Gov. Tom Wolf recently announced that the West Middlesex Area School District will receive a $105,731 Pennsylvania Manufacturing Training-to-Career grant through the Manufacturing PA initiative to support the district’s manufacturing co-op program, which pairs students with local manufacturing companies.
“Strengthening our workforce can only happen when we look at every stage of a Pennsylvania worker’s life – even before they graduate high school,” Wolf said. “West Middlesex Area School District’s program is vital for getting students engaged with manufacturers and setting them up for successful manufacturing careers when they graduate. We’re proud to support a program like this that will bring young workers into the manufacturing workforce in Northwest Pennsylvania.”
Through the co-op program, students gain working experience with a manufacturer. Upon graduation from the co-op program, students are offered a position within the company. The school district plans to enroll five students each year for the first few years of the program, with the goal of increasing that number in the future.
“The West Middlesex School District is thrilled to receive this financial support to assist our graduates in finding employment in our region with local manufacturing companies,” Emily Clare, principal of West Middlesex Area School District, said. “We look forward to building partnerships that will help us revise curriculum to meet the needs of the local workforce. Thank you to the DCED for believing in our project; we are excited to get started.”