Fay-Penn uses data to bolster push for new school
Fay-Penn Economic Development Council used current employment statistics to further bolster its position supporting construction of a new vocational technical school in Fayette County. Barry Seneri, Fay-Penn economic development manager, at the board’s meeting Friday, reported Fayette County’s current jobless rate could be significantly lowered by filling more than 430 jobs that are open.
“Fayette County’s unemployment rate in April was 10.2 percent, which was higher than all the other counties in the region (Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area). It is also about 2 points higher than the unemployment rate in the (PMSA) region.
“We have a total workforce of about 40,000 people. That means about 4,000 of these people are out of work. We would need to employ about 700 people to get our unemployment rate down to what it is in the region (PMSA) of 8.5 percent,” he said.
“Fayette CareerLink is currently working on filling 430 jobs openings. A lot of these jobs are technical. There are some openings for CDL (commercial driving license) truck drivers and others,” he said.
Seneri said that business development projects Fay-Penn is working on could create another 200 to 250 jobs, which would bring the total near 700, the number needed to bring Fayette County’s jobless rate into line with the region.
Seneri added that the situation “is not so much having people looking for jobs as it is having people who are qualified for these jobs.”
“This just shows the importance of having trained and qualified people,” he added.
Steve Neubauer, Fay-Penn board chairman, said the agency is working with the Fayette Chamber of Commerce to develop a task force on education that would help layout a framework “so we can continue our career technology education discussion.”
Fay-Penn has proposed construction of a new vocational technical school at the University Technology Park that would be state-of-the-art and offer college-level curriculum that would prepare local youths for the jobs available in the county. It would be open to students from all county school districts.
Neubauer said some local business owners have attended school board meetings where they have offered their support and discussed their employee needs. However, some local officials oppose the proposal on the basis of cost.
Fay-Penn supports building a new school for about $23 million in the technology park next to Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, on Route 119 north of Uniontown. The major block to the project is that area residents fear any increase in taxes that would pay for the new school.
Despite a high jobless rate, Fayette County has many job opportunities that go unfilled because employers can’t find workers with needed skills, according to Fay-Penn.
The current vo-tech school is nearly 50 years old. Cost estimates to renovate it have fallen at about $18 million.
Four different school districts operate the vo-tech: Uniontown, Brownsville, Albert Gallatin and Laurel Highlands. All four of the districts school boards have to approve any plan for the school, whether it is renovation or a new building on the same or another site.