Industry Partnerships

An industry partnership is a multi-employer collaborative effort that brings together management and labor around the common purpose of improving the competitiveness of a cluster of companies or organizations producing similar products or services and sharing similar supply chains, critical human resource needs, infrastructure requirements, business services, and/or retention/recruitment challenges. For more information on the statewide industry partnership initiative.

This year (2009-2010) TRWIB has received $785,000 in Industry Partnership and Incumbent Worker training dollars which will be divided among eight initiatives. TRWIB specifically has chosen to manage five of the industry partnerships in alignment with the research from the 2009 "Seeing in 3D" publication. These focus industries are: Business and Financial Services, Building and Construction, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Professional Scientific and Technical Services.

Listed below are brief descriptions of all 8 Industry Partnerships for 2009-2010. To learn more or get involved in any of these partnerships please contact Micah Frankenfield at mfrankenfield@trwib.org or 412-552-7087.

Industry Partnership Overview

Industry Partnerships (IPs) are a state-funded initiative that originally began through Governor Rendell's Job Ready PA program. IPs create a multi-employer collaborative effort that brings together management and labor to improve the competitiveness of an industry. They are comprised of a cluster of companies or organizations that: produce similar products or services; share similar supply chains, critical human resource needs, infrastructure requirements, business services; and/or have similar retention/recruitment/training challenges.

TRWIB operates several IPs that align with the focus industries identified in our Seeing in 3-D report:

Industry Partnership TRWIB Contact
Business and Financial Services Vera Krofcheck – vkrofcheck@trwib.org
Green Building and Construction Micah Frankenfield – mfrankenfield@trwib.org
Healthcare Stefani Pashman – spashman@trwib.org
Manufacturing – Steel and Steel Supply
Chain		 Micah Frankenfield – mfrankenfield@trwib.org
Professional, Scientific, and Technical
Services		 Audrey Bode – abode@trwib.org

Goals

  • Position TRWIB as a resource of information for the workforce of the region's key driving industries
  • Provide the region's employers with a forum to identify industry specific needs
  • Allow TRWIB to develop relationships with a broader base of the region's employers
  • Ensure that TRWIB's workforce initiatives are serving the needs of the region's employers

Timeline

Phase Timeline Activity
Phase 1 Now-April 1
  • Convene and Identify key stakeholders for each Industry Partnership
  • Work with employers to assess the immediate and long term needs of the industry
Phase 2 Now-April 1
  • Develop Plan of Action specific to address the needs of the industry
  • Increase outreach to additional stakeholders identified by employers
Phase 3 Now-June 30 Carry-out plan of action through multiple avenues, including but not limited to the following:
  • Data distribution
  • Pipeline development initiatives with school districts
  • Workshops
  • Partnerships with community based organizations
Phase 4 May 15-???
  • Identify long-term training needs of the industry that lead incumbent workers to wage increases and career advancement
  • Develop a training plan to enable the partnership to pursue training subsidies

Other Industry Partnerships

TRWIB also serves as the Fiscal Agent for the following IPs in the region. Please Contact Micah Frankenfield at mfrankenfield@trwib.org for more information on these partnerships:

  • 3 Rivers Clean Energy Partnership
  • Materials Science Industry Partnership
  • Keystone Utilities Industry Partnership (State-Wide Partnership)

Business and Financial Services

This partnership will be including previously participating companies and partners from the Financial Services Workforce Initiative that was managed by Duquesne University. This year we will be placing less emphasis on identifying training needs and placing more emphasis on identifying the industry needs in the region. This partnership will be an outlet to discuss the financial crisis' impact on the region, and a means to strengthen the industry by better connecting the Business and Financial Services employers to schools, community based organizations, and policymakers. TRWIB will utilize data and information from the employers in this partnership to better inform its policy and recommendations for the Finance and Insurance Industry.

Green Building and Construction

The Green Building and Construction (GBC) partnership will represent all aspects of the emerging industry. We see four important sectors that need to be represented in this partnership in order to make it a valuable and an informed collaborative.

  1. General Construction and Contractors
  2. Specialty construction i.e. HVAC, electricians, etc.
  3. International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE Local 95)
  4. Representation from the emerging Green Jobs sector e.g. Energy Auditors

This partnership will be leveraging existing work done by the Living Cities project, which is a grant TRWIB received through the Pennsylvania Fund for Workforce Solutions, and also the network of the Green Jobs Advisory Board (GJAB) which is a cross industry representation of community based organizations, employers, workforce development organizations, foundations, and policy makers that collaborate about the emerging Green Jobs sector. Through these two avenues the GBC partnership will be able to participate in strategizing sessions about the future of Green Building and Construction in the region. This partnership will be used as an avenue to connect the GJAB to the Building and Construction industry. GBC will position the industry employers to be able to take advantage of the opportunities in the Green Building movement, and form a better collaboration amongst the key stakeholders in the emerging greening market.

Healthcare

This partnership will be a catalyst to impact the largest industry in SWPA, by influencing pipeline development, addressing the needs of the industry, and determining the skills required to perform the jobs in the sector. In order to address pipeline development issues the partnership will utilize programs that employers currently have in place to develop career pathways for entry-level employees to assist them in developing their skills to advance into higher positions. The partnership will also draw upon TRWIB's research to identify what the core Knowledge Skills and Abilities are that are required for the positions along the career ladder. This partnership will include representatives from the following aspects of the health care industry:

  • Organizations that work to increase minority representation in allied healthcare and nursing.
  • Physician offices
  • Medical Office Buildings
  • Nursing shortage initiative grant recipients

Manufacturing- Steel Manufacturers and Supply Chain Companies

This partnership will be incorporating a multi-faceted approach to pulling together the key stakeholders in the Steel Manufacturing industry. We will be utilizing the Three Rivers Area Labor Management Committee (TRALMC ) and their connections to the steel manufacturing companies in the region.

In order to provide a multi-faceted approach the partnership incorporates the research that was done by Pittsburgh University's Center for Industry Studies research on the steel supply chain. They have gathered information from over 300 employers and have supplied the partnership with a network of steel supply chain companies that are on board to address pipe-line development issues, skill gap deficiencies, and the aging population of the industry.

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (PSTS)

This partnership is serving as a catalyst for TRWIB to not only connect the PSTS industry to other workforce development initiatives but also allowing TRWIB to provide more research and labor market information to the stakeholders of the industry. In addition to TRWIB's role, this partnership also includes employers from the Pittsburgh Technology Council. This partnership through the facilitation of the TRWIB and the Pgh Tech Council will be able to address the needs of the many facets within the PSTS industry through helping a segmented group of employers recognize the similarity of their needs. This partnership will also utilize the initiatives from the TRWIB and Pgh Tech Council to more effectively integrate pipeline development activities within the industry.

3 Rivers Clean Energy Partnership (3RCEP)-

The 3 Rivers Clean Energy Partnership focuses on the companies that make up the supply chain for the regional power generation industry, including those involved in energy efficiency, with a particular focus on the nuclear industry. The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 95 is a key partner within 3RCEP and is a national leader in training green building operators. The region is also home to the 3 Rivers Clean Energy Initiative (3RCEI), a three year old foundation funded economic development effort that focuses on growing the clean energy industry and making the region a leader in research, development, and application of clean energy technologies. The 3 Rivers Clean Energy Partnership (3RCEP) helps to operationalize the workforce-related strategies of 3RCEI, while at the same time, the Partnership is able to take advantage of the great leverage that 3RCEI provides.

Keystone Utilities Industry Partnership (KUIP)-

The resources support training programs that meet the challenges facing energy, water, and gas providers along with waste water treatment in Pennsylvania. The KUIP facilitates cooperative efforts to develop and enhance IP career ladders for new hire and incumbent employees by providing program support, aligning organizations, and leveraging available resources.

Material Sciences Industry Partnership (MSIP)-

Materials Science is one of the bedrock industries of Southwest Pennsylvania consistently ranking amongst the leaders in total employment, production output, wealth generation and research and development investment. The regional industry is large and diverse, but the Materials Science Industry Partnership (MSIP) of Southwest Pennsylvania is focused in that it targets the development of the "innovation workforce," including science, engineering, design and technical talent. Based on national research as well as information gathered by the MSIP project team this specific group of positions is the most pivotal to the sector's future, and the constraint that provides the most leverage to enable industry growth.

The MSIP works to foster a progressive group of materials related firms to increase the regional industry's capacity and competence for innovation by developing the skills and abilities to more effectively generate new ideas, solve problems, improve processes and commercialize new products and services. The MSIP works to achieve its mission three focused program areas:

  • Execution of Advanced Skills Training Grants targeted at Science Engineering and Technical workers
  • Development of industry driven consortium training programs
  • Building the pipeline of tomorrow's technical workers through youth engagement and industry driven science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational programs