MONTGOMERY — State Sen. Pro-Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper) hopes to improve Alabama’s lagging labor force participation as he leaves the Senate to become an advisor to Gov. Kay Ivey.
In November, Ivey announced she had selected Reed to serve as her senior advisor for workforce transformation.
Reed’s appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2025. He said on Thursday he’d eventually become a member of Ivey’s cabinet next summer as the Secretary of the Department of Workforce.
“I think as we look forward we need a coordinated and collaborative effort. We need career tech education at schools and high schools, that’s going to be a big element. We need opportunities for the two-year college system to be engaged and involved, and they have, and we need their participation more. Dual enrollment opportunities are going to be so important for kids that are looking to identify to get that kind of training,” Reed told reporters at a Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce event on Thursday morning.
He continued, “Then moving to the four-year institutions, our workforce issues in Alabama are not just issues that are associated with those that need trade skills.”
“It’s also associated with accountants and engineers that we need to be able to do things in our state, so working with our four-year institutions to try and continue to retain talent, hold on to folks that are well-educated in Alabama, and have them to be part of our economy is going to be important,” Reed added. “The retraining of folks that are coming from one industry to the next as the knowledge-based economy continues to grow as we move from one area that’s been a stalwart to a new area that’s going to be fresh and different, there’s going to be people that will require retraining to be well-positioned to take those new opportunities. We’ve got to be prepared to deal with all of those elements from high school kids all the way to those that are going to be retraining for opportunities that are coming in the knowledge-based economy of the future.”
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