Meet WEDnetPA, the state program helping companies train the workforce to meet their specific needs

You’re a decision maker interested in expanding your company’s talent pipeline. You think a workforce development program might be the way to go. Now, how to fund it? And where to find the workers to participate?

Here’s a resource you might not be familiar with: The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) WEDnetPA program is assisting companies and organizations with workforce development training during the pandemic.

Gwen Ross, DCED’s director of workforce development initiatives, said such training is something her department holds as a top priority.

“It’s changed over years as employer needs changed as well,” she told Technical.ly. “This program has the company in mind, and the needs it has to use the workforce to meet its demands.”

Thomas Venditti is the state director of WEDnetPA and has worked closely with the program’s network of partners across the commonwealth that includes system universities and local community colleges such as the Community College of Philadelphia.

In order to access the program, companies that meet eligibility requirements can reach out to one of 27 partners, Venditti said. Partners will then assist companies with solving particular issues in training — for instance, boosting skills related computer operations, software implementation, manufacturing and STEM. After a training program is created, it will be submitted for approval by the state. Once determined eligible, approved companies can access grants ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars.

With that grant funding, companies can choose any training provider to complete their training, which can be online, in-person or a hybrid model. In certain cases where companies use their own employees to conduct the training, the state will offset the costs of their work. Once training is complete, the state will use the grant to reimburse each company for their training.

According to Venditti, the maximum amount that any one employee can receive is $2,000 and the maximum amount that any company can receive is $100,000. On average, Venditti said companies receive between $6,000 and $8,000 in grants.

“It’s rare in today’s circumstances that any company will get $100,000,” he said. “We have 700 companies with contracts and there is $5 million [between] those companies with 200 more companies in the pipeline. The demand is significantly outweighs the supply, if you will. We want to help as many companies as we can.”

As one local example: In 2017, Paoli-based ecommerce company Turn5 received $45,000 through WEDnetPA for employee training.

The state budget passed earlier this year covered July through November and funding for WEDnetPA is expected to run out by the end of November. Venditti is hopeful that current budget negotiations for December 2020 through June 2021’s fiscal budget will allow for additional funding to help businesses. In the event that happens, he recommends that companies continue applying for grants.

Venditti said that one of the biggest changes in WEDnetPA training during the pandemic has been the virtual formatting of training programs, which have seen an uptick in requests. Before, online training companies offered prepackaged online content that was licensed for usage during specific windows of time. Now, training is happening via platforms like Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, with instructors teaching classes live.

Ross believes workforce development will be increasingly important as the economy recovers after the pandemic. Making sure workers that have been dislocated because of the pandemic is just as important as making sure incumbent workers are up to date on technology, and WEDnetPA will help in those efforts. She also maintains hope that the state budget will be level funded for her department to continue supporting WEDnetPA.

This editorial article is a part of Workforce Development Month of Technical.ly's editorial calendar.