In this Sunday’s Washington Post (Rebuilding Something Better), President Barack Obama wrote about the critical need for our workers to upgrade their skills in order to meet the growing demands of jobs in the 21st century economy.

In an economy where jobs requiring at least an associate's degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience, it's never been more essential to continue education and training after high school. That's why we've set a goal of leading the world in college degrees by 2020. Part of this goal will be met by helping Americans better afford a college education. But part of it will also be strengthening our network of community colleges.

With new funding from the stimulus package and the recent discussion of reform in high growth industries such as health care and energy, the focus on job retraining should be a top priority. The business community has long seen the value in our vast community college network as a flexible and efficient way to help with the retraining of American workers. They are often the institutions that best respond to the changing economic needs of a community and provide a more affordable option for its citizens to obtain a postsecondary degree.

In addition, a report released today by President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow, reveals a growing "shift towards jobs that require workers with greater analytical and interactive skills." It also stresses the importance of reforming our education and training systems in order to provide quality service to our current and future workforce.

Given the limited amount of funding, training must be maximized to ensure a far greater percentage of those who are being trained are training for jobs that actually exist. We are pleased to see that President Obama’s strong commitment to the attainment of postsecondary education aligns with business’ requirement for a more skilled and qualified workforce.  Read more about the Chamber’s policy on job training online.