The workforce development vibe can’t get much more positive than it was Wednesday at the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.
Ostensibly, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County officials scheduled the event for acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su to present a $716,701 grant to Catalyst Connection for additional marketing of its program to train women for jobs in manufacturing. The agency said it expects to draw 300 more women into the program.
But it also served as a celebration of Pittsburgh’s role as a leader among five national workforce hubs.
Su’s grant to Catalyst Connection was part of about $6 million she announced across the country as part of the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program. The local program is “building bridges to prosperity” for women, Su said.
“[Women in the program] don’t just build things,” Su said. “They build communities. They build families. We are working toward a day when there are no non-traditional jobs for women.”
Petra Mitchell, president and CEO of Catalyst, said this is an ideal time for more women to get into manufacturing because there are many jobs available. Those jobs often are technical positions running computers or highly advanced machinery, not the intensely physical jobs of yesteryear.
“The timing is now for women to get into these careers,” she said. “When women get involved, things get done.”
Kristen Goodell, a consultant for organizational development at Catalyst, said the agency’s primary role is to encourage economic development and help provide the employees companies need. It provides some online education itself and partners with the state CareerLink program, community colleges, school districts and other training programs to “find the right fit for the worker.”
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, praised the grant for Catalyst, saying such programs help improve diversity in the workforce and provide good, union jobs.
“That’s life changing, not just for those women but for the people around them,” she said.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey praised the work of Partner4Work, the nonprofit that has taken the lead in developing the programs involved in the workforce hub. That includes creating the country’s first apprenticeship for electrical vehicle technicians.
“We’ve got to be intentional,” he said. “We have to be able to uplift those communities that need help. It’s takes all of us.”
Su and first lady Jill Biden visited Pittsburgh in November, not long after Pittsburgh was named a workforce hub. Su said she returned because she has been impressed with the innovative efforts here, such as the PIT2Work program at Pittsburgh International Airport, where workers are offered pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships to help build the airport’s new terminal in a program that includes on-site childcare.
“Pittsburgh, you are showing the nation how this should be done,” she said.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.