Grants Support Program for Plastics Manufacturers

Through grants from the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp., Plastics SourceNet administered through the Plastics Manufacturing Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology is administering training and career-awareness activities to benefit central Pennsylvania plastics manufacturers and their employees.

Plastics SourceNet received two grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry through CPWDC.

A $12,200 grant funds the Central Pennsylvania Plastics Industry Partnership, a coalition of plastics manufacturers from Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties that work together to strategize and improve the industry's collective competitiveness.

A $123,820 Plastics Industry Training grant provides further funding to offer training for the Plastics Industry Partnership member companies and their employees.

Activities funded through the grants include a Recycling Seminar and company audits designed to educate plastics manufacturers on how to use recycling to potentially lower operational costs. Seven of the 20 companies that attended a March 17 seminar at Penn College have expressed interest in working with the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center to audit their operations and determine how an industrial recycling program could save money and reduce waste.

To help alleviate a shortage of qualified employees, Plastics SourceNet and the Plastics Industry Partnership also will support "The Plastics Experience," an annual Penn College event during which about 100 high school students and their teachers are invited to the college for a day of learning and fun in the college's plastics department.

The high school students participate in hands-on activities in the college's plastics labs, interact with college students and participate in a competition among high schools focused on the use of thermoformed plastic sheet for radio-controlled race-car bodies. The event is designed to increase awareness of careers in the plastics industry, helping to feed the pipeline of qualified employees for area plastics companies.

The Plastics Manufacturing Center also organized and facilitated training logistics for plastics-specific training courses requested by partnership members for their employees.

Established and financed by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Plastics SourceNet is a full-service resource supporting Pennsylvania's manufacturing competitiveness in the plastics industry.

The resources of Plastics SourceNet consist of a network of consultants, universities, colleges and other independent resources coordinated through the efforts of the Plastics Manufacturing Center at Penn College.

To learn more about Plastics SourceNet, call toll-free 877-PEN-PLAS (877-736-7527), email or visit on the Web .

Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp. is the local Workforce Investment Board for the Central Pennsylvania Region.

For more about Penn College, visit online , email or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

For more information about grant-funding opportunities, faculty and staff may contact the Grants and Contracts Office at ext. 7562 or through its Web portal.