News

On October 28, 2009 in Titusville the staff members of the Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Oil Region, and Warren County Pennsylvania CareerLink® Sites, Regional Center for Workforce Excellence and Northwest Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board members engaged in a Staff Development Day that included comments from Mr. Amos Goodwine - Coordinator of Workforce Investment Programs for the Erie City School District, Mr. Kerry Schwab - NWPA WIB Chair and Michele Zieziula - RCWE CEO.

View images from the event here.

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LEADING IN TURBULENT TIMES

Trends in business, the implications for leaders,
and implementing change to address business conditions

The global recession has had serious implications for employers in the northwest region of Pennsylvania.  Although there are several elements that contribute to stabilizing and thriving in this economic climate, the center of success is leadership.

With this workshop, it is our intent to deliver contemporary, pertinent and thought-provoking ideas on leadership.  We also want to use this time to hear from you and explore how we can better respond to your current needs.

Below is a program agenda for your review.  We look forward to your participation in this event.

 

Please be our guest at one of the following free workshops:

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 8:00-11:45 am -
Knowledge Park, Erie, PA
                                            OR
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 8:00-11:45 am -
CareerLink®, Oil City, PA

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AGENDA

8:00 a.m.     Hot Breakfast Buffet
8:40 a.m.     Introduction and Opening Remarks
8:45 a.m.     Presentation
11:15 a.m.   Q & A
11:45 a.m.   Adjournment

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About the Facilitator:
Eric Bergstrom
Assistant Director, Faculty Member,
Penn State Management Development

 

Mr. Bergstrom has significant experience teaching and facilitating credit and noncredit business management courses as well as training and development, and organizational development courses.  He is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops, where his topics include organizational transformation, and many human resource subjects including development, strategic management, management and metrics, and employee empowerment.  He has designed and implemented HR strategies and activities to build organizational competitive advantage and also developed and implemented succession planning processes and tools and has led leadership development programs at all levels.

Prior to joining Penn State, Mr. Bergstrom spent more than 20 years in human resources and manufacturing management positions at Sperry New Holland, RCA, and RR Donnelly & Sons Company.

Mr. Bergstrom earned his M.Ed degree in training and development from Penn State, and has completed course work for a Ph.D. in workforce education and development.

There is no charge for this event; however, reservations will be appreciated so we may plan appropriately.  Reservations accepted through November 11, 2009.

Click below to reserve your spot (please include name, company, address, and phone number):

I will attend the Erie workshop on November 17, 2009
Knowledge Center, 5240 Knowledge Parkway, Erie, PA

I will attend the Oil City workshop on November 18, 2009
PA CareerLink - Oil Region, 255 Elm Street, Suite 1, Oil City, PA

Or call Penn State Behrend Continuing Education at 814-898-6103.

 

The diversity of the constituency of the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence was manifested at its 6th Annual Dinner on Friday September 25th.  The RCWE made 125 grants in its fiscal year 2008-2009, including employers, subcontractors, service providers and educational and training institutions, many of whom were represented at the dinner. The organization funded seven industry partnerships, including Building and Construction Trades, Plastics, Metals and Metal Fabrication, Healthcare, Food Processing and Technology.  At the dinner participants were acknowledged in the WIA adult training program, the WIA Dislocated Worker program  and the Employment Advancement and Retention Network (EARN) program.  Also honored were youth internship training and TANF youth program participants. A number of PA CareerLink®  partners were recognized for distinction..  A member of an industry partnership and a unique group of dislocated white collar workers from General Electric, Opportunities Erie were also honored.

The wide range of services, providers, trainers, educators and employers for which RCWE is responsible was symbolized at the dinner by the variety of the speakers themselves.  They included RCWE staff, Northwest Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board members, CareerLink site directors, and the regional Rapid Response Coordinator.

With these multiple responsibilities, it is significant that the RCWE chose as the theme of the dinner “ONE VISION. Connected.”  In addition to providing fiscal and administrative services to support a wide range of programs, the RCWE has the responsibility for providing strategic direction.  Defining a strategic plan for the region requires a clearly defined vision, and the goals associated with that vision can only be achieved if all of the disparate elements of the workforce programs become collaborative – “connected.”

That vision is clearly focused on engaging employers, partly through the industry partnerships, to help them create new marketing initiatives and workforce opportunities in highly skilled areas.  The same vision will attempt to assure that the workforce of the future is properly trained to take advantage of those opportunities.

The intent of the Workforce Investment Act is that WIBs focus on strategic planning, policy development, oversight of the system, and establishment of the priorities for ALL workforce development funds in the Northwest Pennsylvania region.

One vision also involves one purpose.  Characteristic of this purpose is Opportunities Erie, a group formed by former General Electric employees, who are now reaching out to other dislocated workers, because “We know how you feel.”  This group according to Beverly Rapp, is a transition team and represents the region’s best human assets – its tangible resources.  John Ogden, a member of the group, describes it as “taking off like a rocket that's been lit.”

The final component of that vision is one passion and that passion is directed entirely to the workforce, particularly that segment of it that is suffering from dislocation.  Just to support the youth programs sponsored by the RCWE there are 182 partners.  It is linkages with trainers, educators, contractors that make all of the CareerLinks programs for dislocated workers happen.

Mission, passion, purpose – these are the critical components of the one vision, but it is these “linkages” that constitute the connectivity that can enable the vision to become a reality.

View the details of Program Year 2008-2009 in the Annual Report.

View the Annual Dinner video - One Vision. Connected.

    Strengthening Erie’s Workforce combines the efforts of a diverse lead organization team that represents the full range of nonprofit organizations and workforce development activity in Erie County, Pennsylvania.  Led by The Erie Community Foundation, the central force for philanthropy in the region for the last 75 years, the team also brings together the talents of The Nonprofit Partnership, a member-based capacity-building organization for nonprofits, and the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence (RCWE), Northwest Pennsylvania’s Workforce Investment Board.
    Together, the organizations will coordinate a capacity-building effort to strengthen nonprofits active in the evolving workforce arena in Erie County.  Erie County is a distressed area based on its high poverty and unemployment rates, and it is also part of a region that is in transition to a mixed economy that is demanding different skills from its workforce.  To meet this need, the program will offer three tiers of workshop-based training that respond to the development needs of nonprofits across the spectrum of size, age, focus, and sophistication.  
    The training will be coupled with one-to-one technical assistance and $600,000 in financial assistance sub-awards for a group of fifteen organizations who will compete for the support in year one, followed by an additional ten organizations in year two, thereby building the capacity of 25 organizations over the 24 month project period and helping 80% of these participating partners to build and diversify revenues, expand services and improve outcomes, show measurable gains in the five designated developmental areas, and demonstrate gains in organizational leadership.  To accomplish this goal, the program will combine $1,000,000 in Federal support with $250,000 in foundation matching funds for a total effort of $1,250,000.

For additional information please visit the Erie Community Foundation website.

View Complete Press Release on Grant Awarded Here.

Source: Meadville Tribune

Spotlight: Regional Center for Workforce Excellence By Tracey C. Larson Today many organizations find strength and financial viability by building partnerships with other organizations. Rather than defending their perceived ³turf² and viewing others as the competition, community organizations and businesses are coming together to work on what needs to be done to improve education, economic development, workforce development, etc. Whether organizations partner together countywide, regionally or statewide, the future sustainability of an organization lies in its ability to work with others in their own community, county, region and state.

One non-profit organization who specifically focuses on building networks within a six county region that includes Crawford County is the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence (RCWE). Located at 764 Bessemer St., Meadville, the RCWE is a non-profit 501c3 organization that serves as the workforce development intermediary in northwest Pennsylvania. Legislation passed in 1998 created the Northwest PA Workforce Investment Area (WIA), Inc. which merged the existing Northwest Job Training Consortium and JEPTA program to cover Erie, Warren, Crawford, Clarion, Forrest and Venango counties. The organization chose Meadville as the location for the RCWE offices because it was the central location for all six counties.

The RCWE is the organization that the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) has designated as providing the staff and administrative support for the WIB¹s activities. The WIB is a membership consortium made up of business executives, community leaders and elected officials appointed by the Board of Commissioners and Chief Local Elected Officials to plan for the region on areas of workforce development. In order to accomplish its purpose the WIB created the RCWE. The WIB gave the RCWE the following roles for workforce development in the region:

In Regional planning and statistical needs assessment n Screen and resource providers n Operations, fiscal and administration n Performance measurement and quality assurance n Outreach/promotion of regional collaboration and private sector involvement To support these roles of the WIB, the RCWE provides a regional strategic plan, serves as an intermediary between employers, education and the workforce, provides support to the WIB and serves as the fiscal agent for the WIA for both state and federal funds.

So far the RCWE has built a network that includes employers, workforce resources, education and economic development. Employers network through the Industry Partnerships. Industry Partnerships are multi-employer collaborative efforts that bring together business executives, workforce professionals, economic developers, labor leaders and educational providers around the common purpose of improving the competitiveness of a cluster of companies/organizations that share similar products or services, critical human resource needs and /or retention/recruitment challenges.

Michele Zieziula serves as the chief executive officer for the RCWE. So, while she and her staff work to create these numerous networks to benefit workforce and economic development of the region, she is also an employer that is dealt the task of finding qualified and skilled workers that will assist in facilitating the various aspects required to build these networks and provide the administrative services required by the WIB.

When looking to hire someone for a position, what basic qualities does she look for in a prospective employee? As an employer she looks for people who have energy, are open-minded, flexible, have computer skills, presentation skills, customer service skills and a college or post-secondary degree or years of experience. Advice she would share with students looking for work is to have leadership abilities, show initiative, have confidence, be able to work as part of a team, dress appropriately for an interview and be able to speak well do not use slang during an interview or at work.

Zieziula is most proud of the fact that her organization has created the network system described above because it has a larger impact since the system works with a larger group of entities.

Scott Deissler works as a network specialist in facilities management for the RCWE. He sets up and maintains the RCWE computer system, data depositories and phone system. For the CareerLinks in the six counties, he serves as the liaison between the CareerLinks site administrators and the landlords for the property in which the CareerLinks operate. Because of his duties there is moderate travel involved with his position. To work in this field, Deissler has an associate degree in computer information science and networking. Before this position he spent 16 years managing a family business. He also has a bachelor of science degree in business management.

His career change was the result of a change in the business climate and he did not want to continue as a business owner. His advice to high school students is to be respectful, willing to learn and listen, but most of all show up for work on time.

So now you know a little more about the RCWE. If you would like to review additional information about the RCWE you can visit its Web site at www.nwpawib.org or contact its offices at 333-1286 to learn more about how your business or organization can participate in any of their various networks.

 

Tracey Larson is program coordinator for the Crawford County K-12 Career Education Alliance.