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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
Pennsylvania Grant Announcement
The Behrend College School of Engineering & Engineering Technology
Erie, Pennsylvania
Friday, June 3, 2005
Thank you, Senator Santorum. Before this home crowd, I want everyone to
know what a great job Senator Santorum is doing for Pennsylvanians! Senator
Santorum is a tireless advocate in our nation's capital for Pennsylvania's workers.
Thanks, Jack [Burke, Campus Executive Officer (CEO) and Dean] and
John [Beaumont, Program Chair; Plastics Program], for the tour
of the college's engineering lab.
And let me also thank Brad Johnson [Lecturer in Engineering and Plastics
Training Director], Mason Meyers [Student, Plastics Engineering
Technology Program], Jon Meckley [Assistant Professor of Engineering],
Laura Stuart [Student, Plastics Engineering Technology Program] for
helping to demonstrate in the lab, and thank you Lucy Lenhardt [Senior
Research Associate] for organizing this tour.
I am here today with Senator Rick Santorum to announce a $3.75 million grant
to help train workers in Pennsylvania for great opportunities in the plastics
technology manufacturing industry. This is part of President Bush's High
Growth Job Training Initiative. It helps local communities like this one
identify high-growth industries and train workers with the skills to fill
these jobs.
As we all know, over the past decade, manufacturing in Pennsylvania has
undergone a dramatic transformation. The industry now requires advanced skills
in math, engineering and computer programs, as well as an understanding of
supply chain management and automation. Therefore, it is critical for workers
to continually update their skills. This grant will help workers do just
that. It will help ensure that as the manufacturing industry evolves, workers
evolve with it by giving them the opportunity to learn the latest advanced
skills.
The grant will serve 1,200 incumbent workers—people already working in plastics
manufacturing—by helping them upgrade their skills. And it will help recruit
and train new workers for the good paying jobs in this industry through new
internships, as well as scholarships toward an Associate Degree in the plastics
field.
The partners in this grant include: the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment
Board, Penn State University, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Industrial
Resource Centers and the Pennsylvania College of Technology. What a powerful
partnership!
They will work together to identify the skills necessary for advanced plastics
manufacturing, design curricula to support those skills and help workers
access this training and employment. This is crucial to ensuring that Pennsylvania
workers have skills that are in demand now and that Pennsylvania remains
a prime location for opportunities in advanced plastics manufacturing.
I would also like to recognize the contribution of over $1 million from
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania toward this effort. The Pennsylvania Plastics
Initiative will serve as a model for other statewide and national job-training
initiatives that this Administration is launching.
The reason why these and other partnerships like them are so important is
that if the United States is going to continue to lead the world economy,
we've got to grow through innovation. And thanks to the support of
Senator Santorum and others, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been a
leader in innovation. I was in Pittsburgh last June to award a $2.4
million grant to Pittsburgh Life Sciences to train workers in biotechnology. The
Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board was awarded a $1.3
million grant and the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center was awarded
a $3 million grant for regional advanced manufacturing training initiatives.
This Administration has also awarded the W.F. Goodling Advanced Skills Center
a $1 million grant to train workers in the field of geospatial technology.
Now, Senator Santorum and I would like to present a check to the workers
of Pennsylvania.
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