Council discusses creating jobs at Fay-Penn meeting
It was more about reading, writing and arithmetic at Fay-Penn Economic Development Council’s quarterly meeting Friday than anything else. But it dovetails into the group’s main mission: creating jobs.
“We are 25th in education among the countries of the world. Seniors are graduating from high school with an eighth-grade reading level. Parents are key to turning this around, but they aren’t getting involved. If we just let it go, it will get worse,” Leo Krantz, Fay-Penn board chairman said during Friday’s meeting.
He commented after Barb Gibel, work force/education manager, reported on $6,000 donated to Reaching Educational Achievement with Community Help (REACH), the business/education initiative, a Celebrate Education Day report and Keys2Work, a new program that will help match students to skills needed to find employment.
In the past several years, Fay-Penn has become a greater advocate of helping businesses find skilled workers through improving education. It provides administrative support to REACH.
Last week, Fay-Penn sponsored Dr. Willard Daggett, president of the International Center of Leadership in Education, in a meeting with local business and education leaders last week. HSTV videotaped the meeting, which has been airing on Charter Communications Channel 19.
Mike Krajovic, Fay-Penn president, used information Daggett brought to show shifts in the labor market over the past 30 years and the need to meet today’s workplace demands.
“In the 1970s, most jobs were low-skill. They didn’t have a lot of technology. In the 1990s, that changed. There was a demand for semi-skilled labor. By 2010, people will require high skills to get a job. So, from the 1970s, we have been seeing a trend from low-skill to high-skill workers needed by employers,’ he said. “This is of concern to business, because they wonder where they are going to get their workers.”
Daggett reviewed 16 career clusters that will comprise the labor pool of the future: agriculture and natural resources, business and administration, education and training, health sciences, law and public safety, government and public administration and scientific research and engineering.
“But 75 percent of the high school graduates cannot achieve 75 percent reading efficiency for 75 percent of the entry level positions in the United States today,’ Krajovic said, adding that requirements for these entry-level positions are equal to those of a freshman in college. He also said that the blue-collar worker of today has to have a higher reading level than the white-collar worker.
“We have a company that we have been working with coming in for the fourth visit next week. They are interested in talking to employers about the work force they have,’ Krajovic added.
Fay-Penn has done a skills assessment survey of 101 Fayette businesses, representing about 15 percent of the employees in the county. Krajovic said they all rated science, math and language skills with the same importance as others on the national level.
“If you ever wanted to make a difference in education and you are in business, now is the time to get involved,’ he said. “This information is used to drive curriculum changes in the schools.”
George Rattay, building trades union representative and a Fay-Penn board member, said the discussion at the meeting was “ironic,’ because he has been involved in the same thing in the building trades.
“We must have a better trained work force. We have an apprenticeship program, and it has been shocking to see college graduates come to find jobs. They are seeking a trade job because they can find no other.
“We are doing some distance-learning, linking our training centers so we can have the best plumbers and pipefitters there are. Somewhere, our education system is not emphasizing reading, writing and arithmetic,” Rattay said.
The Plumbers and Pipefitters local union, he added, has a new “Helmet to Hardhat’ program to offer apprenticeships to returning soldiers.
“We may be the first in the country to do that,’ Rattay said.
In other items, Bob Opel, director of finance, reported he has received several inquiries into leasing some of the available 10,000 square feet of space in the CallTech Building in Redstone Township. He added that bids will be let soon for landscaping and lighting at the University Technology Park in North Union Township.
Bids, Opel said, also are due for the new multi-tenant building Fay-Penn is constructing in the technology park, and drawings should be completed soon for Advanced Acoustic Concepts’ new building there, as well.
“We hope to break ground for that building around the first of June,’ he said.
Melissa Stevenson, special projects coordinator, reported that Fay-Penn, as part of the Team PA program, has made 48 contacts with local businesses and assisted 23 of those with special needs. Fay-Penn also is working with eight clients interested in locating in the county.
Robert Junk, Fayette Enterprise Community (FEC) and Fayette Forward manager, said the federal government has not released fifth-year funds for community projects under FEC. He said applications from local communities for funds likely will reach $1 million, although the annual allotment is only $250,000.
“We are going to have to set some priorities,’ Junk said. “There has been a lot of activity in Fayette Forward. We are getting ready to hold our community meetings. The first of six will be held next week. I have a goal of getting 500 people to participate in these meetings. We are trying to get information out to the community.
“We have also been working with Uniontown and the Fayette County commissioners on a downtown revitalization plan for Uniontown and other downtowns in the county. We are working on a capital budget and hope to get some serious cash to do this revitalization.”