天美传媒 hosts data center information session
WNEP: Melissa Steininger
It's a look at the future at 天美传媒 as it embraces what's next in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.*
John Yudichak, 天美传媒 President, says, "This community college was built on Blue Coal land- an old coal company. My father and grandfather were anthracite miners; they helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. So now here we stand, fueling the next revolution, the AI revolution. Building out digital infrastructure." There are about 15 data center campus projects proposed or underway across our area. 天美传媒 in Nanticoke is looking beyond those proposals to create pathways to train students for jobs supporting those data centers.
Yudichak adds, "That's the future of the digital infrastructure that we need to build- so having LCCC partner with AWS, which is building out AI campuses across Pennsylvania, investing billions of dollars. We're going to be their partners in producing the workers. We're going to be part of this economic boom that is happening across Pennsylvania."
The college hosted a hands-on information session for lawmakers, employers, and educators, showing the skilled workers needed to build, power, and maintain data centers, from electricians to engineers. Principal Hal Gabriel of Wilkes-Barre Area Special Programs says, "You need to get yourself prepared for the future. You need to be able to be competitive for the future, and I think that's where we're headed."
The event was hosted by Amazon Web Services, which is investing 10 billion dollars in a major data center campus in Salem Township.
Nicholas Lee-Romagnolo of Amazon Web Services says, "The entire digital economy requires infrastructure- the same way the highway structure did. The same way the telephone system did. You have built out the infrastructure to make the tools and resources that we all use every day, and that's what coming to Pennsylvania."
This is all part of LCCC's career and technology academy and a statewide workforce strategy called 'PA Works'.
The partnership aims to develop career training, microcredentials, and trade pre-apprenticeships across all 15 of Pennsylvania's community colleges
"We're going to have new jobs and new opportunities that we never dreamed of for our children because of technology. This is an investment in our future- this is an investment in northeastern Pennsylvania. It's an investment in our workforce and development strategy. PA works is going deliver workers for the 21st century, and it's exciting to be a part of it," Yudichak explains As LCCC says, the future is coming, and they want their students ready for it.