Ivanka Trump—an advisor to President Trump—visited a high-tech job training center in Waukee Monday.
Trump and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds toured the Waukee Innovation and Learning Center to hear from high school students about work they’re doing with local businesses.
The visit was part of a White House effort to promote its infrastructure plan, which includes workforce development initiatives.
“This is an unbelievable example of innovation in education and pairing the skills being taught in a classroom environment with the jobs in demand in the modern economy,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion.
Workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education are also key campaign issues for Reynolds.
Reynolds told reporters she has been trying “for a long time” to get Ivanka Trump to visit work-based learning programs in Iowa.
“I wanted her to see all the stakeholders that were involved,” Reynolds said. “From education to the government in providing some funding for this to our business partners how all of those are really important to make this work. So I think she got a pretty good sense of that.”
Reynolds also said she’s confident state lawmakers will choose to fund her workforce development legislation that was passed unanimously by the Iowa House of Representatives.
Reynolds talked about how some of her workforce development plans might interact with those at the federal level. She said she included some funding for rural broadband in her budget.
“I thought if they do get something done at the federal level that would be an opportunity for me to hopefully match some of the dollars,” Reynolds said. “But again I think just flexibility in letting us design the programs that work.”
Iowa Democrats gathered in Waukee Monday morning to protest what they’re calling the “Reynolds/Trump Anti-Worker Agenda".
