Bridges out of Proverty
Bridges out of Poverty
June 17, 2011
(Registration deadline – June 10
PennDot,
1st Floor Conference Room
255 Elm Street
Oil City, PA 16301
Cost: $25 (includes lunch and workbook)
“Now I understand the
people I’m serving.”
If you are looking to counter poverty in your community or its impact on people and businesses, explore the innovative concepts and training found in this workshop. This workshop will help your whole community build sustainable success.
Bridges Out of Poverty represents a powerful tool for change. Based in part on Dr. Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Bridges reaches out to the millions of service providers and businesses whose daily work connects them with the lives of people in poverty.
Bridges training contains case studies, detailed analysis, helpful charts and exercises, and specific solutions you and your organization can implement right now to:
- Redesign programs to better serve people in poverty
- Build skill sets for management to help guide employees
- Upgrade training for front-line staff such as receptionists, case workers, and
managers - Improve treatment outcomes in healthcare and behavioral healthcare
- Increase the likelihood of moving individuals from welfare to work
Bridges Out of Poverty represents a powerful tool for change and utilizes the Bridges Out of Poverty training manual which includes chapters on relationship building, mentoring, redesigning programs, and community collaboration.
Presenter for the program is Ray Benedict, who is passionate about working with troubled youth, adults and their families. Before retiring, Benedict, was Clinical Director in a residential Drug and Alcohol treatment facility. His resume includes work in residential care, probation, mental health, child welfare,, community based treatment and other settings.
Ray Benedict is a Certified Trainer for “Bridges Out of Poverty”. He also has his Certification for “Getting Ahead in a Just getting by World”. He is on the “Guiding Coalition for Circles in Mercer County”.
His qualifications also include undergraduate training in Psychology, Sociology and Criminology, Graduate
training in Counseling Psychology, and he is experienced as a private Counselor and he is a Consultant as well as a state and nationally certified counselor and trainer. In his private life, Mr. Benedict continues being active in his community and church.
2011-2012 Mercer County Professional Development Series
Begins October 19 , 2011. Download Flyer
The 2011-2012 Mercer County Professional Skills Development Series is made up of 12, two-hour monthly sessions. Courses meet on the third Wednesday of the month, from 9-11 a.m, October 19, 2011– September 19, 2012.
Sessions will be held at the Keystone Community Education Council’s office at 113 N. Diamond St., Mercer, PA 16137.
Attendance at 7 sessions required to receive Certificate. CEU’s available through Clarion University’s Division of Continuing Education at the rate of 1 CEU for every 10 hours of instruction time.
Programs in Series:
October 19 Results Oriented Meetings Gary Svetz
November 16 Creative Solutions for Everyday Problems Barry McCauliff
December 21 Adapt or Perish – Overcoming the Challenges of Change Pam Watkins
January 18, 2012 Dealing Effectively with the Toxic Employee/coworker Myrna Kuehn
February 15, 2012 Putting Your Best Foot Forward – Business Etiquette and Networking Skills Pam Watkins
March 21, 2012 Juggling your Workload without Dropping the Ball Hope Lineman
April 18, 2012 Bridging the Gap – Boomers to Generation Z Gary Svetz
May 16, 2012 Paying it Forward – The New Customer Service – Gary Svetz
June 20, 2012 Workplace Wellness – “A healthy, happy, employee is a productive employee” Betty McKisson Clarion Wellness Health Options
July 18, 2012 Promoting Your Organization using Social Media, Heather Mohnkern
August 15, 2012 “SYNERGIZE” Your Team Pam Watkins
September 19, 2012 Your Lips are Moving but are you Saying Anything? – Communication skills that make you heard. Barry McCauliff
2011-2012 Clarion/Venango County Professional Development Series
Program begins September 14, 2011 Flyer
This 24-Hour Certificate Program gives you the opportunity to develop or enhance the professional skills you need to succeed in the workplace.
The 2011-2012 Clarion and Venango Professional Skills Development Series is made up of 12, two-hour monthly sessions. Courses meet on the second Wednesday of the month,
9-11 a.m. from September 14, 2011– August 8, 2012.
Sessions will alternate between Clarion and Venango County locations.
Attendance at 7 sessions required to receive Certificate. CEU’s available through Clarion University’s Division of Continuing Education at the rate of 1 CEU for every 10 hours of instruction time. Oil City, PA: Frame Hall, Clarion University of PA’s Venango Campus
Where/When
*Second Wednesday of each month, September 14, 2011– August 8, 2012
*9:00 to 11:00 AM
*Venango County sessions will be held in Frame Hall, Venango Campus of Clarion University. Clarion sessions will be held at SMI (Structural Modules, Inc.) at 101 Southern Ave., Strattanville, PA 16258
Programs in the Series
Clarion/Venango
Venango – September 14 Results Oriented Meetings Gary Svetz
Clarion – October 12 Creative Solutions for Everyday Problems Barry McCauliff
Venango – November 9 Adapt or Perish – Overcoming the Challenges of Change Pam Watkins
Clarion – December 14 Dealing Effectively with the Toxic Employee/coworker Myrna Kuehn
Venango – January 11, 2012 Putting Your Best Foot Forward – Business Etiquette and Networking Skills Pam Watkins
Clarion – February 8, 2012 Juggling your Workload without Dropping the Ball Hope Lineman
Venango – March 14, 2012 Bridging the Gap – Boomers to Generation Z Gary Svetz
Clarion – April 11,2012 Paying it Forward – The New Customer Service Gary Svetz
Venango – May 9, 2012 Workplace Wellness – “A healthy, happy, employee is a productive employee” Betty McKisson, Clarion Wellness Health Options
Clarion -June 13, 2012 Promoting Your Organization using Social Media, Heather Mohnkern
Venango –July 11, 2012 “SYNERGIZE” Your Team, Pam Watkins
Clarion –August 8, 2012 Your Lips are Moving but are you Saying Anything? – Communication skills that make you heard. Barry McCauliff
Marcellus shale job seekers strike oil
Marcellus shale job seekers strike oil
The Derrick News, April 7, 2011
Marcellus job fair attracts hundreds from miles around
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Staff writer
An Oil and Gas Industry Job Fair designed to help match up would-be employees with oil, gas and related companies, particularly those involved in the sizzling Marcellus shale play, drew a crowd of hundreds Wednesday at the Cranberry Mall.
“We had nearly 500 sign up — and maybe one-third of the people who came through the door didn’t even sign up — from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,” said Lance Hummer, director of the Keystone Community Education Council that co-sponsored the industry-specific job fair.
“By about 5 p.m., I expect the number will top 1,000,” he added.
Scott Taylor of Franklin sits at one of the laptop computers set up for prospective employees to fill out applications with several Marcellus companies. Interest in the oil and gas fair, held in conjunction with the 13th annual Job Fair at the mall, was sparked by the ongoing creation of new jobs associated with the Marcellus shale gas activity thundering across Pennsylvania.
“We had people coming in Tuesday when we were setting up for the job fair,” said Debbie Eckelberger, new industry manager for the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry and Tourism, the co-sponsor of the job fair. “There is incredible interest in this industry and in those jobs. We had to ask the mall to turn down the heat because we had so many people in the room this morning.”
At mid-day Wednesday, the large mall shop space tapped to house the oil and gas job fair had scores of people chatting with industry representatives, reading printed materials provided by companies, filling out job applications and completing on-line questionnaires. Some 15 tables were manned by representatives from companies specializing in trucking, pumps, environmental technologies, well services, drilling, production and training. Several one-on-one job interviews were being held off to the side.
Walter Peterson III of Franklin talks with Minnie Fink, branch manager at Manpower in Oil City, about his qualifications and job placement possibilities during the job fair. “We have people interested in all those areas with the largest number eyeing the entry level jobs, the roustabout. It’s all about people wanting to get involved in this industry and they’re here to learn how to do that. I’ve talked with the employers and they are pleased with the quality of our job seekers,” said Deb Lutz, local industry manager for the Oil Region Alliance.
Mary Jo Anderson of Oil City (center) talks with David Breitmayer, a senior business consultant with Golder Associates of Pittsburgh, duringWednesday’s job fair at Cranberry Mall. In addition to the lineup of regional businesses that set up resource tables in the main hall of the mall, several Marcellus-related companies, including Golder, set up tables in a vacant store to meet prospective employees and take applications. Photos by Jerry Sowden While the bulk of the job seekers were from the immediate region, many others lived a considerable distance from Venango County.
“We have had people from other counties, including Erie and Clarion, as well as individuals who are visiting here,” Hummer said. “We had a guy from Toronto and another from Washington state who are visiting relatives here and came to check out job potentials because they want to come back to Pennsylvania. That’s real positive when you realize people want to return here.”
‘Some very good people’
A multi-state subcontractor for the oil and gas industry had accepted more than 50 job applications and resumes by early afternoon at the oil and gas job fair.
“Many of the applications are promising…There are some very good people coming through, said Debi Livoisi, human resources manager/northeast region, for Select Energy Services in Canonsburg,
The Texas-based company subcontracts a variety of services, including transportation, construction, water transfers and excavation, to oil and gas drilling firms. With a regional office in Canonsburg, Select Energy is doing business in several Pennsylvania communities and has gone from ”three employees a year ago to more than 500,” Livoisi said.
“We’re looking for laborers, CDL truck drivers, welders and heavy equipment operators,” she said. “And I have found, today, some heavy equipment operators here….A lot of people are saying ‘I want to get into this — how do I do it’ and we’re here to help them with that,” she said.
At a booth manned by an East/Shell Co. representative, a steady stream of people stopped to ask about job opportunities. The big turnout for the oil and gas job fair surprised him, noted the Shell employee who agreed with other company representatives’ assessment that applicants represented “a good cross-section and good quality.”
Interspersed in the oil and gas and related companies’ sign-up tables were education and training representatives, including the Venango Technology Center. Vo-Tech representative Carol Miller said the school offers a six-week course that results in truck driving certification, a necessary ingredient in drilling and production work that requires excavation hauling and water transport.
“We’re telling people up front that it’s not easy, mostly because of the long distances and hours, but a lot of young people have taken applications from us. And we’re telling them there are opportunities at local trucking companies,” Miller said.
Who’s looking for work
“We have had young and older, women and men, people in suits and others in heavy work clothes, come through these doors,” Lutz said. “It’s a real broad variety of people.”
Daniel Irwin, Brandon Thrasher and Luke Morgan, seniors at the Mercer County Vo-Tech school, spent time Wednesday afternoon filling in job applications.
“They tell us they want young workers with an interest in this industry. I’m in the diesel mechanic field and I like to work with my hands. This seems to fit,” Irwin said.
Morgan said he is aware of the current demand for oil and gas workers and even though he has no experience in the field, “you have to start somewhere and I adapt easily.”
“It would be a steady job. I think it is the right thing to do at the right time,” said the high school student.
New Bethlehem resident Mervin Wadding was searching for a skilled laborer’s position,
“I worked construction and at a cabinet company but I’ve been laid off more than I was working. There’s always a been a future in the gas industry,” he said, adding he has a “little experience” from working for a small Clarion County gas company. “
Wadding also intended to inquire at the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) booth about gas rights leasing.
“I have some shallow (gas) wells on my property and I want to know how to deal with leasing for deeper gas,” he said.
Laid off for the past year, truck driver Jim Keith of Titusville wants to go back to work.
“I’m a truck driver by trade — I’m 48 and have been driving for more than 20 years – and I’m looking at getting back into it,” Keith said. “I’d like to drive local because I’ve already done the over-the-road. The closer I can get to home, the better. I hope there is an opportunity here.”
Networking and online
Dozens of oil and gas companies accept applications only online and the oil and gas job fair organizers provided Internet sources and computers for the public.
In addition, the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce was promoting its networking capabilities to job seekers.
“Whether you are currently employed or not, you find jobs by networking. We have that through the Chamber and we have it with our young professionals (Future Leaders and Entrepreneurial Exchange, or FLEX) group. I’m encouraging these young people coming in the doors to get involved, to tap into our networks,” said Susan Williams, executive director.
Local agencies strut their stuff at Marcellus shale showcase in Franklin
Local agencies strut their stuff at Marcellus shale showcase in Franklin
February 10, 2011
The Derrick News, Oil City, PA
By JEREMY JOHNSON Staff writer
John Eckel, a safety training specialist at Miller Fall Protection in Franklin, led a tour through the training center at the Pittsburgh Road facility. The tour of the factory and training center started the day’s activities of the Keystone Community Education Council- and Oil Region Alliance-sponsored Marcellus showcase that focused in on future educational and training needs in gas and oil production. Photos by Jerry Sowden As the Marcellus shale gas play spreads throughout the state, the question industry leaders are asking potential local partners is “What can you do for us?”
Those answers were provided Wednesday morning during a Marcellus education and training opportunity forum held at Miller Fall Protection on 15th Street in Franklin.
Local companies and organizations spoke to the group of nearly 50 people — half of whom are involved in the Marcellus industry — about equipment, training, services and skills that the region might be able to provide established and upcoming Marcellus companies.
eb Lutz, local industry manager for the Oil Region Alliance, gives a brief introduction to work of the Alliance and the task of bringing together all the players to let them know who’s who and who does what in regional Marcellus shale activity. “What we wanted to do with this (forum) is showcase what is available in the northwest part of the state when it comes to training programs and other economic development-type programs,” said Lance Hummer, executive director of the Keystone Community
Education Council. “(This shows) how different agencies are coming together to try to provide the training needs that we’ve been told are wanted and needed in the industry right now.”
Among the agencies showcasing their wares Wednesday were the Keystone Council, the Oil Region Alliance, the Venango Technology Center, CareerLink and Transport Tech.
Becky Lauer, a service manager at Miller Fall Protection in Franklin, talks about how the company has tailored its safety training for specific applications, including training for wind turbine maintenance workers. A wind turbine training simulation platform, behind Lauer, is one of several job specific safety training platforms inside the facility. By Jerry Sowden “We all have our piece to offer (in the Marcellus industry) but we can’t do it alone,” said Sam Wagner, director of the local Career- Link branches. “We have to work in collaboration with the other area entities.”
However, while each entity works together, each has their own set of skills, training or services to provide.
The hosts of Wednesday’s forum — Miller Fall Protection — began the day with a tour of their training facilities, where they make safety harnesses and additional safety gear.
Although the company has yet to start working directly with Marcellus drilling, they feel they have the safety training experience that many of those companies will need down the road, said safety trainer John Eckel.
“We’re committed to safety,” Eckel said. “If there’s an industry need for something, we’re willing to put the investment in … If we have to do some degree of customization … we’ll be able to handle that.”
“We feel that this facility will be an integral part of the safety training that’s necessary for the oil and gas companies,” said Deb Lutz, local industry manager of the Oil Alliance. “I think … what they have to offer here is state-ofthe art, and more than exceeds industry needs.”
The tour was followed by presentations from Vicki Gonnelly, director of student services for the Community College of Allegheny County; Travis Crate, welding instructor for Venango Technology Center; and Gary Shaw, director of operations for Transport Tech.
Although each presenter offered a specific set of skills that they are able to provide the Marcellus industry, each was equally quick to note that those skills can be easily adapted to fit the industry needs.
“We pick and choose our programs, so we want you to tell us what you want,” Gonnelly said. “We won’t know until you tell us what you need.”
Shaw said the same applies to all aspects of Marcellus training. For instance, he said Transport Tech has revised their commercial driver’s license program to fit the typical, offroad needs of Marcellus drilling companies.
“(Marcellus) requires a different kind of skill and a different characteristic in drivers,” he said. “Drivers are not just sitting in a truck 18 hours a day, they’re outside of the truck. They’re working hands-on and have physical requirements.”
David Logan, of Target Drilling in Green County, said the forum was worth the two-and-a-half hour drive.
“We’re just breaking into the Marcellus industry and we just wanted to get some more information on safety training as it relates to Marcellus,” Logan said. “That’s a huge reason why I’m here.”
Tech center to offer pipe welding with shale in mind
Tech center to offer pipe welding with shale in mind
The Marcellus Shale gas play has created a fervor throughout the region regarding its potential for job opportunities.
As a result, colleges and vocational institutes haven’t wasted a second jumping on board the Marcellus Shale bandwagon, and are already beginning development of programs and initiatives designed to prepare the region for future employment opportunities.
In November, one such program — certified pipe welding — will be offered at the Venango Technology Center in Oil City.
“We’ve been working for several months to get this program organized,” said Lance Hummer, executive director of the Keystone Community Education Council.
Hummer said advertisements for pipe welding jobs are already cropping up in regional newspapers, and that there was no time like the present to become part of the rush.
“When you look at the needs of the Marcellus Shale industry, a new infrastructure is going to be needed,” Hummer said. “Bigger pipelines are going to need to be put in. This is one of the areas that if people have training and experience, it is going to give them exceptional opportunities because of that need.”
The new pipe-welding course will be held at the technology center but will be administered through the Community College of Allegheny County. The three-tiered, four-week, night courses will provide students the certification standards required by the American Petroleum Institute, the American Welding Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Students will additionally receive three college credits per each course (nine total credits).
Hummer said intensive planning for the pipe welding course and other future programs became a priority after substantial Marcellus Shale interest was seen in June, when 300-plus people gathered at vo-tech for one of the first public discussions in the region regarding the industry.
“That’s when we began planning and working with the college,” Hummer said.
Hummer said that it only made sense to have the course up and running following the even more substantial Marcellus Shale Showcase at Cross Creek Resort, held Oct. 7 and 8 at Cross Creek Resort. Nearly 1,000 people attended the two-day event.
Keystone Council’s student advisor for community college programs, Vicki Gonnelly, said the courses will be taught by teacher Travis Crate, who already teaches standard welding to students at the technology center. She said Crate went so far as to contact businesses within the industry to ensure that students get the proper training.
“I still haven’t gotten all the answers regarding what codes (employers) are looking for, but we’re going to teach … both high-pressure and lowpressure welding,” Crate said.
He added that students of the classes will have to be previously certified in structural plate welding before signing up for the advanced courses.
“We’re not starting out with beginners,” Crate said. “You have to already be a good welder to jump into pipe welding because it takes more versatility and skill.”
School districts, too, are staying abreast of Marcellus Shale opportunities.
At the Valley Grove School District board meeting Monday in Sugarcreek, board president Cindy Swendsen praised the effort of local educators implementing industryrelated programs.
“I think it’s exciting to see these new steps taken to implement Marcellus Shale-related skills into the curriculum,” Swendsen said.
For that to continue to happen, Gonnelly said it will take continued cooperative efforts throughout the region.
“It’s nice to have everybody working together to get programs started that we need,” Gonnelly said.
Classes will be offered evenings beginning in November. For more information on classes contact Gonnelly at (814) 678-5069.
Showcase put us on the map
Joe Esposito, a sales representative from Hunter Truck Sales and Service of Eau Claire, talks to Carol Miller, adult services coordinator at Venango Technology Center, in front of a long line of trucks that were on display at Cross Creek Resort during this week’s Marcellus Shale showcase. By Jerry Sowden The two-day Northwestern Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Showcase at Cross Creek Resort had several high points, but to Deb Lutz’s mind, the chief rah-rah result was simple: “The showcase put us on the map.”
“We got out the message that northwestern Pennsylvania is a viable area for Marcellus Shale activity and everything that goes with that,” said Lutz, local industry manager for one of the showcase sponsors, the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry and Tourism. “We have some unique opportunities here we want to capitalize on. And, we helped educate people about what this is all about and what the potential is for leases, jobs, services and supplies.”
Joining with the Oil Region Alliance to sponsor the forum was the Keystone Community Education Council of Oil City, a leading agency that helped fund and coordinate the event.
Lance Hummer, the director, said he knew the showcase was successful because of comments made to him the day after on Friday.
“I know it went real well because I’ve never received calls after the fact telling us how informative and meaningful a program was,” said Hummer. “ I’ve done a lot of programs but to have people you don’t even know call and say it gave them some inspiration and made them look forward to something in this northwestern area, that’s very different. My reply was ‘my staff is incredible.’”
By the numbers, the showcase, the first of its kind in northwest Pennsylvania, was a popular draw. More than 80 industry-related exhibitors and an estimated 1,000 people participated in the two-day public event.
“We got very positive feedback from people who attended,” said Debbie Eckelberger, new industry manager for the Oil Region Alliance. “I expect we’ll get a feel, too, about where they came from because we asked them to write down their comments. I think we drew from a wide area.”
The first day focused on education and training needed for individuals aspiring to work in the industry, in keen need of employees and various services. Lutz said teachers and school administrators who attended the session are “very interested in getting this out to the students.”
There will also be emphasis in continuing Marcellus Shale-related efforts to identify and make available the training and education necessary to work in the industry.
On the second day, the emphasis shifted to landowners and mineral rights owners who are the forefront of the Marcellus Shale sizzle as it moves into the northwest Pennsylvania sector. Participants were intent on obtaining information on mineral leases, environmental concerns, regulations and more, said Eckelberger.
“Leasing is a huge issue,” she said. “I think we gave them good information.”
More to come
John Phillips, senior vice president of the Oil Region Alliance, said the Marcellus showcase may be just the first of more public forums focused on the burgeoning natural gas industry.
“Our whole goal was to bring accurate, high-quality information to the public,” he said. “This will be a continuing process so the showcase won’t be the only event. Actually, it even raised more questions that we need to answer.”
The next step
With the initial outlay of information, the Oil Region Alliance, in its role as the oil region’s economic development agency, is now primed to more keenly focus its attention directly on the Marcellus Shale drilling and production industry end of the equation.
“From an economic development standpoint, the next step is to develop a data base of companies that have services and or products they can provide to drilling companies so that when they make their way into the county, we will be the go-to agency,” said Randy Seitz, president of the Oil Region Alliance. “For example, a company tells us it needs pipe or engineering services or propane. We will be the resource that directs them to a company here.”
At the same time, Seitz’s agency intends to assist local firms to “ramp up” their potential in the Marcellus Shale industry while, at the same time, work to lure more companies here.
“We had a vendor who produces industrial clothing. We talked to them about having a distribution point closer to this area. That’s the short term. But we need the longterm focus, too, because the drilling will someday be gone. How do we get those companies that use natural gas in their processes? We capitalize on offering large quantities at a cheap price – that’s what we’re going after,” said Seitz.
The first conversations, though, will be with the drilling companies themselves, said Seitz.
“That’s who we need to talk to — we want to be the catalyst that pushes them over here and gets them using our people, our suppliers, our services,” said Seitz.
