Pennsylvania College of Technology will continue to be a focal point in Pennsylvania for the training of workers for the natural gas industry.
In late 2008, the college, in partnership with the Penn State Cooperative Extension, opened the Marcellus Shale Education and Training Center.
Now the college will share with Westmoreland County Community College a $5 million federal grant geared to making those schools regional hubs for coordinating job recruitment, training and placement services for the shale gas industry in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
The grant, the largest ever awarded through the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, will be used to create Marcellus ShaleNET, a comprehensive recruitment, training, placement and retention program for the jobs in the gas industry.
"Basically, it provides for the development of curriculum and courses that high schools, colleges and training organizations can use," said Larry Michael, executive director of workforce and economic development at Penn College.
There is a large demand by the gas industry for trained workers, said Thomas Murphy, an educator with the Cooperative Extension in Lycoming County.
"In many places in Pennsylvania there is a lack of legacy knowledge of the industry and what it involves in terms of skills," Murphy said. "We see a number
of employees who can't find employees though they are looking in earnest for them."
The funding will pay for an inventory of industry-related courses already available so there will be no duplication of courses, Michael said.
According to Michael, the two colleges will work in partnership with the industry, which will certify curriculum developed for training workers in the gas industry.
"The (Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association) backed this (initiative) from the beginning and will be an integral part of the implementation of this great opportunity," Michael said.
Westmoreland County Community College will be a hub for southwestern Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, while Penn College will be a hub for northcentral and northeastern Pennsylvania and, if and when a drilling moratorium is lifted in that state, New York, Michael said.
The initial focus of the initiative will be to develop courses for six high-priority occupations in the gas industry: derrick, rotary drill and service unit operators; roustabouts; welding and brazing operators; and truck drivers.
According to a Penn College news release, the "initial focus will be on recruiting and training low-income and dislocated workers, as well as veterans" for those positions.
The funding also will be used to develop orientation videos for each occupation "to explain to workers what the jobs are about," Michael said.
The videos and standardized tests developed through the initiative will be available to potential workers at CareerLink, Michael said.
"CareerLink will use that as a recruiting and educational tool for potential job seekers," he said.
Michael said the program should have "lift off" in January or February.
The funding acknowledges successes Penn College has had in developing a workforce for the gas industry, he said.
"I think this is a recognition both by the industry and the U.S. Department of Labor of the work Penn College has done in the past serves as a good basis to expand and standardize (job training) for the industry," he said.
The college already has had success with a pre-employment program called "Fit 4 Natural Gas," which prepares workers to be roustabouts.
"It is one of the more successful programs out there," Michael said. "The U.S. Department of Labor wants to use that as a model and expand it across the shale region."
