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AED Commends Trump Administration for Focus on Addressing Skills Gap

Brian P. McGuire, president and CEO of Associated Equipment Distributors (AED), issued the following statement in conjunction with President Trump’s executive order signing regarding apprenticeships and his administration’s focus on addressing the nation’s skilled worker shortage.

The AED Foundation recently commissioned two studies by the College of William & Mary quantifying the skilled worker shortage’s impact on the construction equipment industry and analyzing career and technical education (CTE) programs on a state-by-state basis. Visit http://aedfoundation.org/research/ to learn more about The AED Foundation’s research.

“AED commends President Trump for his leadership to address the nation’s skills gap and making educating the next generation of skilled workers a top priority.  Businesses, schools and government officials must collectively commit to tackling the technical workforce shortage at all levels. The president’s executive order allowing greater industry involvement and direction in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs is a positive step.

“The skilled worker shortage is costing construction equipment dealers approximately $2.4 billion per year in lost revenue and economic activity.  Pairing work-based learning opportunities with federal policies that better reflect current workforce needs while empowering state and local entities will help resolve the industry’s skilled worker deficiency, allowing AED members to better serve customers while growing their businesses and the overall economy. We look forward to working with the Trump administration and Congress to prepare workers for well-paying careers, ensure that U.S. companies are able to seize new business opportunities and make the United States more competitive in the global economy.”