Bus engines were scattered about the lab facility where the first cohort of the program — 14 apprentices from eight transit agencies across the state — worked at discovering and diagnosing different scenarios that could keep those engines from working properly.

The smell of diesel fuel mingled with motor oil as Walker toured the facility, taking time to speak with the students who work in the field and joined the program to increase their knowledge and expand their opportunities.

Walker noted that Gov. Josh Shapiro had prioritized apprenticeship programs and the program at Penn College had received a $600,000 grant.

“This is going to be starting my fourth year in this role in January, so I’m finally at a point where I get to see not only the programs that we…started, to see them actually working,” Walker said.

Student mechanics work on projects during a tour by Secretary Nancy Walker from the Pa. Dept. of Labor & Industry of the new Bus Mechanic Apprenticeship Program on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Wednesday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“You hear the enthusiasm. I talked to one of the businesses that are sponsoring one of the young people here, and they’re very enthusiastic. They’ve already signed up to join the next cohort,” she added.

The program has been three years in the making, according to Alex Lehman, a training specialist with workforce development at the college.

“PennTRAIN and PPTA (Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association) started working on this program on their own. They attempted to register it on their own and faced some challenges. But through those challenges, got connected with us through River Valley Transit Authority early in 2024 so that’s when we started talking about the program, exploring if it made sense to house it here at Penn College, if we were a good fit. And we both agreed that it was a good fit, and started working on it pretty quickly in 2024,” Lehman said.

The first cohort started in July with the online portion of the program which is followed by several weeks on campus with hands-on, intensive labs in addition to the online instruction, Lehman said.

The program was designed to be beneficial for multiple sectors of the industry so that it works “for everybody as best as possible,” she said.

Secretary Nancy Walker (top left) from the Pa. Dept. of Labor & Industry talks with students and instructors on a tour of the new Bus Mechanic Apprenticeship Program on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Wednesday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

While studying, students earn four industry recognized credentials, EPA, 608609 state inspection and Emissions Inspection, in addition to their journey worker certificates, Lehman explained.

“They also are having the opportunity to work with each other, which we’re finding is working really well. They’re learning from one another, since they’re from different agencies, and able to share a lot of good information and best practices,” she said.

“It’s great to see that the program is working. It’s getting people into jobs that are needed,” she said.

She pointed out that one of the unexpected benefits of the program is that younger students are returning to their workplace and talking to co-workers who have been on the job for years, sharing their new-found skills with them.

“They’re actually teaching some of the older dogs new tricks,” she said.

“It’s just feels like such a win all around and that makes me really happy because everything, everybody’s competing for the dollars and it just makes me really excited when I see that smart choices are being made in workforce and particularly in an area like this where you have so many good partners that come together to make a program like this successful,” Walker said.

Jake Dame, who works for River Valley Transit Authority (RVTA) is one of the students in this first cohort. He said that when RVTA offered him the opportunity to study in the program he wasn’t “going to say no.”

“If you have a little bit of knowledge in it, this definitely adds to sealing the deal,” Dame said.

“A lot of us don’t really crack open the engine. We just kind of work around it, so being able to dive in to shed some light on what you don’t see,” he said.

Another student from Monroe County, Joshua Bowen, said that his boss, who was actually at the tour, offered him the opportunity to join the program.

“He said, we have a real good opportunity for you to better yourself, become a better mechanic and improve,” Bowen shared.

“My first thought was, yes, of course, I always want to become better. I always want to improve and explore,” he said.

Bowen said that he would encourage any one who is offered the opportunity to study in the apprenticeship program to take it.

“I would say that I think there’s a good opportunity to better and further yourself and to make yourself more valuable. And do what you love, too,” Bowen said.