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Philadelphia Area Determined to Build a Strong Workforce
More than 100 people representing 25 organizations attended “Building A Strong Regional Workforce” on December 10, 2009, an event hosted by the Community College of Philadelphia. Like many cities across the country, Philadelphia is taking a close look at its regional workforce, taking action to improve skills, and planning appropriately for the future of their region. A recent report indicated that more than half of Philadelphia's working-age adults, about 550,000 people, cannot handle the basic arithmetic and reading necessary to succeed in the majority of jobs in the city, so building a strong regional workforce is a very high priority to the region.
The event included speakers with expertise in regional and national workforce development and skill building. Featured speakers included:
- Fred Dedrick, Deputy Secretary Workforce Development; PA Dept. of Labor & Industry
- John Nelson, Regional Manager, WorkKeys
- Mary Molusky, Director of Outreach, KeyTrain
- Nicole DiGiulio, Training & Development Manager; Philadelphia Water Dept.
Fred Dedrick discussed the overall workforce issues and efforts in Pennsylvania. Recently the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania launched a weatherization project which will use WorkKeys as a readiness measure. To support raising skills in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, KeyTrain will be available at five Workforce Investment Areas in the CareerLink locations. KeyTrain will be used to assist individuals at the local Career Links in applying for positions available with the weatherization project.
John Nelson provided an overview of WorkKeys and examples of how WorkKeys has been implemented across the United States.
Nicole DiGiulio demonstrated the success the Philadelphia Water Department has had implementing WorkKeys and KeyTrain with their apprentices. High school students are eligible to apply for an apprentice position with the Philadelphia Water Department. The students that are selected begin as apprentices and have opportunities for future employment.
Mary Molusky shared the great skill-building results various organizations and workforce entities have been having with KeyTrain.
Speakers and attendees alike demonstrated a strong commitment to assisting in the effort to build a strong workforce and addressing literacy issues. This session was one of the initial steps in the longer term plan to address workforce and literacy issues in the Philadelphia area.
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