For Employers

Industry Partnerships

Industry Partnerships (IPs) are a key institutional innovation for meeting the skills needs of businesses, the career goals of workers, and the economic development goals of the Commonwealth. Industry Partnerships are a particular kind of “workforce intermediary,” a so-called dual customer institution that helps connect and meet the needs of both workers and businesses. Industry Partnerships bring together multiple employers, and workers or worker representatives when appropriate, in the same industry cluster to address common or overlapping human capital needs. Effective Industry Partnerships can accomplish the following:

• Develop a deep, thorough and forward-looking understanding of the human capital needs and critical challenges of the industry cluster through the regular interaction of partnership members, trade associations, and industry experts;
• Identify the training needs of businesses, including skill gaps critical to competitiveness and innovation;
• Facilitate companies to come together to aggregate training and education needs and achieve economies of scale;
• Help educational and training institutions align curriculum and programs to industry demand, particularly for higher skill occupations;
• Inform and collaborate with PA CareerLinks, youth councils, business-education partnerships, parents and career counselors and facilitate bringing employers together to address the challenges of connecting youth to careers;
• Help companies identify and work together to address common organizational and human resource challenges – recruiting new workers, retaining incumbent workers, implementing high-performance work organization, adopting new technologies and fostering experiential on-the-job learning;
• Identification of barriers to entry level employment for workers and youth and strategies to remediate those barriers;
• Develop new career lattices within and across companies, enabling entry-level workers to improve skills to advance into higher skill, higher wage jobs;
• Develop new industry credentials that give companies confidence in the skills of new hires and workers more mobility and earning potential across firms;
• Establish communication networks between firms, managers, and workers to promote innovation, potential economies of scale in purchasing and other economic activities, and dissemination of best practices. In some cases, these activities result in the development of new learning collaborative, Centers of Excellence, or joint economic development activity.

TCWIB coordinates four local industry partnerships within the three counties.

Local industry partnerships include the following:

Tri-County Agriculture Industry Partnership

For more information about joining the Tri-County Agriculture Industry Partnership, please contact TCWIB at 724-282-9341 or
tcwib@tricountywib.org.

Tri-County Healthcare Consortium

The Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, Inc. identified health care as a local key industry cluster in 2002 due to the critical shortage of health care workers in Armstrong, Butler, and Indiana Counties. Health Care Consortia groups were formed in all three counties to work collaboratively to identify and provide common training needs, assist health care workers advance in career ladders, provide health career/job fairs and information sessions, design strategies for recruitment and retention of health care workers, educate public and youth on the rewarding and attainable careers in health care and recognize health care workers for their service and commitment to their professions.

Tri-County Manufacturing Consortium

The mission of the Tri-County Technology Consortium is to identify and meet the needs of the technology industry in Armstrong, Butler, and Indiana Counties as well as the region.  The Consortium serves as an opportunity for employers, educational institutions, and resource partners to network, share resources, provide training, and strengthen the community of IT professionals.  For more information about joining the Tri-County Technology Consortium, please contact TCWIB at 724-282-9341 or tcwib@tricountywib.org.

Tri-County Technology Consortium

The mission of the Tri-County Technology Consortium is to identify and meet the needs of the technology industry in Armstrong, Butler, and Indiana Counties as well as the region.  The Consortium serves as an opportunity for employers, educational institutions, and resource partners to network, share resources, provide training, and strengthen the community of IT professionals.  For more information about joining the Tri-County Technology Consortium, please contact TCWIB at 724-282-9341 or tcwib@tricountywib.org.

Incumbent Working Training

Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) is an employer service provided by the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board to help employers upgrade the skills of the current workforce.  Training provided through the IWT Program is designed to assist with company expansion, new technology, retooling, new services, new products, organizational restructuring, and skill upgrading.  In addition, IWT can be used as part of a layoff aversion strategy. Email the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board at tcwib@tricountywib.org or call 724-282-9341 for more information.

On-the-Job Training

On-the-Job Training, or OJT, is an employer service provided by the Career T.R.A.C.K., a partner of the Tri-County PA CareerLink® with funding from TCWIB.  The OJT program helps employers training workers in specific skills they need for the full performance of the job.  OJTs offer reimbursements for a portion of the OJT participant’s wages while they gain job specific knowledge and assist employers with staffing needs.  The PA CareerLink® will coordinate the recruitment process of an OJT participant that fits the employers workforce needs.  Overall, OJTs assist employers with finding new talent and training costs.  If you’re thinking of hiring a new employee, this program can make it more affordable for you company.  For more information, please call 724-431-4040 or email tcwib@tricountywib.org.

Young Adult Worker Training

Young Adult Worker Training is a program where organizations that become approved worksites for our Young Adult Employment & Training Program get a temporary employee paid 100% by Career T.R.A.C.K.  We can provide you with a young adult (age 16 to 24) who is willing to work but may have a specific barrier to employment. These barriers typically include lack of employment history, lack of marketable skills, and/or a limited understanding of the world of work.  For more information, please call 724-431-4040 or email tcwib@tricountywib.org.

Finding Employees

Need to fill positions with qualified workers? We’re here to help you connect with skilled job seekers. Job-matching services, hiring and recruiting events, customized training assistance, and other business services are all offered at no cost to you.  Check out the PA CareerLink® in Butler, Kittanning, and Indiana.

Labor Market Information

Wondering what the average wage for workers in your type of business is in your county? Would you like to know what the unemployment rate was for your county last September? Cost of living? Your local career center can provide most labor market information, utilizing the Center for Workforce Information and Analysis (CWIA).

Labor market information is available at no cost to help businesses understand Pennsylvania’s workforce labor market conditions and trends. Businesses can access valuable information in the form of tables, narrative, charts, and graphs.

Federal Bonding Program

The Federal Bonding Program was created as an incentive to employers to hire at-risk, hard-to-place job seekers and may provide an employer with a business insurance policy that protects an employer against loss of money or property due to employee dishonesty. The bond is good for six months up to the amount of $5,000 at no cost. To request a Federal Bond, the employer must call the Bonding Coordinator on the new employee’s start date. A simple 10-15 minute telephone interview takes place. A confirmation letter is then sent to the company and McLaughlin Company, who issues the bond directly to the employer. For more information, please contact the State Bonding Coordinator at 717-783-3676 or 1-800-345-2555.

Work Opportunity Tax Credit

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal tax credit available to employers for hiring individuals from specific target groups who have consistently faced significant barriers to employment. WOTC joins other workforce programs that incentivize workplace diversity and facilitate access to good jobs for American workers. Employers claim the WOTC as a general business credit against their income taxes, and tax-exempt employers claim the WOTC against their payroll taxes.

WOTC helps targeted employees move from economic dependency to self-sufficiency while earning a steady income and becoming contributing taxpayers. Benefits to the hiring business include:

• The employer makes the final hiring decision on candidates presented.
• There is minimal paperwork to complete for claiming the tax credit.
• The employer can hire as many qualified candidates as the business needs.
• There are numerous qualified groups of candidates to hire, including veterans.