NEPIRC launches Manufacturing Education Guide for area students, teachers

WILKES-BARRE — Eric Joseph Esoda, president and CEO at the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center, on Tuesday said the agency is always looking for ways to promote advanced manufacturing programs to area teachers and students.

Esoda and NEPIRC recently launched the Northeastern Pennsylvania Manufacturing Education Guide — a publication that promotes the abundance of certificate and degree programs available locally to students interested in pursuing a career in manufacturing.

Esoda said the guide complements the work being done by NEPIRC’s Manufacturing Ambassador Dream Team program.

The Manufacturing Education Guide will be distributed to high school students through NEPIRC’s Manufacturing Ambassador Dream Team presentations in classrooms and at career fairs, as well as digitally through NEPIRC’s social media channels and website.

“We developed this guide to reinforce our message to high school students that so many of the everyday products they and their families use and have in their homes are manufactured right here in northeastern Pennsylvania,” Esoda said. “The guide is expected to reach thousands of students and their parents this school year, connecting students with great manufacturing career opportunities while promoting high-quality, affordable education from these institutions.”

Susan Spry, associate vice president of academic affairs at Luzerne County Community College, immediately saw the value in participating in the guide.

“We’ve been a longtime partner with NEPIRC on multiple initiatives,” Spry said. “We think the Manufacturing Education Guide and the Dream Team program are so impactful. The ambassadors speak with students, parents and teachers about the very high-tech activities they do in their work, inspiring students to consider careers in manufacturing, starting with programs of study like the ones we offer that prepare students for the manufacturing jobs of today and tomorrow.”

Another college that participated in the guidebook is Lackawanna College, whose Continuing Education Department has been engaged with manufacturers from throughout the region for many years.

“NEPIRC partners with more than one thousand manufacturers in the region,” said Bill Schoen, director of continuing education at Lackawanna College. “By partnering with NEPIRC on the guide and other initiatives, we are in essence partnering with those thousand-plus manufacturers.”

Currently, the guide includes information for manufacturing career programs offered by Johnson College, Keystone College, Lackawanna College, Luzerne County Community College, and The Pennsylvania College of Technology and invites additional institutions to participate by promoting their advanced manufacturing programs.

The guide also contains a list of 70 area manufacturers that offer tuition reimbursement to their employees and a direct link to NEPIRC’s Job Board featuring approximately 100 local manufacturers who are immediately hiring for various positions.

More details regarding NEPIRC’s Manufacturing Education Guide, and the Manufacturing Ambassador Dream Team program can be found on the NEPIRC Dream Team website, www.NEPIRCDreamTeam.com, or by emailing Dream Team project coordinator Jenelle Osborne at Jenelle@NEPIRC.com.