have an impact on someone's life, the question is if we could do that with 42, could we do that for a city, a state, or even a country? And I was on that journey for a decade. Continuing to work with the schools, I was asked to chair the Career and Technical Education Council at Denver Public Schools. And as a part of that, and this was no more than two years ago, they asked and suggested that I go to Switzerland to attend a 10 day institute. And I went with the team from Colorado of seven people. And being the busy guy that I was, and I was never a great student, so I never did my homework. I never read what I was about to see. But it was clear to me on the third day as I was learning about how they did what they did, that what they do is transformational, and that there could be, should be, a place for that in this country. So what was unique to me? First of all, their system starts in the middle school where kids are exposed to career options. They call it sniffing. We call it career exploration. But how many kids get out of high school, even get out of college, and really never knew what they wanted to do with life? Well, in that system, they start early. And then in the 11th grade, because compulsory education stops in the 10th grade, they have a choice to continue on through the 12th and go on to post-secondary, or they can do an apprenticeship. So in Switzerland, and here's some interesting statistics, 28% of their population will get a four year degree. In the US, it's a little over 30%. But another 70% in Switzerland go through an apprenticeship system. So literally, 98% of their population either has a four year degree or an apprenticeship, meaning that 98% of their population have the skills they need to enter into the middle class, and they do. Youth unemployment rate, around 4%. If you look at some of our cities, if you're a minority, it's over 28%. If you're a majority right now, we have a strong economy in Denver. It's around eight or 9%, around 4% in Switzerland. And more interestingly, and this was what I didn't expect to see. I thought, yes, advanced manufacturing, those types of jobs, what we've seen here in the past in the US, but no. They serve over 230 pathways, which basically is their entire economic system. So if you want to become a banker, 70% of the bankers in Switzerland came out of the apprenticeship system. So with that model, it was key to me that if you add to theory in the classroom, the practice, it can change everything. If you engage kids when they are still in school, it's this special hour, I think, special couple years where you have their attention, where they learn the soft skills better in the business than they do in the classroom, that you can change the trajectory of a country, and they do because they compete globally, small country, not much bigger than Colorado, but they are seen as one of the most innovative countries in the world, and I believe it's because of their workforce. So with that inspiration, I remember going to the airport in Switzerland after 10 days, texting the governor and saying, because he had already formed the Bell Commission, which stands for Business Experiential Learning Commission, of which I co-chair with Ellen Gallin back in the audience here, and it was to design a way for businesses to engage through apprenticeships, and that was before I left for Switzerland. So I texted him, I said, governor, what I think I just saw could change Colorado, but if we come back, our group of seven, people will think we're kind of nuts if we say this is gonna change everything. So will you lead a delegation to Switzerland? And after some thought, he said yes, so a little more than two years ago, or a year ago, actually, in January, the governor and I led a delegation of 48 business leaders from Colorado. We spent four and a half days learning about their system, and on the fourth day in Lucerne, Switzerland, I asked that group of business leaders, heads of large district school boards, superintendents, if you think this is right for Colorado, what is your commitment? And that was January of last year, and without exception, everyone in that room made a commitment, and what's more amazing, they all lived up to the commitment, so what that meant is, six months later, almost a year ago, in June, we launched CareerWise Colorado to form a youth apprenticeship system in our state to achieve bringing 20,000 youth apprenticeships per year into the state within a decade. Equally important, we raised $11 million to capitalize the effort, $2 million in consulting work from McKinsey, so that we built the plan out and could execute upon what our challenge was. So we went from a few volunteers to a group of 16 people now operating within CareerWise. We are launching in Colorado with four school districts, Denver, Jeffco, Cherry Creek, and then on the other side of our state in a smaller city, Grand Junction, and then two charter schools, because we know if all we do is just one school district, we won't change anything in Colorado. If this does not build out to be a statewide system in rural Colorado, in our big cities, it will be a good idea that really doesn't change anything because think about it, how long have we been working on school reform and how much change has there been? And fundamentally, I believe it's not the school's challenge, it's ours as well. Business has viewed ourselves as consumers of the product, the education system, not producers. We need to be both. We have a role in this. So in launching in Colorado, we will be, we now have 68 companies that are participating in our pilot year. In the fall, we have some companies taking as many as 25 apprentices, down to one. So we will be piloting this across all sizes of companies because in the US, as in Switzerland, the majority of jobs are created by small business. So this not only has to work throughout Colorado, it has to work for all businesses. And the model that is most powerful to me is that in Switzerland, they don't do this because it's the right community effort. They do this because it enhances their bottom line. They realize that a long-term investment in their workforce pays dividends and ultimately ensures they are more profitable. So if you think a company like Swisscom with 8,000 employees, 10% 800 are apprentices. So in our pilot year, we looked for companies that had the forethought, had the vision to say, we want to build our workforce and we're going to take that role seriously. And so what does that mean in Colorado? Our first four pathways are in advanced manufacturing, banking and finance, information technology, and business services. And we picked those, intensely banking and financing because let's face it, in this country, apprenticeships were thought for your plumber. They were for someone else's kids. In Colorado, as in Switzerland, you can start with an apprenticeship and end with a PhD. The students that are participating in our program will not only get their high school degree because they'll be spending three days a week in the classroom and two days a week in a business, they'll be getting their high school diploma. They will be earning while they're learning so they're getting paid while they're in the job so over that apprenticeship period, they could earn up to $30,000 over a number of years. They will be earning college credit up to 50 hours of college credit so if they choose to move on, they will be making college more affordable and in fact one of our first employers who is now into their second year of apprenticeship. Not only are they paying them while they work, they're also investing and paying for an AS degree in a community college if they want to move on and if they want to become an engineer, they're gonna pay for that too and they're not doing it again out of kindness or goodwill, they're doing it because they can't grow a highly technical business without a skilled workforce and they have already seen the value of this for their kids. So we pick banking and finance so you wouldn't think it's just for the trades. Information technology in Colorado, we have 40,000 unfilled jobs today that pay middle class wages and more and yet we have many people that are underemployed or unemployed in the state of Colorado even in this economy because they simply don't have the skills so this model and with the help of the Bell Commission which is not just looking at youth apprenticeships but apprenticeships throughout our economy and our workforce system, everything we're doing will advise that system so that the existing workforce will benefit as well. We've built competencies that the company's trained to. We have a learning management system that flows through our websites so companies can mark down what is being taught so those students can earn credit. We have a marketplace that was backbone built by LinkedIn that allows students to compete with posted apprenticeships, apply to those apprenticeships so we actually have a marketplace and that's important. That's something that they did in Switzerland because you can't get an apprenticeship for a job that a company doesn't intend on creating so it's a constant way to moderate, modulate to the marketplace so that is a powerful model and we've built curriculum competencies. We're working with businesses to train them on how to bring apprenticeships in. We're working with schools so that they can recruit students and let them know what choices they have and there are ways to make college more affordable if they want but it's important to remember in this country, when we tell what to all of our kids to be successful we have to have a four-year degree. We're essentially telling two-thirds of our population that do not have a four-year degree that in some way they're less and what I would tell you about apprenticeships is it should have equal dignity to any degree because it does. Some of the smartest people I work with are working in my manufacturing plant and they don't have a four-year degree but they think in three dimensions, five dimensions, they're just incredible. They build automation systems, they build molds, highly precise work. It should have equal dignity and I think that's part of the rebranding of apprenticeships in this country is we have to remember that it is as valued. And then finally, and what I'll close with is a story about my first trip to Switzerland and the instructor that was teaching us. So she was a secretary of labor and education for Switzerland for 20 years. She reformed and built the system that they have today and it was clear to me on the third day that what she was doing was amazing. And so I raised my hand in class and I asked Ursula, Ursula, why do you take all of us from all around the world to learn about this system? And she gave me a very clinical answer. She said, well, no, this ETH is a research university and what we learn from you through your efforts will help make our system better and my inside voice said BS, but I was quiet. 10 days later, she knew we were serious in Colorado and I was sitting next to her at our final dinner and I asked her again over a glass of wine. That may have helped a little. I said, Ursula, why really do you do this? And she said, well, no, when you asked the question seven days ago, I didn't want you to think I was crazy. But the reason I'm doing this is because I think the world is in trouble and what we're doing in Switzerland can change the world because everyone wants a good job. If they don't have the skills to get it, it will hold not bath the economy but it will hold back people. So my point to you and the reason I am so committed to this effort because I do think it's world changing. I think the fact that you're here today, you're listening to the panels that we will have, you'll think about apprenticeships in a much more broad way is I believe you are on the cusp of making a difference in your community and of changing the world. So thank you for being here. Thank you for your supportive apprenticeships. It is the next big thing. Thank you.