Westmoreland commissioner forms nonprofit to help students land skilled labor jobs

Westmoreland Commissioner Sean Kertes, along with his chief of staff and the county treasurer, on Thursday announced the formation of a private, nonprofit entity that will work to connect high school students and young adults with skilled labor jobs.

Grow Westmoreland will solicit private donations and conduct fundraising events to finance scholarships for job training programs to help match young workers with high-paying jobs such as welding, auto repair and other skilled trades.

“As a Westmoreland County commissioner, one of my most important goals is to promote careers in agriculture and the trades in an effort to create a prosperous local job market that will entice young adults to stay in our county,” Kertes said in announcing the initiative. “There is a large disparity in Westmoreland between the jobs that are available and the jobs that young people are being trained to perform.

“Grow Westmoreland is the perfect vehicle to bridge that gap and realign our young workforce with our available job market.”

Kertes will serve as the nonprofit board’s vice chairman. Jon Wian, Kertes’ chief of staff, was named chairman of Grow Westmoreland’s six-member board of directors. County Treasurer Jared Squires was appointed the board’s treasurer.

The nonprofit will seek to link local employers with young adults entering the workforce and trade schools. Its goal is to award scholarships to 18- to 25-year-olds seeking skilled labor careers. Wian said the first grants could be issued next year.

Squires, a three-term treasurer with three college degrees, including one in nuclear engineering, said skilled labor is a pathway to grow Westmoreland County’s population.

“Even I see there is such a huge need for people to work in the trades,” Squires said. “If I had known what I know now, I would have become a welder and call it a day.”

Jim Smith, director of the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland Inc., which oversees a countywide program that connects local schools, training programs and businesses, said there is a need for more skilled laborers in the county.

There are more jobs than candidates for those positions, Smith said.

Job retraining programs for older workers are available, but there is little funding available to assist high school students and young adults with paying for trade school programs and connecting them with skilled labor opportunities, he said.

“This is a problem existing in the entire region. This is a good place to start. They are filling a need,” Smith said of the nonprofit.

Wian said his duties with the nonprofit will be conducted from his home at nights and on the weekends and will be kept separate from county government operations.

The nonprofit will have no paid staff for now, but the expectation is that a director will be hired in the future to run the organization.

So far the nonprofit has raised about $1,000 through private donations. Fundraising activities will be held later this year.

“We’ve been working for a year-and-a-half on this,” Wian said. “One of the biggest issues has been keeping our youths here.”