WEDnet GFT Program Reaches Ten-Year Milestone

In April 2009, the Workforce & Economic Development of Pennsylvania (WEDnetPA) Guaranteed Free Training (GFT) Program will celebrate its 10th anniversary.  Over the last ten years, this program has proven to be the premier incumbent worker training program that Pennsylvania has to offer.  And the organization has some impressive numbers to prove it, I think you will agree. Through the WEDnet GFT program over the last ten years:

• 761,461 Pennsylvania workers were trained;
• 12,948 Pennsylvania companies were served;
• 18,456 contracts were completed;
• $156,121,315 dollars were invoiced for training.

Over the past five years, since we first started gathering the data, over 7,200 different training providers were used, maintaining and supporting the founding “employer-driven” premise of the GFT program.

To celebrate this milestone, WEDnetPa’s professional development conference will be held in Harrisburg on April 27 and 28, 2009. Events will include a poster session highlighting 20 participant companies in the capital building rotunda and visits with legislators. Techo-Bloc, Inc., a Pen Argyl-based company and NCC client has been chosen as one of the highlighted companies.   

Northampton Community College’s Business Training Resources Department has the pleasure to serve as the administrator of the WEDnet GFT program. Over the last ten years, NCC has experienced similar success in providing Lehigh Valley businesses and industry the opportunities to access these resources to equip workforces with the training they need to compete in today’s marketplace. To date, NCC has administered 750 GFT contracts which in turned provided training for 38,884 employees in the Lehigh Valley costing nearly $7 million.

WEDnetPa Guaranteed Free Training Program is one of a series of initiatives designed to restructure Pennsylvania’s workforce development system in order to address specific goals critical to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Governor Rendell’s plan for resource integration, Job Ready PA, focuses on strengthening Pennsylvania’s industries and helping to create industry-led strategies for training and growth.

The Business Training Resources Department at Northampton Community College prides itself in its ability to access resources to serve local industry and remain an active partner in assisting employers by providing the most current information about the integrated efforts and resources available in the Commonwealth. 

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