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| Wilson, Secretary Evans Talk Jobs in Albuquerque |
August 23, 2004 |
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| Meet with Business Leaders and Tour Career Enrichment Center
Albuquerque, NM - Congresswoman Heather Wilson today welcomed U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans to New Mexico to talk jobs and tour a career-focused school for teens.
Secretary Evans and Wilson talked with business leaders at a Rotary luncheon, then toured the Career Enrichment Center and fielded questions from students. The Center offers specialized learning about a wide variety of careers. Wilson’s first office intern was a Career Enrichment Center student, and she has since provided work experience through internships to nearly 200 high school and college students.
“These kids are putting in extra effort to realize their dreams. We need to keep working to support good schools and encourage job creation so they have the great career opportunities we all want for them,” Wilson said. “Government cannot create wealth, but it can create the conditions for businesses to invest and create jobs. The small businesses that drive our economy each start out as someone’s dream, and create nearly eight of every 10 new jobs in America.”
"A good education and strong job skills are key to succeeding in our changing economy," Evans said. "The Career Enrichment Center will help Albuquerque`s youth focus on the skills and knowledge they will need to take advantage of the high-paying jobs that are being generated in the 21st century."
The Career Enrichment Center is a science, technology, and vocational school in the Albuquerque Public School District, serving students from various high schools and the home-school community.
The federal commitment to schools in New Mexico has nearly doubled from $288 million in 1998 to $532 million in 2004.
Wilson regularly tours area businesses, meets with employees and works to keep in touch with the outlook of job growth in New Mexico. She continues to "job shadow" throughout the community. The unemployment rate eased from 5.6 percent in June to 5.5 percent last month, down from a peak of 6.3 percent. The economy has created jobs for 11 straight months. As of June, New Mexico had created about 17,000 new jobs over the past year.
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