Work force training programs cope with cuts in state support
By Joel Berg
Sales are down. Profits are flat. But companies still need employees who keep their skills sharp.
So, for the most part, local companies appear to be persisting in their efforts to train and educate workers, according to local leaders in work force development. The biggest challenge is finding money, particularly as the state shaves its share of the funding.
The cost of training often is shared among companies and the government, said John Lloyd, president and chief executive officer of York-based Mantec, a nonprofit that offers advice to manufacturers.
"Companies are ready and anxious to train their employees," Lloyd said. "However, they need support and assistance in retraining the work force, and unfortunately, with the state budget crisis, training programs are going to be cut dramatically going forward."
The news could have been worse for job trainers. Some budget proposals would have completely eliminated state money for training programs, said Stephen Herzenberg, an economist and executive director of the Keystone Research Center, a liberal think tank in Harrisburg.
One survivor is the state's industry partnership program, which is slated to receive $9.2 million, down from a peak of around $20 million, Herzenberg said. The program funds collaborative efforts to address the overall work force needs of an industry, rather than of individual companies.
Businesses understood the program's value and fought to sustain funding, Herzenberg said. "Do we wish that the industry partnership funding was at the level of a couple of years ago? Yes. But is it very important that funding was maintained and the program can live to fight another day? Yes."
In the meantime, federal stimulus money could fill some of the gap, Herzenberg said. The federal government, for instance, is setting aside $500 million for training in so-called "green jobs."
"There will be a lot of effort to bring more of that money into Pennsylvania," he said.
Corporate foundations also have been stepping up their interest in worker training programs, said Scott Sheely, executive director of the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board.
Companies themselves continue to see state-subsidized training programs as a good deal, Sheely said. For his organization's programs, a business generally picks up about 40 percent of the tab, a figure that Sheely is not ready to raise, despite cuts in government spending.
"There's just too much uncertainty right now with the funding," he said.
Although the recession hasn't dulled interest in training, it has affected its delivery, Sheely said. Companies either are slow or find they have more time during the workday or their operations are so lean that they have to shift programs to nonwork hours.
"Trying to get people out for training is harder in some ways," Sheely said.
Companies and industries also are looking beyond just job training.
In Lancaster County, for example, contractors and zoning officials are planning to meet today for a half-day session on how local regulations affect installation of solar panels, geothermal heating units and other energy-saving technology.
"That stuff is sprouting up in townships across Lancaster County," said Terry Kile, chairman of the Lancaster County Center of Excellence in Renewable Energy, the event's sponsor.
Greater demand for energy efficiency is creating job opportunities for solar installers, energy auditors, insulation technicians and other professionals, said Kile, who also is vice president of sales for Horst Construction Co. in Manheim Township.
Training programs are in the works to boost their ranks. And employers in the field are busy in spite of the recession. But they still might not be hiring as quickly as programs can pump out trained workers, Kile said.
"We want to be careful now," Kile said. "We don't want to make promises that the training programs won't be able to keep."