L&I Secretary Manderino joins Partner4Work, businesses for 'Jobs that Pay' tour at Energy Innovation Center

Pittsburgh, PA – Today, Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Kathy Manderino continued the ‘Jobs that Pay’ tour at the Energy Innovation Center (EIC) in Pittsburgh.  She toured the center’s environmental services technician training area and participated in a business round-table following the tour. Sec. Manderino was joined by representatives from Partner4Work, the Builders Guild of Western PA, Citizens Bank, and training coordinators from the EIC.

“The EIC works with local businesses to design and provide industry-informed educational programs to create a pipeline of qualified talent for employers,” said Sec. Manderino. “Additionally, having a PA CareerLink® presence located within the facility provides job seekers with convenient access to valuable training resources.” 

The Energy Innovation Center is a Pittsburgh-based, non-profit organization with a mission to engage corporate and community leaders, align workforce development and education, develop and demonstrate technology, and incubate businesses, to support emerging clean and sustainable energy markets.

Sec. Manderino toured the new environmental services lab at EIC, which includes a mock-patient room, a mock restroom and mock examination room. The environmental services training program was funded, in part, through a $400,000 Strategic Innovation Grant awarded in 2016 from L&I to support promising career pathways in health care. This training program is offered through a collaboration with Partner4Work, EIC, and UPMC.  Ultimately the program will train 150 people and help UPMC source the most qualified, diverse workforce to maintain best-in-class quality patient care.

Following the EIC tour, Secretary Manderino sat down with area employers and workforce development representatives for a business roundtable discussion.

“I frequently refer to the ‘Jobs that Pay’ tour as a listening tour,” said Sec. Manderino.  “Today’s business roundtable allowed me to receive feedback directly from local workforce development professionals and area employers to help the department tailor our workforce development programs to address specific local and regional needs.”    

Representatives from businesses such as Wexford Contracting and UPMC participated in the roundtable with the local economic and workforce development groups.

“Our work with EIC and UPMC is an example of building strong partnerships to deliver ‘Jobs that Pay’,” said Stefani Pashman, Partner4Work CEO. “It’s through strategic partnerships like this that we’re not only able to help vulnerable job seekers gain the skills they need for in-demand jobs, we’re building the continuum of services necessary to ensure our region’s businesses have the skilled talent they need to compete today and in the tomorrow.”

The ‘Jobs that Pay’ tour is an effort by state agencies to promote good-paying, family-sustaining jobs and career-paths available to job-seekers across the commonwealth, and to listen and learn from employers and employees about workforce development needs.

MEDIA CONTACT: Theresa Elliott, (717) 787-7530; Jennifer Pajewski, (412) 552-7090