HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Wolf announced new funding for St. Marys Area School District, through Pennsylvania’s Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Program (MTTC), to launch a student-run program and boost awareness of available opportunities in the manufacturing industry.
“This great new program will give St. Marys students hands-on experience in manufacturing,” said Wolf. “Programs like these create a pipeline of talent to help ensure that manufacturing continues to flourish in Pennsylvania.”
St. Marys Area School District was awarded $200,000 to create a student-run manufacturing enterprise, targeted to begin during the 2022-23 school year.
This pilot program, which will be known as Dutch Manufacturing, will give qualifying students the opportunity to participate in a manufacturing enterprise that will make actual parts, deliver services and be a part of the supply chain for local manufacturers.
Over the course of an academic school year, students will learn about and perform different job functions in manufacturing, develop essential skills, utilize advanced manufacturing technologies and build relationships with local companies. The program will engage 210 students over the course of the grant period.
“This is a robust partnership between education, industry and community that exemplifies the rural advantage,” said Dr. Harley Ramsey, St. Marys Area School District superintendent.
“Over the past several months we have made remarkable progress toward aligning our programs to maximize opportunities for our students to thrive locally. The training-to-career grant will help us accelerate those critical and worthwhile outcomes.”
Wolf’s Manufacturing PA initiative was launched in October of 2017, and since then has funded 63 projects and invested more than $14.4 million through the Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Grant program.
Training-to-Career grants support projects that result in short-term work-readiness, job placement or the advancement of manufacturing.
The program works collaboratively with local manufacturers to identify and teach missing essential skills for entry level applicants seeking manufacturing employment, engage youth or those with barriers to career opportunities in manufacturing, and or advance capacity for local or regional manufacturers.
For more information about the Wolf administration’s commitment to manufacturing or the Department of Community and Economic Development, visit the DCED Web site.