A grant used for new 3D printers is helping Butler vo-tech’s students prepare for the workforce
BUTLER TWP — Pennsylvania American Water wants to strengthen the local workforce amid potential worker shortages.
This is why the company has decided to give out multiple $25,000 grants to educational institutions, including the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School.
Justin Ladner, president of Pennsylvania American Water, toured the vo-tech facilities Wednesday, March 12 to see how the vo-tech was working to prepare its students for the workforce.
The grants come from the American Water Charitable Foundation’s Keep Communities Flowing Grant Program.
Ladner said Wednesday the foundation’s three pillars are water, people and communities.
“One of our key pillars is community. And you think about the community workforce, readiness is a key focal point,” Ladner said. “This is a quintessential example of investing in the communities that we serve.”
The foundation’s $25,000 workforce readiness grant was used for the vo-tech to get multiple new 3D printers, as well as an optical comparator.
“This funding will enhance our training and education efforts, equipping our students with essential skills for their futures. We look forward to the positive impact this grant will have on our community and students,” Regina Hiler, vo-tech’s executive director, said in a news release from Pennsylvania American Water.
Pennsylvania American Water said the water industry specifically is facing a worker shortage, along with many water and wastewater treatment plant operators and related professionals approaching retirement age. The water utility said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 10,300 openings for these positions will need to be filled each year to replace employees who will soon retire or change occupations.
The water utility also said the shortage in workers poses significant challenges, especially for small and rural municipalities that rely heavily on skilled operators to maintain essential public services. This includes not just the water treatment industry, but others as well.
“We know other companies in the communities we serve may have similar challenges to face in the coming years. For that reason, the American Water Charitable Foundation and Pennsylvania American Water are glad to proactively address financial support of schools that are educating our next generation of leaders,” the release said.
During the tour, Hiler showed Ladner and other representatives from Pennsylvania American Water the vo-tech’s 3D printing lab, as well as its carpentry, HVAC, computer networking, heavy equipment repair and welding labs to highlight the skills students are learning.
“The importance of developing a skilled workforce cannot be understated,” Ladner said in the company’s news release.
David Hockenberry, a machine technology instructor at vo-tech, said during the tour that the grant was huge for his students. He emphasized the need for more machinists that can work with metal and other materials in the workforce. He said he regularly sees students that have six or seven job offers right when they graduate and move into the workforce
He said this is especially important for Butler, where two of the biggest employers — Oberg Industries and Penn United Technologies — are consistently in contact with vo-tech.
“It’s going to be huge for us. We basically have one of the nicest printing labs around right now,” Hockenberry said. “The things they can print, students are making action figures and things difficult to draw. When they graduate and go into industry, they make things shaped more like circles and squares, so they’re becoming really skilled — big deal to have grant money to expand opportunities
Hockenberry took pride in saying that the vo-tech now has the nicest 3D printing lab in Butler County, with the exception of maybe Butler County Community College.
