U.S. Labor Secretary Walsh visited the Chaffey College InTech Center with Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona). "The (Congresswomen) brought me here today to really see the partnership here with community colleges, with industry and creating better pathways into better jobs with people, and that's what we need to continue to invest in this," Walsh said.
The InTech Center provides technical training in fields like welding, automation, robotics, and industrial mechanics. As part of the visit, Walsh had the opportunity to walk around the center and then participate in a roundtable discussion with faculty and program graduates."The people that go to school here, not only are they getting a skill to better themselves and their family, but they're also getting an education, and they're getting college credits. So you're kind of getting a lot done at one time when you walked through the front door here," Walsh said.
Rep. Torres just last month had U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also tour the facility. She discussed the benefit of having them visit. "For them to see the investment, what is happening in this community that we call the Inland Empire... that we are actually meeting the needs of our residents," Torres said.
Torres has been a staunch supporter of the InTech Center, which she says is linking job training and workforce needs and producing a skilled labor force. "For me, the last eight years that I've been in Congress, I've been very focused on increasing the footprint and growing our local high tech manufacturing in this area," Torres said.
After the visit, Secretary Walsh and Rep. Torres had a private conversation about warehousing and how to bring better jobs to the industry and make sure workers are being treated fairly.
