There are plenty of opportunities to innovate and create a better working environment

OPINION:

New jobs and new opportunities are popping up across the country. A recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated there are nearly 7.6 million job openings in this country and only about 6.6 million people who can fill these roles. One million more jobs are open in this country than can be filled by available workers. This is the first time in my memory this has happened in this country.

But this just means we have one million opportunities to innovate and create a better workforce environment to better prepare the workers of tomorrow to fill these jobs. This includes my home state of Mississippi, where I am a state senator. I am working to build innovative systems for the future workers in my state — which have never been done before.

This is a huge opportunity for our kids in Mississippi, but it’s so important for every state to realize. In the Mississippi legislature, we are focused on creating new ways to train our students to be the workforce our economy will need in the future. This means developing new forms of training and partnering with businesses, who are the ones posting these available jobs without finding applicants.

We have started different pilot programs throughout Mississippi to help with this effort. We have partnered with both Ingalls and Toyota to reach these outcomes. Businesses have a vested interest to develop tomorrow’s workforce into an innovative successful structure. Businesses are setting up Mississippi students for success.

We are working with Ingalls to start a “Shipbuilder Academy” program for seniors in high school. The program works within Mississippi’s Career Technical Education labs, which Ingalls has donated more than $2M for its renovation. Students will train with the exact same equipment used on the jobsite. The students taking advantage of these programs can then move right into a position at Ingalls after they graduate high school — with a starting salary of more than $40,000.

We are also working with Toyota to train students at our community colleges to be familiar with assembly line processes. Toyota is setting up physical models of assembly lines for training. Students take classes and spend time learning how these lines work. They can then move right into a position at a plant — sometimes as a manager — since they have the process knowledge that other candidates lack.

As a buttress to both of these ideas, we are also hoping to add a 13th year program option for our high school students in Mississippi. This option would have a student spend one more year in high school, but they would graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate college degree. This would give Mississippi students a jump-start on the competition. Not only that, but it better prepares students for the jobs that are actually in demand.

These programs are just the beginning. But they would allow a high school graduate to immediately start making 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars a year sometimes more. Investing in more programs like these are necessary for the future of our workforce development. The only way we can stay on track with the innovative changes happening in business is to partner with businesses for the education of our future workforce.

I am excited about these programs, but there are so many more innovative ideas we can create in Mississippi — and in the whole country — to seize these million opportunities. I applaud my friend,

Gov. Phil Bryant, who has stuck to his promise to ensure Mississippians have a job. Ideas like these will get the whole country there.

• Joel Carter is a Republican member of the Mississippi State Senate.