Pennsylvania wins workforce training grant

Workers in Pennsylvania's manufacturing industry will be better trained and equipped to meet the demands of the global economy thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced Monday.

The state has been named a recipient of the "Retraining America's Workers for the 21st Century Advanced Manufacturing Jobs" grant, administered through the National Center for Integrated Systems Technology (NCIST) at Illinois State University. Originally part of federally funded Midwestern manufacturing revitalization efforts, the initiative has been expanded to other regions, including Pennsylvania.

"We continue our efforts to support our vital manufacturing sector and to help them improve their competitiveness in world markets," the governor said. "We have taken an aggressive approach to helping companies create jobs and to revitalize our economy."

The Community College of Allegheny County and Reading Area Community College will use the award of $600,000 to buy state-of-the-art, industry-standard equipment to train manufacturing workers. Pennsylvania will provide additional funding to accompany this award, bringing the total effort to $1 million.

The March issue of Site Selection magazine, an Atlanta-based publication focusing on corporate real estate and economic development, ranked Pennsylvania fourth nationally for new manufacturing facilities, outpacing all other northeastern states.

The award of this grant, in combination with recent investments in manufacturing companies, including CENTRIA in Bucks County, and Pittsburgh Mineral & Environment Technology, Inc. in Beaver County, will create more jobs as a result of Rendell's economic stimulus and workforce development initiatives.

"We are aggressively working to accomplish our goal of building the best-trained, most-skilled workforce possible," Rendell said. "Grants like this one, and our own 'Job Ready PA' investments are moving us closer to achieving this goal each and every day."

Rendell's workforce development initiatives are delivering $5 million in funds specifically targeted to increased training for Pennsylvanians employed in manufacturing and other industries.

The Rendell Administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about the governor's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit his Web site at: http://www.governor.state.pa.us/.