The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry announced this week that it had awarded the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Partnership of South-Central Pennsylvania a $250,000 grant to support the manufacturing industry in that region.
Part of the DLI’s PASmart Industry Partnership Grant program, the grant will support the development, launch, implementation, and technical assistance of employer-led partnerships to address manufacturers’ needs in Pennsylvania. The Manufacturers’ Association said it worked with Weldon Solutions, Phoenix Contact, SCPaWorks Workforce Development Board, Lancaster County Workforce Development Board, the South Central PA Partnership for Regional Economic Performance, and educational partners to implement employer-identified priorities to grow the industry as part of their facilitation of the partnership.
“The industry partnership’s work over the last several years has successfully addressed manufacturing’s most critical competitiveness issues,” Tom Palisin, the Manufacturers’ Association executive director, said. “The partnership model provides manufacturers a single table to work with the dozens of public and private programs and resources to create comprehensive solutions for the industry.”
Officials said the Southcentral PA Manufacturing Industry Partnership had worked for several years to implement programs that focus on the industry’s most pressing needs, including workforce recruitment and retention, as well as best-practices exchanges. As a result, the partnership has trained 421 manufacturing employees in high-skill technical training.
The Industry Partnership said it plans to use the grant funding to train an additional 120 workers, promote manufacturing careers, and develop cutting-edge strategies to help manufacturing companies retain employees.