Jul 21, 2015 4 min read

DONORA – Kathy Manderino was back in the Valley for an extended weekend. She had a family reunion Sunday at Cedar Creek Park, Rostraver Township, followed by two work days.

Work was the watchword Tuesday as the secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor & Industry brought her “Jobs That Pay” tour to her roots, visiting and meeting employees and clients at Douglas Education Center, Monessen, in the morning and CareerLink Mon Valley, Donora, in the early afternoon.

The tour’s objectives are manifold, but center largely on workforce development and job-training initiatives throughout the commonwealth. CareerLink, under the aegis of Labor & Industry, works with partners to provide training, match applicants with employers and jobs, and counsel youth on pursuing sustainable and viable careers.

“We work with a number of partners,” said Trish Brickner, administrator of the CareerLink in Donora Industrial Park. The commonwealth, she said, is the main partner, but the group also includes Southwest Training Services, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Douglas Center.

Manderino was on familiar turf Tuesday. She grew up in Monessen, daughter of the late Jim Manderino, former speaker of the Pennsylvania House. She has been on the job for a little more than six months, sworn in as acting secretary in January on the day Tom Wolf officially became governor, before becoming the official L&I leader in May.

She walked about the CareerLink offices during the noon hour, shaking hands and speaking with employees and job-seekers. Manderino met Zak Brown, a CareerLink specialist involved with the EARN program – Employment, Advancement and Retention Network.

“How do you get young people to realize these are career jobs?” she asked.

“We need to endear ourselves to the schools,” Brown said without hesitation. “We need to get the message across that we’re here to help young people.”

Traleana Yates is a young person helping people of all ages. She is a rising Ringgold High School junior, a tall Donora teenager interning at her neighborhood CareerLink. Her duties include teaching computer skills to older clients.

Manderino met Yates during her rounds, asked about her work and what she would like to do after Ringgold. “I’d like to attend Pitt,” Yates said.

The secretary said college is a commendable option, but not the only one for those in their mid- to late teens.

“The goal of our high schools,” Manderino said, “is not to get a high school diploma, but to get people to the next step, whether it’s college or a certification. Our goal is to get credentials that lead to a well-paying job.

“We want to make sure we are training folks for positions that actually exist. Our challenge as a country, commonwealth and the mid-Mon Valley is to maximize opportunities and match young people with employers.”

Manderino said there have been some positive economic signs, pointing out the state and national unemployment rates have been stable in recent months and that “employers are optimistic.”

“We’re seeing more people looking for jobs,” she said. “Employers are looking for a pipeline of young people looking to get into trades.”

She said she has “been visiting businesses across the state as well as partners that form the workforce development system. I want to see how to meet jobs needs and how to do it better.”

Those visits have had Manderino on the road again and again. She made two stops Monday in Pittsburgh, at Bidwell Training Center on the North Shore and at a media outlet. In the past two weeks, she has been in Williamsport, Allentown, State College, Philadelphia, Lancaster, Altoona and Meadville.

Now Donora and Monessen.

“I’m seeing pockets of opportunity everywhere I go, and I see them here, too,” Manderino said Tuesday afternoon, before whisking back to Harrisburg. It was a whirlwind homecoming weekend.