College, Lycoming Engines host state labor & industry secretary

Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Labor & Industry Nancy A. Walker visited Williamsport on Monday and received a wide-ranging view into the innovative advancements occurring at Lycoming Engines and Pennsylvania College of Technology.

“It was such a rewarding experience to visit Lycoming Engines and Penn College and see firsthand how well business and educational collaborations can work," Walker said. "The college is setting the bar very high in Pennsylvania with its robust program offerings. We look forward to seeing more programs in the future, including the in-development Bus Mechanic Apprenticeship program for Pennsylvania, which the Shapiro Administration was proud to support with a $600,000 grant last fall.”

“Our team at Penn College, together with the leadership of one of our strongest industry partners, was delighted to again host Secretary Walker on campus,” said Patrick Marty, chief government and international relations officer. “The college's decades-old and multifaceted relationship with Lycoming Engines – the only U.S.-owned and operated aviation piston engine manufacturer – is illustrative of the ways in which we partner with Pennsylvania industry across an array of sectors to produce the workforce leaders of tomorrow."

After a morning visit to the Lycoming Engines manufacturing facility, Walker and her staff were welcomed at Penn College by President Michael J. Reed and other college leadership. They toured the college’s main campus machining and welding labs and also visited the college’s Lumley Aviation Center at the Williamsport Regional Airport in Montoursville. Shannon Massey, senior vice president for Lycoming Engines; state Sen. Gene Yaw, who chairs the college’s Board of Directors; and state Rep. Jamie Flick, a 1981 college alumnus, also joined the tours.

The enduring partnership between Lycoming Engines and Penn College was evident at every turn, including in the college’s Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center and the Lycoming Engines Piston Engine Service School, conducted in a classroom at the Aviation Center. (The college began training the company’s employees in the 1930s.)

An active member of the college’s Corporate Tomorrow Makers, Lycoming Engines supports Penn College students through equipment donations, scholarships, cooperative work experiences and employment. (Over 30% of Lycoming Engines’ workforce consists of Penn College graduates.) 

The secretary had the opportunity to visit the college’s Le Jeune Restaurant, receiving a tour of its kitchens and labs from Executive Chef Mike Dinan. During a lunch discussion with Alison A. Diehl, vice president for Workforce Development at Penn College, the secretary again emphasized apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships as employment pathways and expressed appreciation for the Workforce Development team’s leadership in developing  programs that are both stackable and lead to credit.

Walker also made an impromptu campus visit to the Dunham Children’s Learning Center, where she cited the cost and availability of childcare as impediments to Pennsylvania’s workforce; she was pleased to learn how the CLC prioritizes Penn College students but also serves the community.