Legislators discuss iTEC apprenticeship at Crayola roundtable
State legislators and regional partners met at Crayola in Forks Township to review the Lehigh Valley’s Industrial Training and Education Consortium (iTEC) apprenticeship and discuss ways to expand and streamline the program.
The Pennsylvania Economic Competitive Caucus picked up their crayons to learn more about the Lehigh Valley‘s manufacturing apprenticeship program during a roundtable at Crayola in Forks Township recently.
The caucus was in town to learn how to expand, and possibly improve, the Industrial Training and Education Consortium (iTEC).
According to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, the collaborative apprenticeship program was established by a group of Lehigh Valley manufacturers to provide industrial skills training, in partnership with local schools, colleges, universities, and community organizations.
“The iTEC program is a model we’re talking about. It’s showing us right here in our own backyard what it looks like when employers, educators, and government align around a shared goal, connecting real people to real careers with real wages, and this is the formula that we should be scaling across the Commonwealth,” said state Sen. Lisa Boscola, co-chair of the caucus.
The roundtable included input from Crayola; Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), which provides administrative services to iTEC; iTEC members B. Braun Medical and Heidelberg Materials; Workforce Board Lehigh Valley; Northampton Community College; Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce; Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry; and the German American Chamber of Commerce, which is part of iTEC.
Don Cunningham, President & CEO of LVEDC, said it’s critical for regions to have robust talent strategies that align K-12 education, higher education including community colleges, and career and technical schools with employers to understand the skills they are seeking.
“If you don’t, you’re going to get passed over,” he said.
Cunningham pointed out that the Lehigh Valley’s strategies recently helped to land the region’s largest investment ever, a $3.5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing campus planned by Eli Lilly and Company in Upper Macungie Township, Cunningham said.
Panelists said the state could help collaborative apprenticeship programs such as iTEC by making it easier to get new certifications approved; by streamlining data and record-keeping requirements; and by providing funding that can help to cover costs, which can be a barrier to entry for smaller companies.