The 2008 Summit for Workforce Development

Brent Orrell
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Employment and Training – U.S.Department of Labor

Mr. Orrell served as the first Director of the Department’s Center of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives from 2001 to 2005. Prior to this second DOL appointment, Mr. Orrell was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and External Relations at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for the Children and Families.

In his earlier work at DOL, Mr. Orrell focused on several key aspects of President George Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative. Working with the Employment and Training Administration, he was responsible for designing the Initiative’s first grants program to fund small faith-based and community organizations that provide workforce development services to poor and underserved communities.

In his first term in office, Mayor Sam Jones has seen unprecedented economic growth in Mobile. Named by Forbes as the fastest growing economy in America, Mobile is now home to ThyssenKrupp Stainless and Steel, and Northrop Grumman/EADS, two of the area’s largest economic development projects, resulting in thousands of jobs for the Gulf Coast region. Jones, a former County Commissioner, has made economic development a major initiative for his administration.

As Chancellor of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education, Bradley Byrne is the head of the State’s 2-year college program, which offers vocational training as well as liberal arts studies. From 1994 to 2002, he was a member of the Alabama State Board of Education and from 2002 to 2007, he represented District 32 in the Alabama State Senate.

Dr. Helen N. Parker has served as Regional Administrator for the Atlanta Region of the Employment and Training Administration since March 9, 2003. She oversees approximately $2.5 billion in federal grant resources to state and local grantees. She provides leadership and direction to the workforce system in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

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7:30

Welcome: Mobile Mayor Sam Jones

Breakfast served

7:40

Greetings: Mobile County Commission President Stephen Nodine

U.S. Senator Jeff Session’s Office

8:00

Keynote Speaker: Brad Byrne, Chancellor, Alabama Dept. of Post-Secondary Education

8:25
Q & A Session

8:45

Business Breakout Session:
Facilitator: Win Hallett, President, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce

Steel – Thomas Woelker, Vice President, ThyssenKrupp Steel and Stainless USA

Maritime – Bob Browning, Austal USA

Engineering – David L. Trent, Director, Mobile Site, Airbus North America Engineering Center

General Contractors – Ryan Ott, Chair, Associated Builders and Contractors

Homebuilders – Eric Brewer, Past President, Mobile Homebuilders Association

Hotel/Motel – Shane Aldridge, President, Mobile Area Hotel/Motel Association

Aerospace – Joseph Ng, Mobile Aerospace Engineering
-- David Fink, Vice-President, EADS North America

Healthcare – Carol Statter, Infirmary Health Services

9:45

Q & A Session

10:05

Break

10:30

Education Breakout Session: Facilitator: Sydney Raine, President, Mobile Works, Inc.

K through 12 – Carolyn Akers, Executive Director, Mobile Area Education Foundation
-- Jeremiah Newell, Director of Student Engagement, Mobile Area Education Foundation
-- Dr. Roy Nichols, Superintendent, Mobile County Public Schools
-- Dr. Faron Hollinger, Superintendent, Baldwin County Public Schools

Post Secondary – Dr. James Lowe, Interim President, Bishop State Community College

Higher Education – Dean Richard Hayes, USA College of Ed.

11:15

Q & A Session

Introduction of Presenters: Sydney Raine

11:35

Labor Market Analysis: Tonya Lee, Statistical Supervisor, State of Alabama Department of Industrial Relations

11:50

Workforce Development Regional Perspective:
Dr. Helen Parker, Regional Administrator, Employment and Training Administration

12:10

Q & A Session

Move to Ballroom for Luncheon

12:30

Greetings: Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, U.S. Congressman Jo Bonner’s Office

Introduction of Speaker: Ron Melton, Chairman, Community Foundation of South Alabama

12:35

Keynote Address: Brent Orrell, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training in the U.S. Department of Labor

1:10

Remarks:
-- Dr. Roland Anglin, Director of the Initiative for Regional and Community Transformation
-- Tom Davis, Director, Community Foundation fo South Alabama
-- Leroy Nicholson, Director of Labor Institute for Training, AFL-CIO

1:20

Wrap-up Session
Gig Armbrecht, Regional Manager, AT&T

1:35

Closing: Mayor Jones