Contact: Laura Holden
Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
412.552.7089

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The Groundhog May See His Shadow on February 2, 2007
Several Area Employers Will See a Few Shadows at the Same Time

Opportunities to build a first-class workforce
An initiative of the TRWIB

Pittsburgh, PA (January 31, 2007) — This Groundhog Day promises to be an interesting one for about 50 area students who will participate in job shadow tours with several area employers; it's likely to shed light on their futures and help area employers gain visibility with the future workforce. Arranged through, E4 - Educators and Employers Engaged for Excellence, an initiative of the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB), participating students will see area organizations on a first hand basis. YouthWorks, one of TRWIB partner organizations, is also arranging in-depth individual job shadow experiences for students across industry sectors. Founded in 1994, YouthWorks has provided 18,000 youth with career exploration, training, and employment.

E4 - Educators and Employers Engaged for Excellence is a comprehensive career education program intended to support area schools through job shadows (individual and group);
e-mentoring in partnership with SmartFutures; and several employer-sponsored activities including hosting an educator, Cisco Academy student, and/or intern in the workplace. Through the program, some employers will also visit area schools in the next year and meet with students and their teachers.

On Groundhog Day, small groups of students from various schools will have a choice of
workplaces to visit including: The Omni/William Penn, WQED Multimedia, and Hamill Manufacturing. According to Ron Painter, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, Chief Executive Officer: "By offering students hands-on information about careers in world-class organizations in the region, we help build an able workforce while promoting opportunities for young people." Adds, Tim Aldinger, Youth Program Officer at the TRWIB: "We have been actively recruiting employers to join us in these career education programs and are always interested in working with new ones. We invite them to contact us."

This program is also part of a larger national effort to encourage direct communication between students and employers in their local areas.

As an organization whose focus is helping the region through strategic workforce planning and by helping to align employer needs with jobseeker skills, the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board has become increasingly aware of the significance of innovative career education programs - in person and in cyberspace - for the public and private sectors. In 2006, the TRWIB applied for and was awarded funding for one year from the Regional Career Educational Partnership Grant from the Pennsylvania State Department of Labor. TRWIB's role as an intermediary is to help build bridges between secondary schools and local employers so that students can make more informed decisions about life after high school.

The Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB) is an employer-driven, policy-making entity for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Board members, appointed by the Mayor of Pittsburgh and the County Chief Executive, share a concern about workforce quality and the availability of good jobs in the region. The 1998 federal legislation that consolidated employment and training programs, The Workforce Investment Act, also created local workforce investment boards, including the TRWIB.

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