Logistics and Transportation

The Workforce1 Transportation Career Center was launched by the New York City Department of Small Business Services in June 2008.

Over three years, the Woonsocket Employment Network will design and implement a regional workforce development system that: responds to the unmet workforce needs of employers; engages through training and supportive services the untapped potential of low-income, low-skilled job seekers; and promotes economic self-sufficiency through education and training opportunities for new and incumbent workers.

The goal of this partnership is to ensure that the logistics and transportation cluster is prepared to take advantage of the business development opportunities that arise as the result of the expansion of the intrastate and interstate transportation system in the Southern Alleghenies Workforce Investment Area.

This partnership plans to focus on growing career ladders, educating and training the workforce, and enabling individuals to take advantage of the growing demand for logistics and transportation workers.

This partnership seeks to develop collaboration among logistics and transportation employers, workforce investment agencies, local economic development groups, and educational institutions. The purposes of forming the partnership are to formalize the workforce development process, better align the regional resources and services, and more completely meet the specific needs of the industry cluster. The partnership will provide businesses with training opportunities based upon the skill needs identified by members.

This partnership is comprised of three local WIBs and four logistics and transportation firms working together with educational institutions to address the growing human resource challenges of the logistics and transportation cluster, where over 11,000 workers in this 14-county region are employed. The primary goal is to better prepare entry-level and incumbent workers with enhanced technical and knowledge-based skills, thereby increasing retention while promoting career ladder opportunities within the industry.

This partnership has as its overarching goal to support the growth and the development of the logistics and transportation industry in Southwestern Pennsylvania by helping create and retain a quality workforce. This is to be done by helping businesses generate jobs, helping qualified workers secure these jobs, and helping incumbent workers advance through career ladders from training developed by defined industry needs.

To meet the demand for a skilled workforce in this growing industry cluster, the South Central WIB organized a partnership of the local chapters of APICS, the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, the United Brotherhood of Teamsters, the community college, and numerous universities.

The partnership helps companies aggregate training and educational needs and build effective linkages between the business, education and workforce community in order that workers can better understand engineering technology, transportation issues, public safety/security, physics, and mechanics.

The mission of the partnership is to give the East Central logistics and transportation industry access to the workforce training programs identified as vital to preserving its regional success and to make the region more conducive to attracting and retaining the top quality companies, skilled workers, and independent drivers needed for future industry growth and economic success.

The partnership will assess the immediate training needs of this cluster, how they are being met with available resources, and where there are gaps.