New Lancaster County effort aims to tackle the skills gap for businesses

The Lancaster County Career and Technology Center and some others are hoping to do something about it.

The career center announced this week it is planning to launch a new program, “Workforce Talent 2020,” to help meet the heavy demand for skilled workers in high-wage occupations in Lancaster County.

The new effort will aim to train men and women to fill jobs in two fields with a high demand for these workers – welding and electro-mechanical engineering – while creating a pipeline of employees to Lancaster County businesses and industry.

It is “an attempt to meet the county’s most crucial employment needs and to retain industrial employers in the county,” a news release from the CTC said.

Leaders of the effort have identified welding and electro-mechanical as fields that currently have the highest demand, they said.

It has received a $350,000 grant from BB&T Bank and the philanthropic Lancaster County Community Foundation, according to the CTC foundation webpage.

The CTC foundation also is seeking businesses to sponsor Workforce Talent 2020, and those that invest in the program will gain exclusive access to top program graduates, among other benefits, the foundation webpage added.

The new Workforce Talent 2020 effort comes as many leaders in manufacturing and other fields are speaking of the need to train more young workers for technical jobs.

A study released a year ago by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education found that nearly 1 million skilled jobs will need to be filled across Pennsylvania through 2024, and that some industries in high-demand fields may struggle to find people.

Adult students who qualify for Workforce Talent 2020 will receive technical training in one of the two programs at the Career and Technology Center’s Mt. Joy-area campus, which is in both Mount Joy Borough and Rapho Township.

The students also will receive career and life coaching, mentorships, and assistance with matching graduates with employers.

The CTC foundation will announce details of Workforce Talent 2020 at a media kickoff in mid-August, its officials said. Efforts this week to reach the foundation’s executive director, Anthony Gillespie, have not been successful.