The Bipartisan Policy Center to Host Expert Discussion of America's Veterans Transitioning Back to the Work Force

To: BUSINESS AND NATIONAL EDITORS

With unemployment rates for veterans at nearly 40 percent, pre-Memorial Day panel - including PG&E CEO Tony Earley and General Jim Jones - will discuss how to help vets and others land jobs and build careers

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the nation prepares to celebrate national service on Memorial Day, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) will discuss work force opportunities among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, for whom unemployment rates are nearly 40 percent higher than that of the general population. The discussion, which will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, May 22, 2012, will feature Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Chairman and CEO Tony Earley and former National Security Advisor General (ret.) James L. Jones, a BPC Senior Fellow, among other experts.

More than 12 million Americans are unemployed and actively seeking work while employers are seeking to fill more than 3.5 million job openings. The BPC event will explore how to provide unemployed workers with the skills and competencies these opportunities require. How can industries collaborate with government to fill the gap when federal resources for job training programs have declined by 18 percent since 2006? Leaders from the public and private sectors will examine these issues at tomorrow's event.

PG&E's PowerPathway Training Network is a collaboration with local community colleges and non-profit training centers, the public workforce development system, unions and other industry employers to enlarge the talent pool of qualified candidates for entry-level skilled crafts jobs, such as pre-apprentice line worker and utility worker, with a focus on support to America's military veterans. PowerPathway was featured in a 2011 report update by BPC's Task Force on America's Future Energy Jobs.

Former CNN Correspondent and author of Rising From Katrina, Kathleen Koch, will moderate the discussion with panelists: PG&E CEO and U.S. Navy veteran Tony Earley; former National Security Advisor General Jones; Jane Oates, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training at the U.S. Department of Labor; Emily DeRocco, former assistant secretary of labor for employment and training at the U.S. Department of Labor and former president of the Manufacturing Institute at the National Association of Manufacturers; and Kevin Schmiegel, vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and executive director of the Chamber's Hiring Our Heroes Program.

The event is open to press, but space is limited. If you're interested in attending and/or scheduling interviews with any of the participants, please contact Ashley Clark at aclark@bipartisanpolicy.org.

The event will also be webcast here.

WHO:

Tony Earley, Chairman and CEO, PG&E

General (ret.) Jim Jones, Former National Security Advisory and BPC Senior Fellow

Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor

Emily DeRocco, Former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor, and Former President, Manufacturing Institute, National Association of Manufacturers

Kevin Schmiegel, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.), U.S. Marine Corps

Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director, Hiring Our Heroes Program

Jason Grumet, BPC President

Kathleen Koch, Former Correspondent, CNN

Author, Rising From Katrina

WHAT: Training Tomorrow's Workers Today: How the Right Investments Can Make A Difference

WHERE: Bipartisan Policy Center

1225 Eye Street NW Suite 1000, 10th floor Washington, DC 20005 (202) 204-2400

WHEN: Tuesday, May 22, 2012

2:30PM-3:30PM

SOURCE Bipartisan Policy Center

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