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Bullock raises profile ahead of potential 2020 bid

The next chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA) will spend his term promoting job training and workforce development, an initiative that could be seen as the outlines of a presidential campaign message.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) will formally take the helm of the bipartisan group on Saturday in Santa Fe, N.M., where the nation’s governors are holed up for their annual leadership transition.
At the meeting, Bullock will lay out what he calls the Good Jobs for All Americans initiative, to investigate best practices for workforce development in parts of the country that have been left behind in the recovery from the Great Recession.
“Every single governor around the country faces a paradox. What we hear from employers time and time again is that one of their biggest challenges is having a trained workforce,” Bullock said in an interview Thursday.  “We’re trying to make sure we’re spreading out the success and opportunity throughout the country.”
Bullock said his initiative this year would focus on making sure states are developing the workforce of the future, one that is educated enough to take high-tech manufacturing jobs; training mid-career workers whose industries are evolving through increasing automation and globalization; and bolstering rural economies that have struggled to recover from the recession.

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