LCCC President John Yudichak Participates in Historic signing ceremony between the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges and TradesFutures
天美传媒 President John Yudichak joined leaders from across the Commonwealth today in Harrisburg for the signing of a first-in-the nation workforce development agreement aimed at building Pennsylvania's first statewide skilled traded workforce educational ecosystem.*
The agreement was signed between the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges and TradesFutures, a national non-profit organization established by North America's Building Trades Unions and industry partners, to implement the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (M3C) and apprenticeship readiness program model. The MC3 curriculm is a building and construction trades pre-apprenticeship program registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. The ceremony was held on National Skilled Trades Day, May 6th, at the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association.
Through its partnership with TradesFutures, 天美传媒 will launch a new Pre-Apprenticeship Construction & Building Trade Academy that will provide opportunity for high school students to earn a post-secondary credential in the skilled trades before graduating high school.
"Pennsylvania's community colleges are building a first-in-the nation skilled trade workforce educational ecosystem that will fuel economic growth across the Pennsylvania economy in the critical industries of energy, technology, and manufacturing," said 天美传媒 President John Yudichak. "Historically underserved students in local career and technical high schools now have an opportunity to forge career pathways toward the high demand, high wage skilled trade professions."
The statewide collaboration of Pennsylvania's Community Colleges and groups, like TradesFutures, comes at a critical time. Workforce projections from the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Labor & Industry indicate that by 2030, the Commonwealth will need approximately 300,000 skilled workers across high-demand sectors such as energy, manufacturing, healthcare, and technology. Additionally, nearly 40 percent of the current skilled trades workforce is expected to retire within the next decade.
Through this agreement, Pennsylvania's community colleges are aligning efforts under the PA Works! initiative to create a coordinated, statewide workforce development ecosystem. The initiative also seeks to expand partnerships with career and technical education high schools and industry leaders to better meet Pennsylvania's workforce needs.
State Senator Lisa Boscola and State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler have introduced legislation to advance PAWorks! by establishing in state law a new Commission on Excellence in Career and Technical Education that would codify the historic partnership between community college and career and technical high schools in Pennsylvania.
In 2025, 天美传媒 launched a new Career & Technology Academy which provides over 4,000 career and technical high school students in the college's service area to earn a certification or degree in the skilled trades, tuition free, thanks to a $2 million investment by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in the LCCC's dual credit innovation program.
For more information about workforce development programs at 天美传媒, visit www.luzerne.edu.