Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett was joined at the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute March 28, by faculty and students to tour the facility and to announce an initiative with the Manufacturers Resource Center to create a regional student pipeline in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

"Workforce development is crucial to provide employers with skilled, trained employees for the jobs of today," Corbett said. "The 'Skill Up' initiative is one of a number of workforce development initiatives my administration supports to provide students with the skills and education necessary to support the regional manufacturing industry."

The Department of Community and Economic Development provides grants through the "Discovered in PA - Developed in PA" (D2PA) program.

Created by the Corbett administration, D2PA is designed to build educational capacity to better support Pennsylvania's businesses and to spur creativity and innovation through the allocation of economic development services.

The Manufacturers Resource Center, located in Bethlehem, was awarded a $298,500 grant to create and invest in a regional "student pipeline development initiative" in Lehigh and Northampton Counties.

The project, known as "Skill Up" the Student Pipeline to Support Advanced Manufacturing in Pennsylvania, will be a collaborative effort involving the MRC, Da Vinci Science Center, Lehigh Career & Technical Institute and the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board.

Recognizing manufacturing's value to Pennsylvania's economy, Corbett commissioned a private advisory council to identify and prioritize top issues to help influence, sustain and advance that sector in the commonwealth.

The Governor's Manufacturing Advisory Council report outlined 15 key recommendations, including the need for a highly skilled and educated workforce and the need to develop public/private partnerships.

"The 'Skill Up' initiative is a collaboration between educators, local manufacturers and government to address the need to develop an educated workforce to meet the needs of today's employers," Corbett said. "We continue to work to bridge the gap between job-seekers and employers to make sure there is a job for every Pennsylvanian who wants one."

Corbett discussed the initiative during a visit to LCTI, which prepares students with the academic and technical knowledge needed to succeed in higher education and careers. LCTI has been open since 1971 and serves students in grades nine through 12 from the nine Lehigh County school districts.

Corbett said he often hears Pennsylvanians pessimistically say "manufacturing is dead in Pennsylvania."

Corbett vigorously disagreed. While the dirty manufacturing jobs associated with such manufacturing jobs steelmaking may be gone, he said, Pennsylvania has a whole new era of clean jobs that are really reviving a whole new American dream concept.

Corbett said manufacturing jobs employ 574,000 Pennsylvanians, accounting for 10 percent of the total workforce.

The average compensations in manufacturing is $64,913, 44 percent higher than non-manufacturing sectors.

Corbett said his administration will continue to encourage manufacturing and entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania, and that a well-trained and educated workforce is key to the resurgence of manufacturing in the state.

"The truth is," he said, "there are more highly skilled jobs available in Pennsylvania than there are workers to fill them."

He said his administration is determined to turn that equation around.