The deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry toured Butler County Vocational-Technical School Wednesday.

Eileen Cipriani said Butler was her 25th tour of 80 such schools in the state. She said her tour is meant to promote the practical educations and certifications students can get at those facilities.

“By 2025, our goal is to have 60 percent of Pennsylvania’s population to have a post-secondary certificate,” Cipriani said. “That’s not always four-year college or two-year college — sometimes it’s just a certification that allows them into the workforce. We want to let students know about all the options they have. There are so many jobs right now in trades and manufacturing, we need to fill that skills gap.”

The school’s director, Kurt Speicher, led Cipriani on a tour throughout its many departments. They saw welders, cooks, programmers and carpenters.

Cipriani asked the same two questions in every room. She met the teachers and asked what certifications their students are able to earn, and she asked the students what their plans are after college.

“We want people to have certificates so they can go anywhere in Pennsylvania and be able to say, ‘Hi, I’m a welder’,” Cipriani said.

Specifically, Cipriani was talking about the state’s PASmart initiative, a $30 million workforce education program with $7 million set aside for apprenticeship programs. Grants in the program, Cipriani said, are going to be posted in the coming weeks.

The teachers along the tour seemed receptive to her message. Bill Rearick, the heavy equipment repair instructor, said he has people calling all the time asking for students they can hire. He graduated from the program himself in 1988.

He wants even more of those calls, he said.

“There’s no reason every business in the county shouldn’t be knocking on our doors wanting to hire students out of here,” Rearick said.