To explore the roles that government, business, and community institutions might play in ensuring that African Americans get the job training they need to be competitive in the 21st century, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies invited U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman to meet with representatives of the business community. Forum participants also heard from Albert Siu, human resources vice president for education and training at AT&T and Margaret Simms, the Joint Center's vice president for research. Secretary Herman reviewed the current situation for job skills and employment for African Americans and indicated that the profile of the workforce has shifted toward technology without the necessary investments to improve the skill levels of workers. Secretary Herman also reviewed recent federal and private sector initiatives aimed at job skills training. Dr. Simms pointed to federal school-to-work initiatives as evidence of a change in attitudes in the United States about the role of the private sector in educating the next generation of workers. Dr. Siu explained how investments in worker training pay off for the employer and cited advantages of electronic learning technologies for worker training. (Contains 10 references.) (SLD)