Chevron Continues Support for Penn College Education, Training

Published 11.23.2016

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Through its Workforce Development & Continuing Education office, Pennsylvania College of Technology has received $416,685 from Chevron U.S.A. to support scholarships, curriculum development and ongoing outreach in energy and manufacturing.

Penn College will continue the promising practices first started through ShaleNET, a U.S. Department of Labor grant aimed at providing training and education in these important industry sectors.



Chevron continues investmentShaleNET creates a pathway with multiple entryways into training for energy and related manufacturing careers. The model features training in entry-level, certificate, associate-degree and bachelor-degree programs.

With an original investment surpassing $20 million from the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, ShaleNET leveraged 100 percent of the funds to build a sustainable workforce-development training program with the collaboration and in-kind support of industry, educators and the public workforce system. Chevron has supported the program since its inception.

Industry partnerships are critical to sustaining the ShaleNET program. Chevron’s Appalachia Partnership Initiative is designed to address education and workforce development in 27 counties across southwestern Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio. It was launched in coordination with founding ShaleNET partners the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and RAND Corp.

The initiative aims to improve education and technical training to meet the needs of growing regional energy and manufacturing industries through the development of new programs and expansion of existing efforts.

“The continued investment Chevron makes toward ensuring that our programs are sustainable is remarkable,” said Tracy L. Brundage, vice president for workforce development at Penn College. “The funding shows a deep commitment toward training the existing workforce, those looking to enter the energy and manufacturing sectors, and students who are enrolled in the college’s mechatronics engineering technology associate-degree major, with the end goal of providing employers a well-trained workforce.”

To date, 89 individuals at Penn College have benefited from credit and noncredit scholarships awarded by Chevron.

For more about WDCE, call 570-327-4775.

For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education and workforce development, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.