Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor has been appointed vice chair of the United States Conference of Mayors Manufacturing and Career and Technical Education Task Force.
The appointment was made by U.S. Conference of Mayors outgoing President Bryan Barnett, Mayor of Rochester Hills, Mich.
“The work of this committee is an integral part of America’s recovery,” said Barnett. “I have no doubt that Mayor Taylor’s experience and passion will bring great value to this important national discussion.”
The task force was created by the Conference to address the issue of workforce development requiring the immediate attention of a select group of mayors. Recommendations from this task force will be submitted to the U.S. Conference of Mayors to serve as the basis for Conference policy positions. Taylor was tapped for this leadership role in part due to the robust manufacturing base in Sterling Heights which includes four major automotive plants and thousands of manufacturing jobs. In addition, under Taylor’s leadership, Sterling Heights has become a municipal leader in job training with the introduction of training on Lean Six Sigma principles across all City departments and the invention of Sterling U, a program designed to educate City staff about overall operations and department dynamics through a combination of a classroom style approach as well as interactive, hands-on tours and learning activities.
“We are at a pivotal time in America regarding the future of work and our ability to find, train and retain a skilled workforce that can meet the needs of our rapidly changing economy,” said Taylor. “In Sterling Heights and around the world, local leadership must collaborate with businesses and residents alike to keep pace with the ongoing shifts in skill sets required of our workforce. I’m incredibly honored to be chosen to help lead this group of mayors from across the country in preparing the communities that make up our nation for the jobs of tomorrow.”
“Sterling Heights and Fontana, California share a history of transitioning from a rural farming community to a bustling manufacturing center, and we understand how vital it is to prepare a future workforce that can meet the demands of innovation and advancements in manufacturing for all industries,” said Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren, chair of the task force. “I look forward to working with Mayor Taylor to put our heads together, push up our sleeves and continue the important work of assisting America’s manufacturers in their workforce development efforts,” said Mayor Acquanetta Warren of Fontana, Calif.
Strengthening education, improving schools and building the workforce of the future is part of the Mayors’ 2020 Vision for America: A Call to Action. This plan calls on the president and congress to increase funding for workforce innovation, improve coordination and access to jobs and job training opportunities and prepare the future workforce.
“While mayors shoulder the weight of leading our cities through these difficult moments of pandemic, recession and marches for racial justice to alter the inequitable course our nation has travelled for too long, we also recognize that we are blessed with a rare window of opportunity to shape those conditions, transform our communities and reach the ideals to which we aspire to better serve all of our constituents,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force President Greg Fischer, Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky.