Do you know about our CareerLink offices in Erie? Do you know where it is? (Hint: Lovell Place, 1309 French Street, 814-455-9966) Do you use its services? Ten providers (government, for-profit and nonprofit) work together in one facility to help both job seekers and employers. The Erie CareerLink serves over 2,500 people every month. More employers are using its services every quarter. And its quality is steadily improving.

Want to get excited? Look at the amazing Job Center complex in Dayton, OH - the largest one-stop employment and training center in the United States housing forty-seven organizations in an 8.5 acre facility - with all the things folks need to prepare for, secure and retain a good-paying job, all under one roof. Here’s a model that works. We can do this if we want to.

Want to get frustrated? No, neither do I. But just as many businesses cut advertising when they need it the most in an economic downturn, our federal government is cutting workforce training funds just when we need them the most. Why?

Here’s what it means to northwest PA (and based on our population, about 53% of this is Erie County):

• We’ve already lost $150,000 in Workforce Investment Act funds. We’re scheduled to lose another $750,000 July 1.
• Our dislocated worker funds have decreased by 20.5%.
• Our adult training funds are down 15%.
• Our youth training funds are cut 17%
• Our Temporary Assistance to Needy Families(TANF) funds averaged a 3% cut.

Overall, we’ve experienced a 15% cut. And unfortunately, this is just the beginning. Want to learn more? Visit the Northwest PA Workforce Investment Board site.

Do you care? If so, contact your elected federal and state representatives now.

Here’s what we need to do in Erie County:

• Improve our CareerLink services, don’t cut our Workforce Investment programs.
• Build a world-class community college. Provide training that all of our citizens can afford.
• Provide the skilled workers that our employers need now.

If I could do one thing right now, I would wave a magic wand and have every person in Erie county say “We need a community college!”

There are so many people who matter among us - every senior citizen on a fixed income, every mother and baby, every veteran returning from the mid-east - every person counts. And if I could help each of them live a peaceful, bountiful life, I would.

But what need to do most is give everyone the opportunity to fulfill their life dreams, to have the skills they need to secure a full time job with a livable wage and benefits. We have the jobs here. We have the people needing the income. We’re just not matching them yet. And a community college can help - a lot.

Want to learn more? Read the informational website we’ve created about the proposed community college.