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'Wall Street West' Gets Boost to Train Workers in Financial Services

Posted on: Thursday, 2 February 2006, 00:00 CST

By Kurt Blumenau, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

Feb. 2--A nine-county region centered on the Lehigh Valley will receive $15 million in federal job-training funds aimed at preparing workers for a prospective "Wall Street West" financial services industry.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao announced the grant Wednesday, as part of a $195 million round of funding to pay for job training in 13 U.S. regions.

The region receiving money in eastern Pennsylvania stretches from Scranton to Reading, and includes Lehigh and Northampton counties, officials said.

The Lehigh Valley will receive about $3 million of the money, according to Vito Gallo, Lehigh University's assistant vice president for state government relations and an official involved in the grant application.

The money, which is spread evenly over three years, is intended to help teach high-tech skills -- including ones that will attract the attention of New York City financial services firms.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, those companies have paid new attention to how, and where, they back up their data. Some Lehigh Valley officials are promoting this area as a destination for financial data warehouses and, possibly, offices as well. The Valley is within commuting distance of New York, but, unlike suburban New Jersey, is on a separate electricity grid. Secondary offices should not depend on the same electric and telecommunications systems as the headquarters, federal agencies have advised.

The Valley needs to overcome shortcomings in both its technology and its work force before it can make a strong pitch to Wall Street, which is home to many large financial services firms. Wednesday's grant should help solve the latter problem, officials said.

"You've got to have the programs in place" to start the process of attracting companies, said Ray Suhocki, chief executive officer of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.

Suhocki's group was one of several organizations that helped compile the Lehigh Valley's portion of the grant application. Others involved included Lehigh University, the regional Workforce Investment Board and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeast Pennsylvania.

The job-training funds are not restricted to "Wall Street West" initiatives. The money can be used to train workers in biotech or other high-tech fields, according to Suhocki and Steve Melnick, Keystone Innovation Zone manager for LVEDC. And it can help Lehigh graduate students turn promising ideas into companies, Gallo said.

The development group and Lehigh are promoting high-tech growth in south Bethlehem, which has been designated an innovation zone by the state. The innovation zone program encourages entrepreneurs to start businesses, in part by exempting their companies from some taxes.

Counties included in the grant are Berks, Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike and Wayne.

Nancy Dischinat, executive director of the Workforce Investment Board in Allentown, could not be reached for comment. Dischinat's organization runs several area job-training centers.

Ninety-seven regions applied for grants, according to the Department of Labor. The applications were submitted by governors, who could file for up to three projects apiece.

"These grants are built around the concept that talent development, human resources talent development, is critical to economic development," Chao said.

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Source: The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania

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