PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Montgomery County workforce development program gets a shot in the arm, with the goal of helping strengthen collaboration between educators, high school students, and employers.
MontcoWorks is part of an initiative aimed at helping youth find their place in the future labor industry.
"The workforce development and community really agree as a whole that we need to do things differently," said Kendall Glouner-Zeamer, the assistant director of program development with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit.
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"We really want to develop meaningful opportunities for secondary students to tour, job shadow, and really converse to gain deep insight into the many careers within these fields."
She said that thanks to a new $100,000 grant, their program will be able to do just that.
"It gives them the opportunity to make informed decisions about career planning. High priority occupations in our area often do not require a traditional four-year degree," said Glouner-Zeamer.
"We really want to ensure that the labor shortage we're seeing today does not extend into the future and negatively impact our economy.
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She says they plan on doing that by working with forward-thinking industry leaders in the area of construction, manufacturing, and health care.
"Many times, young people simply don’t know what their career choices are that they have that are rewarding, financially solvent and right here in Montgomery County," Glouner-Zeamer said.
"We feel it's really important to educate about pathways of today that look very differently than pathways of yesterday towards a successful career."
The program is scheduled to launch in the spring. It is currently recruiting schools and employers to take part.
