Kentucky faces a severe shortage of skilled workers and falls below the national average in workforce participation. Filling Kentucky Jobs: A KET Forum, airing Monday, Nov. 13 at 8/7 pm on KET, spotlights Kentucky’s need for a well-trained labor force and highlights programs across the state addressing workforce issues.

Hosted by KET’s Renee Shaw, the one-hour, town-hall forum features leaders from Kentucky’s government, education, business and public policy sectors discussing how to address the state’s jobs gap.

Panelists and featured guests include:

• Dave Adkisson, president of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
• Melissa Aguilar, executive director of the Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board
• Kate Akers, Ph.D., executive director of the Kentucky Center for Education & Workforce Statistics
• Jared Arnett, executive director of SOAR, Shaping Our Appalachian Region
• Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy
• Jay Box, Ph.D., president of KCTCS (Kentucky Community and Technical College System)
• Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Glisson
• Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Hal Heiner
• Jacqueline Korengel, Ed.D., associate vice president of Kentucky Adult Education Skills U
• Kim Menke, manager of community and government relations for Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America
• Kentucky Labor Cabinet Secretary Derrick Ramsey
• Aaron Thompson, Ph.D., executive vice president, Council on Postsecondary Education
• Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary John Tilley
• Catherine Werner, an environmental, health and safety leader at General Electric in Louisville and board member of the national association Women in Manufacturing
• Mary Gwen Wheeler, executive director, 55,000 Degrees

In addition to the panel discussion, the program also highlights efforts to increase Kentuckians’ employability in today’s labor market. In Eastern Kentucky, Bit Source’s work to train coal miners to code is highlighted, as is a West Kentucky Workforce Board initiative in Hopkinsville that assists veterans from Fort Campbell with their transition into the civilian workforce.

Filling Kentucky Jobs: A KET Forum is a KET production, produced by Renee Shaw.

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, where learning comes to life for more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization at KET.org, on Twitter @KET and at facebook.com/KET.

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