Penn State Berks to Get Grants for Two Courses
By Reading Eagle, Pa.
May 31–Penn State Berks will receive $341,233 for a training program to encourage students to enter the field of engineering, Wall Street West announced Friday.
The local campus is one of several colleges and universities sharing $6.5 million in workforce development grants.
The local program is called Project Lead the Way,
One high school will be chosen to oversee the program’s pre-engineering courses and will receive both educational and administrative support to develop the initiative.
Penn State Berks will also receive $55,377 to develop a Web-based program to teach high school and college students and workers about information security.
Training programs will be customized and targeted for specific needs and student levels.
Matt Connell, executive committee chairman of Wall Street West, said the grants are meant to turn northeast Pennsylvania from a coal, steel and heavy manufacturing economy to a knowledgebased economy.
“Funds are being invested to prepare people to work in that knowledge economy, not only in financial services but in logistics, transportation, health care and computer and technology fields,” he said. “We’re investing the funds to provide family-sustaining wages in manufacturing as well as the knowledge-based economy.”
Wall Street West is a partnership formed to provide financial companies a place to back up data during a crisis like the attack of Sept. 11, 2001.
The partnership is made up of economic development agencies, technology investment groups, workforce development organizations, education and research institutions and private companies.
It is funded by $39 million in federal grants.
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