Pa. Labor & Industry Secretary Visits Montgomery County Community College, Learns About Job Opportunities Created Through Education

PHOTO: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Kathy Manderino (center) is pictured with Montgomery County Community College Biotechnology students (left) during her visit to the institution’s Central Campus in Blue Bell on Aug. 17. Also pictured from MCCC are Assistant Professor of Biotechnology Dr. Margaret Bryans and Interim President Dr. James Linksz, along with Dr. Karin Abarca Heidemann (far right), director of research and development at Rockland Immunochemical, Inc., which is one of the College’s industry partners.

PHOTO: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Kathy Manderino (center) is pictured with Montgomery County Community College Biotechnology students (left) during her visit to the institution’s Central Campus in Blue Bell on Aug. 17. Also pictured from MCCC are Assistant Professor of Biotechnology Dr. Margaret Bryans and Interim President Dr. James Linksz, along with Dr. Karin Abarca Heidemann (far right), director of research and development at Rockland Immunochemical, Inc., which is one of the College’s industry partners.

Blue Bell/Lansdale, Pa.— Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Kathy Manderino met with students and faculty at Montgomery County Community College’s (MCCC) Central Campus in Blue Bell and Culinary Arts Institute (CAI) in Lansdale on Aug. 17 as part of Governor Tom Wolf’s “Jobs That Pay” tour.

At the Central Campus, Secretary Manderino toured MCCC’s Biotechnology, Dental Hygiene and Nursing laboratories to learn about how the state’s investment in those programs and students benefits workforce and economic development in the Commonwealth. At the CAI, she met with students and faculty chefs before engaging in a round table discussion with MCCC leaders.

“The associate’s degree is a valuable credential for community college graduates in Pennsylvania. In fact, most of our students in career-track programs like Dental Hygiene, Biotechnology and Culinary Arts have jobs lined up before they graduate,” explained Dr. James Linksz, interim president, MCCC. “Our graduates also provide much-needed human resources to the region. According to a recent graduate survey, 68 percent of alumni are employed in Montgomery County and 97 percent are employed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

During her visit to MCCC, Secretary Manderino had the opportunity to talk with some of the college’s industry partners who benefit from student interns and graduates. For example, while touring the Biotechnology lab, she met Dr. Karin Abarca Heidemann, director of research and development from Rockland Immunochemical, Inc. in Limerick, Pa., which employs three recent MCCC graduates and offers internship opportunities to current students.

She also met Dr. Mark Schafer, president and COO of PhotoSonix Medical, Inc., a start-up company that rents a workstation in MCCC’s Biotech lab and provides the program’s students with valuable internship experience.

“Biopharmaceuticals is the fastest growing segment of the pharmaceutical industry, and there is a growing need for trained technicians to manufacture these drugs, especially as generic versions start to be produced,” explained Dr. Margaret Bryans, assistant professor of Biotechnology at MCCC. “In addition to the four major pharmaceutical companies in Southeastern Pennsylvania, there are more than 100 small biotechnology companies in the Greater Philadelphia Region, offering exceptional career opportunities to our graduates.”

MCCC offers a two-year Associate in Applied Science degree in Biotechnology, as well as a 16-credit Certificate of Completion, designed to provide hands-on, industry-relevant training to students who already hold associate’s or bachelor’s degrees and who wish to retrain for careers in the biotech field.

Before arriving at MCCC for the day, Secretary Manderino and her team toured VideoRay, a Pottstown-based manufacturer of underwater remotely operated vehicles, which is another of the College’s key industry partners.

Rep. Tom Quigley To Speak At TriCounty Network May Meeting – Focusing On Local Job Creation

WHAT:      TriCounty Community Network (TCN) will be hosting Rep. Tom Quigley (146th District, Montgomery County) at its May 15 meeting.  Rep. Quigley will be focusing on his jobs platform, discussing job creation initiatives, such as Employ PA, which is aimed at improving legal, regulatory, and tax areas for large and small companies to help them prosper and move forward, and ultimately create jobs and boost the economy.

This event comes one day before the 2nd Annual TriCounty Community Career Fair, sponsored by the TCN Exelon Nuclear Workforce Development Program, where more than 70 employers will be exhibiting and more than 500 job seekers are expected.   

WHO:        TCN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, membership-based organization that partners with nonprofits, businesses and community members to improve health, social and environmental conditions.  Serving Western Montgomery, Northern Chester and Eastern Berks counties in Pennsylvania, TCN offers seven key programs: Build Up Youth, CARE (Caring in Alternative Residential Environments), Environmental Awareness, Family Literacy, Homeless Services, SAFE (Supporting Abuse Free Environments), and Workforce Development.  For more information on TCN, visit www.tcnetwork.org

WHEN:      Tuesday, May 15, 2012

                        8:00am – 10:00am

WHERE:     Montgomery County Community College – West Campus

                          101 College Drive

                           Pottstown, PA

COST:            Free

RSVP:            Members of the media should RSVP to Karen Higgins, A&E Communications, at khiggins@aandecomm.com or 610-831-5723.  To register for the May 15th meeting or for questions on the May 16th Career Fair, contact TCN at 610-705-3301 ext. 2.

New Reading Mayor Calls Coordination Key To Jobs Plan

English: Reading City Hall on the NRHP since A...

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Piggy-backing on a positive national report on job creation, Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer on Friday recounted what his administration is doing to create jobs in the city.

Primary among them will be to complete a plan on how the city and the Reading Redevelopment Authority can cooperate on economic development, he said.

The city already has a wider economic development plan, urging it to focus on one site at a time and find a new tenant for it.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=362749

July’s Economic News Better Than June’s!

The economy fared better in July than it did in June.  117,000 jobs were added in July as opposed to only 18,000 in June.  Also, the unemployment rate inched down one tenth of one percent from 9.2 percent in June to 9.1 percent in July.

In order to substantially reduce unemployment 250,000 jobs a month would be need to be added to bring the unemployment rate down quickly.  As you can see, we are nowhere near that level.

In August we will have to wait and see if the reduction of the U.S.credit rating and Thursday’s stock market plunge will have an adverse effect on job creation and unemployment.