News

Corrected -- Governor Rendell: Extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation, COBRA Provides Immediate Financial Help to Pennsylvanians

Harrisburg – Governor Edward G. Rendell today said Pennsylvanians who are out of work through no fault of their own now may qualify for two more months of emergency unemployment compensation and health care coverage through the COBRA premium reduction.

“The continuation of federal UC benefits and health insurance assistance, even for two months, is great news for Pennsylvanians this holiday season,” said Governor Rendell. “Now, more families can receive benefits they need to pay for food, shelter, utilities and other necessities during the coldest months of the year.”

Legislation signed by President Obama on Dec. 19 extends the qualification period for federal emergency unemployment compensation, or EUC, and the $25 weekly Federal Additional Compensation payment through Feb. 28, 2010. The continuation of the EUC program allows eligible Pennsylvanians to apply for six additional weeks of benefits that had been included in previous legislation.

View complete News Release here.

Attention online job boards, career exploration sites, and all other providers of on-line job search and career advancement tools:

The United States Department of Labor challenges you to showcase your best products by submitting your tools at the link below:  

http://www.dol.gov/challenge/

The US DOL will be collected as many on-line tools as possible to help America’s job seekers quickly and easily connect with jobs.

In January, job seekers and workforce professionals will be invited to test-drive, comment on, and recommend tools.

Participating websites can expect increased site traffic, and an opportunity to reach new customers through the nationwide network of One-Stop Career Centers, which serve more than 20 million job seekers each year.

Learn more about the Challenge.

Pennsylvania Partners has made an updated acronym dictionary available for reference.

Pennsylvania Partners represents workforce development professionals in each of the state’s 23 Workforce Investment Areas. Our members oversee and operate employment and training programs administered under the federal Workforce Investment Act and other workforce programs, including the services provided by Pennsylvania’s CareerLink (one-stop) system.

In an effort to make grant opportunities more readily available the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence has made the following blog, maintained by our Grants Specialist, Abby Skinner.  The intent of this blog is to provide innovative strategies and models for sustainability and fundraising for the Northwest Pennsylvania region.  These include grant and funding award announcments relevant to our region and to provide nonprofit resources, training and funding opportunities beyond grants.

Please visit this link for the most current information pertaining to grant resources for workforce development funding in Northwest Pennsylvania.

View the November 2009 ARRA Disbursement Schedule here.

View the most current Construction Project Manager RFP Q&A's here.

Project Manager RFP here.

Regional Center for Workforce Excellence Receives $650,000 to Aid in Workforce Development Efforts

MEADVILLE, PA. The Regional Center for Workforce Excellence (RCWE), administrative staff and fiscal agent to the Northwest Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board (NWPA WIB), has received $650,000 in Rapid Response funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.

This is in direct response to the unemployment rate for the Northwest Pennsylvania region which has risen more than four percent over the past year (comparing PA Department of Labor and Industry data). As the number of unemployed in Northwest Pennsylvania continues to rise and the cloud of uncertainty for many Northwest Pennsylvania residents continues overhead, the nonprofit organization and the Northwest Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board continue to strive to achieve success in workforce development efforts for our region.

This funding will be used to support dislocated workers in Northwest Pennsylvania and to increase staff capacity in Northwest Pennsylvania CareerLink®’s to assist unemployed individuals in understanding and potentially participating in the programs, training and services available, such as Trade Adjustment Assistance.

RCWE CEO Michele Zieziula comments, “This Rapid Response funding is critical to Northwest Pennsylvania in this time of uncertainty for many who have been laid off and may need to be retrained to realign with our region’s workforce.  Simply put, our goal is to put as many people back to work as soon as possible.”

The Northwest Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board (NWPA WIB) is a membership consortium made up of business executives, community leaders and elected officials appointed by the Board of Commissioners and Chief Local Elected Officials (CLEOs) who continually serves a multi-regional workforce investment area which includes Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Venango and Warren counties.

The WIB acts as both the planning council for the region on areas of workforce development and as the Board of Directors for the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence (RCWE). The purpose of the WIB is to focus on strategic planning, policy development, oversight of the system and establishment of priorities for all workforce development funds. 

Joelyn accepted the position of Marketing and Communications Specialist with the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence in August of this year. She immediately began assisting in the planning for the Annual Dinner, held on September 25th which was already well under way.  She utilized her skills and experience to make significant contributions to the event.  She participated in the development of the theme for the dinner and the annual report – “One Vision. Connected.” 

She also worked with RCWE staff Patty McEwan and Lynette Watkins on the development of the attractive Annual Report, which was distributed at the dinner. 

Joelyn is quick to recognize the contributions of Patricia McEwan and Lynette Watkins who handled all of the logistics for the dinner, including invitations, RSVP’s, table decorations, technical arrangements and the over-all décor of the event. She comments, “The annual dinner would not have been possible without them.”

Previously, Joelyn worked for Bensur Creative Marketing Group as an Account Coordinator.  Her responsibilities included event planning and account assistance in managing the production of collateral literature for a variety of private sector and nonprofit clients.  Prior to her position at Bensur, Joelyn held an extensive Community Relations internship position at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center.  She helped to coordinate a Gala event in May 2008 to debut the large format film “Mysteries of the Great Lakes.”  She also planned and help execute the first annual dinner for the nonprofit organization Friends of the Tom Ridge Center, which Governor Tom Ridge attended.

She is “home grown,” having attended McDowell High School and received a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Edinboro University in 2008.

It was her experience at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center that led her to seek employment with the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence..  “My exposure to the nonprofit community led me to seek another career opportunity with an organization with a mission,” she explained.  Perhaps that motivation contributed to her input that resulted in a theme for the dinner that included “vision” and “connectivity.”