NEPIRC Manufacturing Ambassador Dream Team Program Exceeding First-Year Expectations

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center’s (NEPIRC’s) Manufacturing Ambassador Dream Team Program, which introduces high school and community college students and their faculty to exciting industrial career opportunities, has received outstanding support from manufacturers and schools across NEPIRC’s 11-county region.

NEPIRC’s first-year goals for the program included recruiting 15 younger manufacturing professionals (or Dream Team members) from 15 regional manufacturers. To date, NEPIRC has built a Dream Team consisting of 31 manufacturing associates from 24 companies across northeastern, the northern tier and central Pennsylvania. Another key goal for the program’s first year is for NEPIRC to coordinate 20 in-school Dream Team presentations and thereby introduce at least 200 high school juniors, high school seniors or community college students already enrolled in STEM career programs to employment opportunities in manufacturing. While still in its formative phases, NEPIRC has already facilitated four (4) in-school Dream Team presentations and has two (2) additional events on its schedule.

“The Dream Team initiative is an innovative and engaging way to introduce students, faculty, school administrators and parents to younger manufacturing professionals and create a more updated and accurate understanding of our manufacturing sector, along with the purposeful, rewarding and high-tech jobs our regional manufacturers offer,” said Jenelle Osborne, NEPIRC’s Dream Team Coordinator. “We’re delighted to have this outstanding support of our regional manufacturers and their contributions to this important initiative, which will have significant, long-term impacts on our local students and manufacturing community.”

NEPIRC’s school outreach efforts are made possible by the Pennsylvania Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Grant approved by the Department of Community & Economic Development in late 2022.