Gov. Tom Wolf signed Tuesday an executive order to create the Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center, which will work to expand collaboration between government and the private sector to address the skills gap and worker shortages.
“Our economy is transitioning and it’s a race to keep up,” Wolf said. “We either strengthen workforce development or we risk falling behind. We must be bold and ambitious and break from the status quo.”
The command center will make recommendations to improve coordination of workforce and economic development programs across state agencies and identify barriers that may prevent people from working or prevent businesses from hiring skilled workers.
The command center will also review the recommendations of the Auditor General and implement those it believes will deliver the best results. It will also monitor implementation and progress of the workforce and education proposals outlined in the governor’s Statewide Workforce, Education and Accountability Program (SWEAP) proposal.
Wolf appointed three leaders from the private sector and three cabinet secretaries to lead the command center. They include Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry; Tony Bartolomeo, co-chair of Team Pennsylvania; Rick Bloomingdale, president of the AFL-CIO; Acting Secretary Kathy Boockvar, Department of State; Secretary Dennis Davin, Department of Community and Economic Development; and Secretary Jerry Oleksiak, Department of Labor & Industry.
“The jobs skill gap is a growing concern among the Commonwealth’s employers – as evidenced in the PA Chamber’s 28th Economic Survey in which, for the first time ever, job creators listed difficulties finding skilled and qualified employees to fill open positions as the biggest problem facing their companies,” Barr said. “We’re pleased to join with the Wolf administration, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, and our partners in the education and labor communities to address this issue in order to ensure that Pennsylvania’s workforce is prepared to meet the needs of the evolving jobs market.”