Rural Workforce Availability and Population Change

MEDIA ADVISORY

Public Hearing: Rural Workforce Availability and Population Change

What: The Center for Rural Pennsylvania Board of Directors will hold a public hearing on rural workforce availability and population change. Hearing presenters will address strategies that workforce development organizations, economic development organizations, and employers are taking to recruit and retain the rural workforce considering shrinking populations in rural areas. This hearing will also highlight recent research that addresses ways that communities can help reverse population decline by engaging in revitalization efforts and attracting new residents to rural areas.

Who:
The Center for Rural Pennsylvania Board of Directors

• Senator Gene Yaw, Chair
• Representative Eddie Day Pashinski, Vice Chair
• Dr. Nancy Falvo, Pennsylvania Western University Clarion, Secretary
• Mr. Stephen M. Brame, Governor's Representative, Treasurer
• Senator Judy Schwank
• Representative Dan Moul
• Mr. Richard Esch, University of Pittsburgh
• Dr. Timothy Kelsey, Pennsylvania State University
• Ms. Shannon M. Munro, Pennsylvania College of Technology
• Dr. Charles Patterson, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
• Ms. Susan Snelick, Northern Pennsylvania Regional College
• Mr. Darrin Youker, Governor's Representative

Expected Presenters:

• Dr. Michael Reed, President, Pennsylvania College of Technology
• Kevin Sunday, Director of Government Affairs, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry
• Carrie Amann, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association
• Patti Jackson-Gehris, Chief Operating Officer, UPMC North Central Pa., and President, UPMC Williamsport
• Courtney L. Fasnacht, Executive Director, Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Council
• Darlene J. Robbins, President, Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Association and Council
• George Stark, Director of External Affairs, Coterra Energy
• Hope Lineman, Strategic Advisor to the Chancellor for Workforce Innovation, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
• Mark Muro, Senior Fellow, Brookings Metro
  and Tony Pipa, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Center for Sustainable Development, Brookings Institution
• Dr. Bing Ran, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Penn State University Harrisburg
• Dr. Joseph Hafer, Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Administration, University of Memphis

When: Thursday, May 25, 2023, 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Where: Mountain Laurel Room, Thompson Professional Development Center, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport, PA
Livestream: senatorgeneyaw.com

Contact: Christine Caldara Piatos, Communications Manager, Center for Rural Pennsylvania, (717) 787-9555, caldarac@rural.pa.gov

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania is a bipartisan, bicameral legislative agency that serves as a resource for rural policy within the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The Center works with the legislature, educators, state and federal executive branch agencies, and national, statewide, regional and local organizations to maximize resources and strategies that can better serve Pennsylvania's nearly 3.4 million rural residents.