The Manufacturers’ Association and Partners Receive $250,000 Grant to Continue to Grow Manufacturing Industry
(York, PA) – The south-central Pennsylvania manufacturing sector was recently awarded funding to further support the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Partnership of South-Central Pennsylvania. The PA Department of Labor and Industry’s PASmart Industry Partnership Grant program provides funding to support the development, launch, implementation, and technical assistance of employer led partnerships to address the workforce, economic development, and educational needs of Pennsylvania industries.
The partnership is facilitated by The Manufacturers Association who works with regional organizations to help implement the employers’ identified priorities that will grow the industry. Key partners include the grant’s fiscal agent, SCPaWorks Workforce Development Board, Lancaster County Workforce Development Board, the South Central PA Partnership for Regional Economic Performance, and educational partners York County Alliance for Learning and the Partnership for Career Development. The private sector driven initiative is led by two employer Co-Champions, Weldon Solutions, a manufacturer of grinding machines and robotic integration and Phoenix Contact, a global leader in electronic connectors.
Tom Palisin, the Manufacturers’ Association Executive Director stated, "The industry partnership’ work over the last several years has successfully addressed manufacturing’s most critical competitiveness issues. The partnership model provides manufacturers a single table to work with the dozens of public and private programs and resources to create comprehensive solutions for the industry."
Over the past several years, the Southcentral PA Manufacturing Industry Partnership of C-suite leaders implemented programs focused on the most urgent needs identified by the industry. These efforts have included creating a network of best-practices exchanges, a marketing campaign to attract students and individuals to manufacturing careers and offering career exploration programs to students and schools. The partnership also trained 421 manufacturing employees over the last 3 years in high skill technical training that included credentials and certificates for the individuals and resulted in wage gains and promotions in their career paths.
With this continued funding the Industry Partnership plans to train an additional 120 workers, continue to promote manufacturing careers, and develop cutting edge strategies to help manufacturing companies retain their workforce. Manufacturing CEOs and leaders interested in participating in the Next Gen Partnership should contact the partnership through The Manufacturers’ Association at 717-843-3891, or by email at office@mascpa.org .
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The Manufacturers' Association is on a mission to ensure that our region’s manufacturing sector not
only survives but rebounds stronger than ever! We exist to ensure that critical knowledge is
preserved, expanded, and shared with the manufacturing professionals of tomorrow. Founded in 1906,
we are the voice of the industry for hundreds of member & non-member organizations across the
region. We support manufacturers with the knowledge they need to operate, hire & train smarter!
Visit the Industry Partnership website at: www.mascpa.org/education-training/next-gen-partnership/
Visiting the Manufacturers’ Association website at: www.mascpa.org
