Businesses and Broad Bipartisan Coalition Urge Senate to Give Industry Partnerships Backing of State Law

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania businesses from every part of the state and a coalition of anti-poverty, environmental, labor, philanthropic, education, and training organizations today urged the state Senate to give Pennsylvania's innovative Industry Partnership program the backing of state law.

The Senate is poised to take up legislation, sponsored by Senator Michael Brubaker, establishing this nationally-recognized skills development initiative into Pennsylvania's statutory law. This move will ensure the state continues to reap dividends from this program for decades to come.

"The Industry Partnership program gets rave reviews across the political spectrum and from businesses, industry groups, and advocates for low-income families," said Keystone Research Center economist Stephen Herzenberg, on behalf of the coalition. "The Senate can help this program take root and grow into a powerful competitive advantage for the long term."

The coalition hand-delivered to all Senators and to House leaders a packet including a letter signed by representatives of 190 businesses and 65 other organizations calling for passage of Industry Partnership legislation. The packet also includes:

• Quotes from businesses and others in support of Industry Partnerships.
• Press coverage (op eds, editorials, and news articles) on Industry Partnerships.
• Letters from Senators asking their leaders to move Senator Brubaker's Industry Partnership bill, which has 29 sponsors, 19 Republican and 10 Democratic, and passed the Senate Labor Committee unanimously in June.
• Copies of letters and emails from businesses to lawmakers requesting that they move the Industry Partnership bill.

The materials in the packet can be found online at www.workforcepa.com.

Building a Bond between Business Needs and Employee Skills

Industry Partnerships are training consortia of businesses with common skill needs and product markets. More than 70 partnerships now exist across Pennsylvania connected to key industries such as manufacturing, energy, health care, agriculture and food processing, information technology, and construction.

By investing in partnerships and in training overseen by them, Pennsylvania has ensured a tight connection between business needs and employee skills, upgrading the quality of the workforce for employers and enhancing opportunities for workers.

Business owners say these partnerships deliver other key benefits: they make training more cost-effective; they feed intelligence about industry needs to all public and private training for industry; they provide a forum through which businesses learn from each other about best-management practices, new technology, new market opportunities, and strategies to increase competitiveness; and they develop common curricula, certifications, and career ladders - lubricating oil that makes a more mobile job market work better for business and employee.

Industry Partnerships became more visible in Pennsylvania in the tight labor market of the late 1990s as leading regional workforce areas began convening health care, manufacturing, and other employers to identify their skill gaps. Outgoing Governor Mark Schweiker recommended to incoming Governor Ed Rendell that he launch a flexible grants program to support industry training partnerships.

The legislature began providing $20 million annually in state funds to support partnerships in 2005-06, but reduced funding to $7.6 million over the last two tight state budgets, with the cut made up in part by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars.

First Statutory Backing for Industry Partnerships

Senator Brubaker's legislation would provide the first statutory backing for Industry Partnerships, ensuring the continuation of this highly successful initiative. A virtually identical bill passed the Pennsylvania House unanimously in March. Senate passage of Senator Brubaker's bill would likely become law this year as long as the House still has enough session days left to take it up.

Pennsylvania's partnership program is also the model for the "Sectors Act," which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a wide margin this summer.

"In a political climate that is too often polarized, a politically diverse group of Pennsylvanians want to make our economy deliver better for businesses, workers, and communities," said Herzenberg. "Leadership and support from the state's legislature would be a pivotal boost for this effort."

Reporters and editorial writers are encouraged to highlight the unique story of Pennsylvania's Industry Partnership program. Contact information for business leaders and other supporters from throughout the state is available upon request.

The materials in the packet given to legislators can be found at www.workforcepa.com, along with other information about Industry Partnerships. Businesses and others that have not yet done so can endorse the letter of support at www.workforcepa.com and find guidance on other ways to advocate for Industry Partnerships.

The Pennsylvania Fund for Workforce Solutions (PFWS) is a statewide funding collaborative that supports Industry Partnership projects, which meet employer needs and enable lower-skilled adults to access and advance in good-paying jobs. PFWS also supports capacity building for Industry Partnerships and advocacy on workforce policy. Keystone Research Center serves as the staff of PFWS.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Fund for Workforce Solutions