Job
Access in the Cranberry Area: Critical Issues
Affecting Workforce and Economic Development in
Southwestern Pennsylvania
A quality workforce is a key
ingredient to southwestern Pennsylvania’s
economic prosperity. The private-sector-led Three
Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB) strives
to ensure that our region’s employers are
able to attract and retain qualified workers and
that our region’s workers are able to access
and retain quality jobs. We have long recognized
that making this match between workers and jobs
relies on more than whether workers’ skills
and attitudes match those needed by the region’s
employers. Other factors, including transportation,
childcare, and affordable housing, can play critical
roles in meeting employers’ workforce needs
and enabling individuals to obtain and retain
good jobs.
As southwestern Pennsylvania’s
development patterns have mirrored national suburban
growth trends, the issues of accessible transportation,
childcare, and affordable housing
have increasingly surfaced as potential barriers
to matching workers and jobs. Just north
of the city of Pittsburgh, the Cranberry area
in particular has experienced tremendous
residential and employment growth. In the summer
of 2003, the TRWIB began a study of the Cranberry
area to better understand its employment opportunities,
employer needs, and potential barriers to job
access. This publication, entitled , presents
the findings of this research. Ultimately, we
hope this study will contribute to a policy and
planning environment that will promote greater
economic success for individuals and businesses
in the greater Pittsburgh region.
