Initiatives

The Transportation and Logistics Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania is made of 16 companies, 3 Workforce Investment Boards (the Southwest Corner Workforce Investment Board serving as the lead applicant), the PA CareerLink and several other non-profit and educational providers.

The Partnership covers Allegheny, Beaver, Washington, Greene, Westmoreland and Fayette counties. Its day-to-day operations are supervised by an Executive Committee selected by the full membership. The Executive Committee is made of six company representatives and one representative from the PA CareerLink - Beaver County.

The Partnership has moved toward long-term sustainability. Financially, members contribute a 35% cash match to training grants, 10% beyond the state requirement.

The Partnership has also supported the upward career movement of workers in a variety of arenas thanks to courses designed to promote their advancement; it has helped companies increase their profitability and competitiveness; it has developed a career ladder model used to guide training choices; it has established a cooperative relationship with the CareerLink system (particularly in Beaver County) which has resulted in enhanced recruitment; and it has supported outreach to youth via cooperative efforts with the Regional Career Education Partnerships.

In addition, it has trained over 1,230 incumbent workers over the past three years.

The Building and Construction Trades Industry Partnership (BCTIP) is a regional initiative supporting the construction industry in Allegheny, Beaver, Washington and Greene Counties. The program is focused on strengthening the industry through collaboration with community based recruitment strategies and increasing the skill level and competitiveness of the incumbent workforce.

The partnership grew out of a series of community meetings convened by the Southwest Corner WIB team in 2005 and 2006. This process included union leaders, elected officials, educational institutions, community groups and economic development professionals discussing the urgent need to better inform the community about construction careers and to build strategies that connect minorities, women and youth with opportunities in the skilled building trades. BCTIP was formed as a way to build a collaborative and regional strategy to address these issues.

The BCTIP partners also identified the need to support the current workforce with training needed to adapt to rapid advances in the materials, techniques and technologies related to construction. The partnership has led to the training of 2584 incumbent workers since inception in 2006 in a variety of skills including, leadership skills and new and advanced construction techniques and practices, including 1425 incumbent workers in 2008.

The Mission of the Mining Industry Partnership of Pennsylvania’s (MIP) is "To promote the mining industry, create collaboration among all segments of the mining industry, and increase the viability of the mining industry into the future."

As a Partnership, the MIP continually monitors the alignment of our activities with our vision that is to:

• Attract new employees
• Retain current employees
• Provide training and development that promotes internal advancement of its workforce.

Since its inception in 2006, the Partnership has expanded to include industry representatives within and outside of PA in the Bituminous, Anthracite, Aggregates, Metal and non-metal, Surface and Underground mining sectors and within mining-related support companies.

To date, the Partnership has 142 partners including its workforce economic development and training partners. It covers 14 Local Workforce Investment Board Regions and 32 counties throughout PA and 11 counties in surrounding states.

Under the Industry Partnership Worker Training Grant Program (IPWT) for FY 08-09, the MIP processed 65 different training courses for 12 MIP Partner companies located in 8 Pennsylvania counties. There were a total number of 732 employees trained of which 532 were PA Residents. Consortium Training was utilized to train 81.2% of the PA employees.

The PA Alliance for Security and Preparedness Industry Partnership (PAASP) was formed with one main concept in mind – to bring together experts across all facets of security, therefore strengthening the industry.

The security industry must be prepared to not only address these issues when they occur, but there must be planning and policies in place before they occur. Expanding cooperation and subsidizing training have had a very positive impact in the few years this partnership, but there is much more work to be done.

The outcomes of PAASP activities are impressive and have strengthened Pennsylvania’s businesses and communities. PAASP subsidies have trained over 1,600 people over the last three years, including a planned 779 for this year alone.

The feedback from partner agencies has been positive. As mentioned, the current trend in cutting back security budgets negatively affect a company’s opportunities to train their security employees in new and emerging technologies.

This new venture is currently being created. With so much attention recently on this exciting new industry all over Pennsylvania, the SCWIB is planning on being prepared. Bringing industry to the table to ensure that Southwest Corner residents are prepared with proper training is paramount to growing this industry. With this partnership currently being created, more information will be reported when available.

The SCWIB’s Regional Career & Education Partnership (RCEP) has devoted its expertise and resources to facilitating a variety of career preparation activities for youth beginning in middle school and continuing into postsecondary experiences. Working as intermediaries, Job training for Beaver County and Southwest Training Services, Inc. has developed a partnership that brings together key individuals from business, education, and the community to launch initiatives and collaborations that will affect how youth gain the confidence and competence needed to make decisions about their futures careers.

Initiatives such as career awareness/exploration, industry related camps, college and career expos, job fairs, work experiences, job shadowing opportunities and industry tours, internships, have assisted in connecting classroom experiences to experiential work-based learning opportunities. The partnership has also provided educator in the workplace opportunities and workforce/career development events that provide Act 48 training to teachers. The 2009-2010 program year will provide for more collaboration opportunities, programs, and services to our youth, educators, and business community.

In keeping with the SCWIB dedication to the Marcellus Shale Gas & oil reserves, we are involved in a federal grant request to serve the companies involved in the industry. This is a statewide coalition of WIBs that will work together to train individuals in the gas and oil field. A federal grant application has been submitted, with SCWIB acting as the lead applicant and fiscal agent. As more information becomes available, we will report on this exciting opportunity for Pennsylvania. (pdf of proposal attached)

Download the grant application: Marcellus Shale Grant Application.

The 2010 Regional Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference will take place on February 3, 2010 at Penn State, Beaver Campus.  A personal invitation is being extended to you to register early for this exceptional professional development opportunity.  The overall focus of the 2010 STEM Conference will be on preparing Pennsylvania’s youth to be globally competitive learners and workers in the 21st. Century.  There will be presenters from Pennsylvania State University, California University of Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Science Center, the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, Evil Genius Designs, and the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner Forensic Laboratory, plus many "best practice" speakers and exhibitors.

Last year on February 4, 2009, a consortium of seventy six (76) educators, workforce development personnel, and company representatives convened for the STEM Confernce to learn how industry sectors, particularly manufacturing and energy, are undergoing a tremendous transformation that has increased the demand for talented workers who are capable of effectively utilizing today’s advanced technologies.  The event kicked off with a series of presentations by employers who shared information about their business operations, highlighting how their respective workers apply interdisciplinary STEM skills to keep their companies competitive and profitable.

We hope you will be able to join us for the 2010 STEM Conference. The flyer below contains more detailed information about the day and also information on how to complete you registration. Come and continue our goal of making Pennsylvania's youth today's leaders in the jobs of tomorrow.

• Download the 2010 Conference Flyer: 2010 STEM Conference Flyer - February3, 2010

To learn more about STEM, click here