Robots that work with humans, rather than replacing them? Young people are lining up to join PA’s Precision Cobotics

This story was reported with support from Pennsylvania Gets It Done and the BusinessPA team at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Their work connecting businesses to financial resources, strategic partnerships and tailored guidance aims to build a stronger, more successful Pennsylvania economy.

After seeing over a thousand young people engage with his company’s workforce development program, John Bridgen can’t agree with a phrase he hears all the time: 

“No one wants to work anymore.”

As president of Lancaster-based robotics company Precision Cobotics, Bridgen says he sees proof of the opposite almost every day. His inbox is filled with inquiries from young people eager to join the company, drawn in by Robotics Worx, a program created to cultivate local talent.

“When you value people and it aligns with some of their interests, they’re more than happy to be part of your workforce,” Bridgen told Technical.ly. “[Companies] need to look inward as to why they’re not somewhere people want to work.” 

Located next to the Lancaster airport, Precision is helping shape the county’s emerging tech ecosystem. Once known primarily for its quiet farms and Amish communities, the region has recently seen a series of business wins. Bridgen gives a lot of credit to the Steinman Foundation and its spinout the Lancaster County STEM Alliance, which awarded Robotics Worx $50,000 in launch funding.

“We have all these cool companies here,” Bridgen said. “How do we get the upcoming talent in the area to be aware of it so they don’t leave?” 

Founded in 2022, Precision Cobotics helps manufacturers integrate robotics into their operations. The company started with a mission to be a “lean integrator,” according to Bridgen, specializing in quick deployments for smaller manufacturing firms. Today, it works with Fortune 500 clients, including what Bridgen described as a top-three global automotive company, a major aerospace firm and a leading confectionery brand. He declined to name them due to non-disclosure agreements. 

While the company builds relationships with global corporations, it’s gaining local recognition.

The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce recognized Precision Cobotics with the 2025 Thomas T. Baldridge Catalyst Award for its efforts to enhance the region’s economic vitality and community well-being — and to rebrand manufacturing for the next generation. 

‘You need people to deploy robots’ to build out American manufacturing

In collaboration with Millersville University, Robotics Worx integrates with several Lancaster school districts and technical colleges to offer students internships, apprenticeships and other educational opportunities that can help them break into advanced manufacturing. 

Traditionally, manufacturing has been seen as a dirty and potentially dangerous career path, Bridgen said, but with the rise of robotics, it’s increasingly viewed as a tech-driven field. 

This reframe is also happening in other parts of the state, driven by government pushes like Southwestern PA’s New Economy Collaborative and the state-led Manufacturing PA Initiative.

“It’s ironic because people would say robots take jobs, but what we’re finding is you need people to deploy robots,” Bridgen said. “These young students get it, and it’s kind of a great, timely solution to the needs of building out manufacturing in America.” 

Almost half of the participants in the Robotics Worx program are from demographics traditionally underrepresented in the workforce, according to Bridgen. The US manufacturing sector in 2020 was more than 70% male and nearly 80% white, according to the National Academy of Sciences. 

During this past year, more than 1,500 students participated in the program, with over 60 students landing internships and three students securing full-time positions in the industry, according to Precision Cobotics’ most recent community impact report.

Robotics as a ‘sport’ that captures student interest

The company’s mission to train the next generation of advanced manufacturing workers links to its roots as an intern-led endeavor at its inception. 

Back in 2018, a group of manufacturing companies that had been operating in the region for over 100 years started to notice trends in automation and manufacturing labor shortages and became interested in cobotics – a field of robotics focused on designing robots that work alongside humans rather than replacing them. So they put interns to work crafting cobotics solutions. 

“They started using interns to test out solving problems within their own manufacturing businesses, relatively successfully,” Bridgen said. 

When the company was founded and Bridgen joined in 2022, he brought experience as a coach for the FIRST Robotics program, a national nonprofit founded by inventor Dean Kamen. Bridgen saw how much grade-school students enjoyed solving problems and building things, and realized it could be a model. 

“[Kamen’s] philosophy was all these kids are into basketball and other sports that don’t really have much of a likely professional career path,” Bridgen said, “so how do we make robotics, automation, programming, mechanical engineering — all these skills that the world has jobs for — a sport to capture people?”

Those ideas, that interns can do great work and young people love solving problems, are still at the heart of the company. 

“It’s been really beneficial for me to get hands-on experience outside of the classroom,” said Chris Shenberger, a Millersville University student and former Robotics Worx participant who now mentors others in the program. “And it’s really meaningful to see how it helps other students, especially the high schoolers.”

Looking ahead, Precision Cobotics is eyeing opportunities to expand with new automation centers, but all potential growth would need to be aligned with the company’s team-first culture, according to Bridgen. 

“We want to be purposeful and very intentional about how we grow, because our culture is such an important part of that, and we don’t want to lose it,” Bridgen said. “We need to make sure, as we experience success, we don’t lose what really matters.”