Colleges and universities in the Harrisburg area are rolling out new initiatives to combat declining enrollment while meeting growing workforce needs.  And by partnering with organizations like the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp., midstate schools have been ratcheting up their efforts to reach more employers with information about their new and existing programs.

Those efforts were on display Wednesday (10/12/18) at a workforce development luncheon held by CAEDC at Messiah College. The goal of the forum, which attracted about 100 people, was to give local colleges and universities a platform to highlight new programs.

Laura Potthoff, director of business and workforce development at CAEDC, took the lead on Wednesday's program. She said she hopes this type of event will lead to more partnerships between schools and midstate companies in need of specialized education programs to grow and retrain their workforce.

Earlier this year, Harrisburg University backed a new startup called NuPaths that provides low-cost IT certifications that can be completed in about six months. For employers, NuPaths offers a steady source of entry-level workers as well as a faster way to get employees new skills as technology evolves.

As the labor market remains tight across many industries, CAEDC officials said the organization plans to facilitate additional workforce events. A health care roundtable is currently in the works, Potthoff said.

Read the full article on the Central Penn Business Journal web site.