Vocational education's mission in economic development calls for a more active and assertive posture at the national, state, and local levels. If vocational education programs are to meet the challenges posed by the increase of new technologies, vocational administrators must develop a system for updating vocational staff for hiring more instructors from business and industry, for channeling research and development funds to establish a data-based planning and management system to aid in improving training methods and developing systems, and for working together with business and industry to develop competency-based instructional materials. Among the national-level actions necessary to secure vocational education's role in the economic development scheme are the following: development of incentives for states to design training programs needed for reindustrialization, productivity improvement, and national defense concerns; provision of funds for modern facilities and technical equipment; and revision of the existing "apprenticeship training" definition to encourage use of competency-based training programs. Furthermore, state vocational education agencies should develop their comprehensive state plans to include, among other things, development of "fast response" delivery systems for new innovations in high technology areas and provision of outreach programs to locate unemployed, disadvantaged, and handicapped workers and to deliver counseling, training, and support services to them. (MN)