As a result of an invitation extended to Associated Industries of Missouri, the oldest business organization in the State of Missouri, Jerry M. Hunter, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AIM, attended a Business Roundtable with U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia on October 29, 2020 at the St. Louis Regional Chamber. The Roundtable included regional business leaders in addition to Secretary of Labor Scalia and Kevin Corlew, Regional Representative, Kansas City Region (Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska) of the U.S. Department of Labor. Hunter and the other participants on the roundtable who represented the St. Louis regional business community briefed Secretary Scalia on the impact of the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) on the businesses in the St. Louis regional business community and the steps that St. Louis businesses are taking to reinstate employees who may have been furloughed or laid-off as a result of the Coronavirus and how businesses are rebounding from the effects of COVID-19. Participants in the Business Roundtable also discussed the strong economic rebound and how apprenticeship programs can be very useful in building a skilled labor force.
Following the Roundtable and a tour of Sayer Industries in St. Charles County by Secretary Scalia where he also met with the company leadership and apprentices, Secretary Scalia issued a statement which stated in part:
"Business leaders in St. Louis recognize the importance of training a skilled workforce as the country continues to rebound economically. I spoke with business leaders about their efforts to help workers learn new skills and get back to work quickly. Workforce development, along with fair and reciprocal trade deals like the U.S.M.C.A. and eliminating unneeded regulatory burdens, will help Missouri’s economy continue to power out of the economic disruption of the pandemic."
U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia
Associated Industries of Missouri appreciates the invitation which Secretary of Labor Scalia extended to it to be a participant on the Business Roundtable and to brief him on the needs of the business community in obtaining qualified and trained workers and to implore him to continue to review and remove unneeded regulations and restrictions which have hampered the business community in its efforts to expand work opportunities for the St. Louis regional workforce.
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