Key state Senate committee chairmen tour campus

Published 05.21.2021

News

Sens. Martin (left) and Yaw get a closer look at the Cambridge Vacuum Engineering electron beam welder, a groundbreaking addition to the college's Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center.Sandra L. Richmond (center right), dean of nursing and health sciences, and program director Scott A. Geist (in background) talk with Sen. Argall (right) and others in the surgical technology lab.During a summery outing on a beautiful campus, Loni N. Kline, vice president for college relations, pauses with the group outside the recently dedicated Larry A. Ward Machining Technologies Center.Richard K. Hendricks (second from left), instructor of machine tool technologies/automated manufacturing, shares his insights in College Avenue Labs. Gathered around a bin of brass wire are (from left) Martin; Bradley M. Webb, dean of engineering technologies; Yaw; and Zack Moore, vice president for government and community relations at Penn State.Art L. Counterman (second from right), instructor of electrical technologies and occupations, leads Argall (right) and the group through the Electrical Technologies Center. Among those taking part was recent graduate Ethan M. McKenzie (to Counterman's right), soon to begin serving a fellowship in the College Relations Office.Two state senators visited Penn College on Friday, getting a firsthand look at the institution's effectiveness in preparing students for careers readily and repeatedly shown to be "essential." Sens. Scott Martin, R-Strasburg, who heads the Senate Education Committee, and Dave Argall, R-Pottsville, chair of the Senate State Government Committee, toured a variety of instructional labs in the college's three academic schools: brewing and fermentation science, collision repair/automotive restoration, culinary arts and hospitality, electrical technology, nursing, surgical technology and dental hygiene, plastics and polymer technology, and welding and metal fabrication. They also learned how Workforce Development at Penn College helps close the skills gap, most notably through its apprenticeship programs, and enjoyed lunch at Le Jeune Chef Restaurant. The legislators and their staff were invited by state Sen. Gene Yaw, who chairs the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. The Loyalsock Township Republican has also been a member of the college's board of directors since 2009, serving as its chairman for the past eight years.