Dowling, Warner Praise Investments in Business-Education Partnerships

April 12, 2019

HARRISBURG – Reps. Matthew Dowling (R-Fayette/Somerset) and Ryan Warner (R-Fayette/Westmoreland) today announced nearly $200,000 in grants have been awarded to support programs linking education and workforce opportunities in Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland counties.

The grants were awarded to workforce development boards to support their business-education outreach efforts. The awards are as follows:

• Three Rivers Workforce Development Board: $50,000 to the Educator in the Workforce Program. This year-long program is designed to increase awareness among educators and students of high-priority occupations from multiple career clusters. Teams of educators from 10 school districts will visit at least eight different worksites throughout the school year.

• Southern Alleghenies Workforce Development Board: $50,000 for the Entrepreneurship Teacher in the Workplace program. This project will enhance entrepreneurship education in the classrooms of Somerset County, empowering teachers with knowledge of resources and pathways toward entrepreneurism by engaging local industry, focusing on the crossroads of STEM and entrepreneurship, providing leading-edge professional development to align industry knowledge with classroom instruction, and creating a cohort of teachers empowered to create systemic culture change in school districts.

• Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Development Board: $50,000 for the Fayette Future Workforce program. This grant will create career connections between middle/high school teachers and companies within key STEM priority career clusters through the development of a project-based learning activity focused on career exploration and 21st century skills. This project will serve roughly 25 educators.

• Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Development Board: $43,260 for the Workforce Forum Pathway Learning Community. This grant will expand teacher in the workforce programs for K-12 educators that would support the creation of a Pathway Learning Community for a second cohort of educators. This project will serve 40 K-12 educators in Westmoreland and Fayette counties.

“It’s great to see the Commonwealth stepping up to support the great work being done by our local business leaders and educators through initiatives such as the Fayette Business Education Partnership,” Dowling said. “I especially want to commend the leadership at the Fayette Chamber of Commerce – as well as partners Catalyst Connection, Asset Stem and Intermediate Unit 1 – for being out front in the effort to build a productive, successful workforce for the county’s future. The more opportunities we can give our students and their teachers to learn about the vast array of high-quality, in-demand jobs available in our region, the more likely we are able to keep those young people here in southwestern Pennsylvania.”

Warner added, “One of the most significant employment problems facing our region and the Commonwealth is a lack of qualified people to fill available jobs that require specialized training. Over the last several weeks, the state House advanced more than a dozen bills aimed at improving career and technical education opportunities in our schools, and raising awareness about in-demand occupations and the great opportunities they present. These grants are another important step toward ensuring success for both our students and employers.”

The grants were awarded through the Teacher in the Workplace program, which is designed to strengthen the collaboration between local educators and businesses to better prepare students with the skills for in-demand jobs. More than $2.6 million in funding was awarded to 59 programs across the Commonwealth.

Representative Matthew Dowling
51st Legislative District
Representative Ryan Warner
52nd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Dowling Contact: Abby Krueger
717.260.6617
akrueger@pahousegop.com
Warner Contact: Patricia Hippler
717.772.9846
phippler@pahousegop.com