Pa. Awards Grant for $5.6M Training Center in Sharon
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Gov. Tom Corbett announced a $2.6 million Economic Growth Initiative Grant Thursday to fund the establishment of a learning center focused on industry-specific job training for unemployed and underemployed adults in the health-care industry, as well as cultural and learning opportunities for teenage youth in public schools in the Sharon area.
The $5.6 million project is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, according to Corbett’s office, and developed by the Pittsburgh-based Manchester Bidwell Corp., which says it will match the state grant. In addition to the foundation, the project is supported by Penn-Northwest Development Corp., the Shenango Valley and Lawrence County chambers of commerce.
“The Sharon Center for Arts & Technology will provide our working families with opportunity and hope for generations to come," Corbett said in a prepared statement.
“We are grateful to the Corbett administration for the commitment of $2.6 million, which will be locally matched and initiate a world class arts and technology center in Sharon,” said William E. Strickland Jr., president and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corp. “The center will provide education and job training for the most disadvantaged and provide career ladder opportunities and college accessibility for many students in need. Work will begin immediately to get the development process underway.”
Manchester Bidwell is a nonprofit corporation based in the Manchester district of Pittsburgh. Its origins date to 1968 when Strickland founded the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild to bring arts education and mentorship to inner-city youth in his neighborbood. In 1972 he assumed leadership of a nearby trade school. Today the Bidwell Training Center is a nationally accredited and state licensed adult career training school that offers programs in diverse fields including medical and horticulture.
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Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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