Culture change needed
BUTLER TWP — For the United States to win the global marketplace, studies in core technology areas will be important. But, technology isn't sustainable.
To win, it will take passion.
Joseph Belechak, senior vice president at Westinghouse Nuclear, said a culture change will make the difference.
"Getting back to a belief that what we do is vocation and not just occupation," Belechak said.
He said the new hires need to be invested in what they do, and management needs to lend support.
"Engagement begins with a commitment. I also believe it requires passion," he said. "Leadership has to be passionate. It has to be engaged, and at the end of the day, it has to inspire that in its people."
Belechak spoke on engagement, awareness and urgency as the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Northwest PA STEM Conference at Butler County Community College.
The conference is organized by the Northwest PA STEM Steering Committee to address the science, math, engineering and technology work forces. The committee, which was formed two years ago, joins education, business, industry and legislators from 12 counties to find ways to improve employee skills. Last year, Erie hosted the first conference.
More than 220 people attended Tuesday. About 70 percent were in secondary and post-secondary education. The remainder were from a broad range of industries.
"It goes from health care to manufacturing to cutting edge technology," said Stephen Catt, executive director of workforce development at BC3. He said he volunteered the college to host the conference so it could bring attention to the southern edge of the STEM region and to showcase the campus.
A panel of those industry experts spoke about turning the workforce, instilled with passion, into leaders in four fields that expect growth in the state.
Dave Spiegelmyer, vice president at Chesapeake Energy, said he needs workers trained to work on oil rigs. On Interstate 79, he said, there are a lot of license plates from Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma because the Marcellus Shale industry can't find qualified workers here.
Sue Mukherjee, director of the state Department of Labor and Industry, said data analysis shifted from looking at what jobs will be needed in the future to what the unemployed workforce can do today.
Arun Ranchod, manager of MEDRAD, said the biomedical industry will need problem solvers to support a nation of people living longer and with more chronic conditions.
Mukherjee said workers will need to adapt existing jobs and skills as the state adds an expected 115,000 green jobs in the next years.
And, William Kiser, director of the Penn State Electro-Optics Center, said the defense industry will need innovators who can find inexpensive ways to advance the intelligence information field.
But, regardless of the field workers choose, Belechak offered advice.
"Make it your passion to be aware, to be engaged, and to do it with a joyful sense of urgency," he said.
