Officials Toured Facilities and Highlighted Training for New Technologies

Photos (Dropbox)

BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joined Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona at the Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (BFIT) to meet students training for careers in new technologies and to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s Economic Blueprint and its focus on rebuilding a more innovative, resilient and equitable economy.

Rep. Pressley, Senator Warren, and Secretaries Walsh and Cardona were joined by BFIT President and CEO Dr. Aisha Francis and students for a brief tour of its Center for Energy Efficiency and the Trades and a discussion about how public-private partnerships can help build and sustain strong workforce development programs in Massachusetts and across the nation.

Following the discussion, the group held a fireside chat focused on how Biden-Harris administration policies are promoting equity in job opportunities and meeting the workforce needs of employers as the use of renewable energy and clean technology expands.

“It was great to join Secretaries Cardona and Walsh at BFIT to meet with students and highlight the green job programs being offered at the school,” said Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. “Programs like these, which help our students pursue careers in the growing green energy sector, are critical to building a more just, equitable, and sustainable economy—and they deserve the full support of the federal government. I’m grateful to Dr. Francis and the BFIT community for hosting us once again, and to the Biden-Harris Administration for their ongoing engagement in the Massachusetts 7^th and Commonwealth. I’m proud of the brilliance and innovation in our district and we’re grateful for the partnership and support of Secretaries Walsh and Cardona.”

“I’m proud that in our budget proposal, the President put out $200 million for career connected learning. We need to systematize what Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology is doing and ensure our students have equal opportunity at success. This pandemic disrupted our school system. No one said we have to build it back the way it was before. We have a responsibility to do better by lifting up pockets of excellence across the country,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

“The hands-on learning and skills training at Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology is an example of how public-private partnerships can expand opportunities and grow our economy with a diverse, skilled workforce,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s Economic Blueprint will create thousands of new jobs and, through the Good Jobs Initiative at the Department of Labor, we are building pipelines of access into the federal government’s job-creating grant programs across infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy.”

“We appreciate Congresswoman Pressley’s ongoing support and partnership in our work to create opportunities for our students in the current workforce,” said Aisha Francis, President & CEO of Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology. “Today, Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology showed the sophistication of our programs that create pathways to careers in clean tech and renewable energy.”

View photos from the event here.

In June 2022, Congresswoman Pressley visited BFIT to deliver $300,000 in direct federal funding for the development of a Clean Energy Building Automation Systems certificate and associate degree program. Rep. Pressley was joined by students and community members for a roundtable discussion and press conference to highlight how the funding will allow students to receive the training needed to pursue good-paying jobs in the clean energy sector.

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