State official visits Penn United
JEFFERSON TWP — The state Department of Labor and Industry's deputy secretary for workforce development made a stop in Butler County on her statewide Jobs that Pay tour.
Eileen Cipriani traveled Friday from the eastern part of the state to visit Penn United Technologies to celebrate the company's three new apprenticeship programs.
Scott Covert, training coordinator at Penn United, explained that the three new programs raise to an even dozen the apprenticeship offerings available to employees there.
The CNC mill and lathe operator, die designer and quality control inspector apprenticeship programs were recently approved by the state Department of Labor and Industry, Covert said.
He said almost 500 employees have completed apprenticeship programs at the company since the first apprenticeship initiative, tool and die maker, was offered in 1973.
“We now have 280 active employees who have completed our (apprenticeship) programs,” Covert said.
Penn United officials applied for the new apprenticeship programs, Covert said, to ensure customers that trained individuals are working on their products, to satisfy internal work force needs and to stay current technologically.
“We have to keep up with machine technology,” Covert said. “It's constantly changing, so we need to keep our program as fluid as possible.”
Cipriani said one of Gov. Tom Wolf's major priorities is providing employers with skilled workers through apprenticeships and training.
She said the average salary of a middle-skilled worker, which is the level most apprenticeships focus on, is $60,000.
“This is a whole new way to look at training,” Cipriani said of apprenticeships. “This is earn while you learn.”
She said that 56 percent of employees in manufacturing jobs are older than 45. Those workers will need to be replaced in the coming years to retain manufacturers across the state, Cipriani said.
“The idea that manufacturing jobs are dirty, dangerous jobs is not true,” she said. “Manufacturing jobs are now high-tech.”
Covert said a unique collaboration between Penn United and Butler County Community College allows employees to earn credits in apprenticeship programs at Penn United and credits toward an apprenticeship certification at the college.
“At the end, they have a full-fledged college degree and their journeyman papers,” Covert said. “This is a first for BC3.”
He said the collaboration program boasts a 70 percent placement rate in manufacturing jobs.
Cipriani said she hears from businesses across the state that they can't find workers. Penn United is avoiding such a problem through its apprenticeship programs, she said.“Penn United Technologies is building their own workers,” she said.Covert said one reason for the lack of manufacturing workers is a generation that was encouraged to attend a university and earn a four-year degree.Covert said an education at Penn State University costs about $60,000 per year.An apprentice will make an average of $35,000 (annually) in their first four years of employment.“So you're making more than $120,000 in cash at the end of four years,” Covert said.He said many manufacturing workers have bachelor's degrees in fields that were not conducive to finding gainful employment.“I joke and say we have the most educated fry cooks in the world,” Covert said.Cipriani said manufacturing jobs pay family-sustaining wages that will keep young adults in their communities instead of leaving to find work elsewhere.As part of Cipriani's visit, Covert escorted her on a tour of Carl E. Jones Learning Institute for the Growth of High Technology (LIGHT), which is a division of Penn United Technologies that specializes in manufacturing-based training.The LIGHT center, which opened its doors in 1999, consists of a computer lab, a precision machining lab, a precision grinding lab, a metrology lab and several traditional class rooms and a large training/meeting room.The Jobs that Pay tour is an effort by state agencies to promote good-paying, family sustaining jobs and career paths in Pennsylvania.
