The Employment and Training Administration recently awarded Penn State a $1.5 million Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative grant to create work force education and reskilling programs targeting the southwestern Pennsylvania region.
The university’s New Kensington campus, along with its Digital Foundry at New Kensington, will use the funding for its Growing and Reskilling Our Workforce in Pennsylvania (GROW PA) project that will address challenges of regional manufacturing with access to credentialing programs and hands-on training tools and equipment; create pathways and providing work-ready training to a targeted number of individuals such as new entrants, dislocated workers, veterans and incumbent workers, as well as providing advanced manufacturing technologies and training to local businesses; and establish an operating model to deliver technical skills training and credentials, social support services, events and recruiting tools.
“This grant and our mission at the Digital Foundry at New Kensington are all about building the foundation to support a strong pipeline of current and future talent and innovative technology,” said Sherri McCleary, executive director of the Digital Foundry at New Kensington. “If we want to have a pipeline that sustains both current and future talent needs and promotes the implementation of game-changing technologies, we need to be investing in our local talent at all levels and across all demographics.”