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Gas leak at W-B home possibly caused by vibrations from nearby demolition

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Penn State debuts at No. 7 in first College Football Playoff rankings

<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212;As the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf continues to revamp job training options, state residents can expect more apprentice and pre-apprentice options, meshing the state CareerLink centers with the federal American Job Centers, and more small grants for equipment and curriculum changes at community colleges and Career and Technology Centers, area resident-turned-Wolf-official Eileen Cipriani said Tuesday.</p><p>&#8220;When we talk to employers about jobs, 83 to 86 percent of the time the problem is workforce, either finding people or retraining them,&#8221; Cipriani said during discussions with faculty member of the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center.</p><p>The Department of Labor &amp; Industry deputy secretary for workforce development, Cipriani visited the CTC as part of the administration&#8217;s &#8220;Jobs that Pay&#8221; tour, and considering the location, it&#8217;s small surprise the bulk of the discussion focused on how the state&#8217;s CTC schools can help train people for available jobs, and what the state can do to help CTCs.</p><p>Even before the meeting officially began, school Administrative Director Anthony Guariglia and Cipriani chatted outside the conference room about the state apprentice and pre-apprentice programs, with Guariglia noting the CTC is working to line up more such opportunities for its students and get the word out via the state CareerLink offices.</p><p>During the meeting, Cipriani noted the CareerLink program &#8212; itself a re-branding of the old &#8220;unemployment office&#8221; concept decades ago &#8212; is getting a face-lift under the federal American Job Centers program. She also cited initiatives by the Wolf administration she said should help CTCs and community colleges train people for the jobs most in demand, and to keep training for advancement once they land a job.</p><p>For example, the state has begun offering the apprenticeship program through chambers of commerce so that smaller businesses can participate, with the chamber handling the administrative aspects of the program for companies that do not have a human resource department. Such programs help people &#8220;earn while they learn,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The state is also working with &#8220;manufacturing clusters&#8221; within regions to help identify skill demands and find ways to provide training for needed employees. She cited warehousing jobs that have grown so fast in demand starting salaries regionally have climbed from &#8220;$12 last year to $15 now.&#8221;</p><p>And Cipriani cited grant programs that can help CTCs update curriculum and buy the same equipment for training that local companies use, making sure graduates already know how to use it when they are hired. Too often, she said, schools rely on equipment companies donate &#8220;after they are done using it. When they are done using it, it&#8217;s obsolete.&#8221;</p><p>After talking with faculty, Cipriani toured some of the school&#8217;s most in-demand programs. </p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Eileen Cipriani, right, visits the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center nursing program Tuesday. State Department of Labor & INdustry Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development, Cipriani came to the Plains Township school as part of Gov. Tom Wolf's &quot;Jobs that Pay&quot; tour.</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_cipriani.jpg</photo0><caption0>Eileen Cipriani, right, visits the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center nursing program Tuesday. State Department of Labor & INdustry Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development, Cipriani came to the Plains Township school as part of Gov. Tom Wolf's &quot;Jobs that Pay&quot; tour.</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Cipriani visits W-B Area CTC on “Jobs that Pay” tour