Industry Partnership Talking Points
- Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnerships have broad bipartisan support: In 2011, both PA legislative chambers passed the Industry Partnership bill (SB 552) unanimously and Governor Corbett signed the bill into law
- Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnerships (IPs) are working—connecting workforce education and training programs to the critical needs of industry
o Partnerships identify common industry skill needs and communicate those needs to training partners, including colleges and high schools
o More than 6,300 businesses are actively involved in IPs with more than 100,000 workers trained since 2005
- The flexibility of employer-driven Industry Partnerships can help Governor Corbett achieve the workforce priorities in his 2012-13 budget
o The Governor highlights the need for workforce programs to be employer driven and Industry Partnerships provide a proven way to accomplish that goal
o Industry Partnerships are a cost-effective way to implement the Governor’s proposals to help the unemployed return to work more rapidly, establish training opportunities in new industries, and provide training in certificate programs in targeted industries
o IPs can also help achieve better coordination among state agencies, integrating multiple funding streams into services that benefit businesses and workers
- IPs increase the ROI (return-on-investment) from all public and private education and training investment
o A new study found that businesses participants in Industry Partnerships saw a more than 400% return on partnership investment (online at http://www.joincollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/JOIN_ROI_Executive-Summary-Only.pdf )
o 84 percent of participating businesses report that Industry Partnerships and training have helped them significantly increase their productivity
o By giving vocational educators, community colleges, and other trainers solid intelligence on industry needs, Industry Partnerships increase the value of education and training
- Business leaders in Pennsylvania support Industry Partnerships
o "Pennsylvania's Industry Partnership initiative has become a national model of excellence in workforce development strategies," said Pennsylvania Business Council President and CEO David W. Patti. "The business community strongly supports the program because it addresses critical workforce shortages in key industrial occupations through the voluntary collaboration of employers in similar industries or product lines, or which share supply chains, often cooperating with the associated organized labor unions. IPs work."
o Robert C. Wonderling, Chairman of the Greater Philadelphia CEO Council for Growth wrote recently, “Our organization recognizes the unprecedented contribution Industry Partnerships have made to Pennsylvania businesses and industries."