Hempfield resident's donation to WCCC will support students in skilled trades, allied health

After a 43-year career in highway construction, Hempfield resident Bob Miner Jr. wants to give back to the skilled trades industry and his lifelong home, Westmoreland County.

Miner, 70, started the Robert Miner Family Foundation in 2023 alongside his wife and daughter after selling his company, Donegal Construction. The foundation has supported Salvation Army, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Union Mission in Derry Township, the Pet Adoption League and Action for Animals.

“I just felt that I was very fortunate, to be honest with you, and that I owed something back,” he said, “and that’s what we’re attempting to do.”

But after a $40,000 donation last year to Westmoreland County Community College, Miner felt the push to continue his support for the higher education institution.

A $500,000 donation from the foundation will go toward supporting skilled trades and allied health care students who otherwise would not be able to complete their degree — or go into debt to do so. It will be awarded across the next five years, $100,000 each year.

“When those graduates completed their courses of study, they had tangible skills to immediately enter the workforce, hopefully here in Westmoreland County, or at least in the area,” he said.

That was a mission Miner wanted to support, particularly after six years serving as a trustee for a state university.

“I would see those students coming out with degrees that I don’t, quite frankly, know what you do with, and on top of that have heavy debt loads. I liked what the community college was doing,” he said, noting that the college works with local employers to determine what skills students should be taught before entering the workforce.

Filling the gaps

The college’s educational foundation, vice president of enrollment and financial aid team worked with Miner to nail down how the donation would be used, foundation Executive Director Megan Sheesley said.

Some students have already been identified for the scholarship, which will be available to students on a rolling basis, she said.

“We really had those internal discussions of what would be the most impactful,” Sheesley said, “and it was looking at those students who might have a gap and providing that opportunity for them to stay enrolled — for them not to have to either take out a loan or take time away to earn money and then have to come back.”

On average, 90 of the college’s skilled trades or allied health students fall into this gap each year, Sheesley said.

“We’re really excited because (the donation) is going to have a broad impact, and it’s really going to change not just our enrollment, but our recruitment,” she said. “There are so many prospective students who might not even consider applying because they think that they will have that funding gap that makes it impossible for them to enroll.”

Westmoreland workforce support

Miner is hopeful the scholarship will increase Westmoreland County’s workforce.

The county’s population decline is no secret. It has steadily declined since 1990, dropping from about 365,000 in 2010 to 354,600 in 2020, according to U.S. Census data.

A 2023 study — conducted by think tank Allegheny Institue for Public Policy — predicted the county’s population would drop 16% from 2020 to 2050.

Miner may have witnessed the impact of that decline during his time working in highway construction, where later in his career it was difficult to attract young people to the field.

But Miner suspects the greater cause for the shortage of young workers was the stigma surrounding the skilled trades.

“I think that the mindset was when you come out of (high school), you pursue a four-year degree,” he said.

“In today’s age, with the technology, it’s evolved. These folks, they have some great skillsets and technical knowledge, and I think that needs to be brought out there — that it’s not what it used to be.”