Battered by a year of layoffs and deep production cuts, Kansas' aerospace cluster (booth 3197) is forming public/private partnerships to adapt to the reality of the global economic downturn and lend a hand to employers and employees.
Kansas State Representative Raj Goyle, whose East Wichita district includes Hawker Beechcraft, sponsored legislation that was signed into Kansas state law in May that expands, not only benefits to the unemployed, but now provides employees who have had their work weeks reduced the opportunity to attend state-approved job training programmes to accrue new skills.
Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems, for example, has escaped significant layoffs, and has looked at reduced work weeks for employees as both a cost-saving measure and a way to minimize potential reductions in the workforce.
Goyle says the bill, which was signed into law by Kansas governor Matt Parkinson at Spirit AeroSystems, was designed in partnership with local Wichita companies and was designed to be applied beyond the aerospace industry.
The policy was made possible by tapping $69 million of funding through the Kansas Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, from which benefits are paid. The $69 million was part of the $787 billion in economic stimulus funding passed by the US Congress in February.
"This was a big win for worker and businesses. It's an excellent example of how public private partnerships can work. It is very important to take all the steps we can to get the recovery going. Wichita and Kansas will bounce back," says Goyle.
Source: Flight Daily News
