TriCounty Area Chamber to kick off program year

Workforce development will be the focus of first breakfast

POTTSTOWN » The TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce will kick off its 2017-2018 program year with a membership breakfast on Thursday, Sept. 7, from 7 to 9 a.m. at Copperfield Inn, 594 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick.

The program for this first of five membership breakfasts will focus on Workforce Development.

“It’s an issue that is constantly on our radar,” said Eileen Dautrich, president of the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce. “We have looked to facilitate bigger

discussions about the issue. We met with manufacturers, for example, about how the chamber could help them in general, and the conversation came back to workforce development.”

She added that other groups and non-profits are also involved in workforce development initiatives.

“The conversation became, ‘how do we organize ourselves so that we’re working together better and working for the businesses,’” Dautrich said. That’s where the Department of Community and Economic Development comes in.

The chamber breakfast program will feature Michael Leister, director of partnership development at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, and Gwen Ross, MPA, director of workforce development initiatives, Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, presenting an overview of Pennsylvania Workforce Development Initiatives and the Introduction of Next Generation Sector Partnerships.

Next Generation Sector Partnerships are partnerships of businesses, from the same industry and in a shared labor market region, who work with education, workforce development, economic development and community organizations to address competitiveness needs of the targeted industry, according to a press release.

Next Generation Sector Partnerships put businesses at the center of a coordinated workforce and economic development system that reacts to businesses’ needs. Dautrich said the chamber is pursuing the implementation of Next Generation Sector Partnerships.

The TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce has been working on strategic planning for the coming year, and Dautrich said the results of that process will be announced later in the fall. The September membership breakfast serves as the chamber’s annual meeting, so the 20162017 Annual Report will be presented and highlighted and new initiatives for 2017-2018 will be shared.

To register for the breakfast or for more information, visit www.tricountyareachamber.com.