ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – Last week, Governor Gretchen Whitmer selected Bay College President Dr. Nerita Hughes to serve on the State’s Workforce Development Fund. On Friday, Hughes spoke with WZMQ 19 about her goals as she enters this new role.
“My background is workforce and looking at, ‘How do we integrate workforce development along with educational attainment?'” Hughes said.
As a member of the board, Dr. Hughes will be part of a team that is responsible for the improvement of Michigan’s workforce development system—something she has a history with.
“I served on the governor’s Workforce Development Board in Minnesota,” she explained. “I was what was called the ‘WESA rep’—the Women’s Economic Security Act—making sure pay equity was there, but then also making sure that there was a voice at the table for gender equity, really.”
She intends to use that experience to help fill gaps in the workforce as large numbers of people are retiring, particularly in fields like healthcare and the trades.
“That’s basically what I did back home,” said Hughes. “We had a program that was called Building Strong Communities that was specifically around apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeship programs, and it became a statewide program. Being able to have not just the workforce side of the equation, but now the educational side of the equation as well and bringing those two together.”
The board also works to reach the Governor’s goal of helping 60% of the workforce earn a post-secondary degree or certification by 2030. Hughes says all of Michigan’s community colleges have resources and programs that can contribute to that pursuit.
“We’re talking 28 public, two-year institutions along with the three Tribal colleges, so 31 total,” she said. “My hope would be that we can align some aspects across Michigan and not just one institution against another. Whether it’s experiential learning, externships—any type of lifelong learning that we can couple together, that’s really kind of what I’m hoping to bring to the table.”
Another of Dr. Hughes’ objectives is to be a strong representative of both Bay College and the Upper Peninsula.
“When I first came to Bay, I would hear a lot of people say, ‘The U.P. is left out,'” she recalled. “Coming from a totally different state, you didn’t really understand what they meant by that. When I started to dig into it a little bit more, I’m like, ‘Okay, now I know what they’re saying.’ When we look at, sometimes, funding aspects, it’s more so going to what I would say the metropolitan areas versus the U.P. My hope is that they’ll look at a couple of things that we’re doing—not just at my institution but across the U.P.—and then be able to say, ‘Here are the workforce development endeavors that they’re doing. How can we make sure that we’re doing that across Michigan?'”
Dr. Hughes’ appointment continues through May of 2028. For more information on the Michigan Workforce Development Board and Hughes’ appointment, click here.
