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Regional workforce
development partnership offers fiber optics training
PITTSBURGH, PA (March 13,
2002) — The Three Rivers Workforce Investment
Board (TRWIB), announces the formation of the
Academy of Communications Technologies, a business/education
partnership between Wrightco Technologies, Verizon
and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to
provide fiber optics and communications training
to students and displaced workers in the Pittsburgh
area. Individuals with no prior training or experience
can participate in the training program which
begins Monday, April 15, at the Steel Center Area
Vocational Technical School in Jefferson Hills,
Pa. Interested individuals may apply by visiting
or calling the Pittsburgh CareerLink office at
425 Sixth Avenue, 22nd Floor, Regional
Enterprise Tower, Pittsburgh (412-552-7100) or
the McKeesport CareerLink office at 345 Fifth
Avenue, McKeesport, Pa. (412-673-5621).
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and Verizon provided funding for the training
program through matching $75,000 grants. The April
15 session marks the first phase of the training
program. Additional sessions will be offered in
the near future. Those start dates will be announced
at a later date.
"As the telecommunications
industry expands and consumers demand a wider
range of products and services, workers must be
trained to meet the demand with a high level of
technical expertise," said Ronald Painter,
Executive Director of the TRWIB. "Verizon
and our training partners, Wrightco and Steel
Center, are playing a key role in this workforce
development which will enable employers, including
Verizon, to have a pool of qualified workers from
which to fill positions today and in the future."
Instructors from Wrightco
Technologies, a technical training institute based
in Ebensburg, Pa., will deliver the training at
the Steel Center Area Vocational Technical School
in Jefferson Hills (near Century III Mall in the
South Hills). The 26-week Fiber Optics/Communications
program, which incorporates Verizon’s TEC2000+
curriculum, is divided into six modules which
include: fiber optics; analog telecommunications;
digital telecommunications; security alarm systems;
closed circuit television; and advanced data cabling.
Trainees may take a test by which they can receive
international certification from the Evolving
Technologies Association International Inc., an
organization that certifies industry installers
and technicians.
"Our technical training
programs include a lot of hands-on learning,"
said Eva Dolges, a Wrightco administrator. "Trainees
spend time working with the equipment, and by
the end of the program, they come away with a
knowledge base that allows them to be immediately
successful on the job in the telecommunications
or electronics field."
The Three Rivers Workforce Investment
Board is composed of community, business and government
leaders who are responsible for creating a coherent
and accountable local employment and training
system by establishing local performance standards,
chartering one-stop service delivery centers and
satellites (referred to as CareerLink in Pennsylvania),
selecting qualified service providers, and monitoring
performance. For more information, call the TRWIB
at 412-552-7090 or visit us on the web at www.trwib.org.
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