PA CareerLink celebrates opening of Charleroi office

Officials believe the new location is more accessible to the clients it serves.

PA CareerLink moved its Mon Valley office from Donora to Charleroi in July in an effort to provide a more convenient location for its clients, including the growing immigrant population in the area.

PA CareerLink held a ribbon- cutting ceremony Friday at the new office located at 130 McKean Ave. Officials expect the new location will boost the local economy by addressing the ongoing workforce shortage.

“This building is up, and this is very timely,” Washington County Commissioner Nick Sherman said. “When we’re looking at the nationwide economy, the economy of Washington County, what we all share is that we need a lot more people in the workforce, and that’s exactly what this is.”

The new PA CareerLink site offers a variety of workforce development services, which include help with creating resumes, applying for jobs and obtaining a GED. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.

“So anybody on the street can walk in and say, Hey, I want to apply for a job. I want to do a resume…” Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board Director Amy Gatts said.

The new office, which is situated downtown near a bus stop, is expected to be a more accessible location for CareerLink’s clients.

“People will be able to get right off the bus, right outside of our door,” Gatts said.

English as a Second Language classes, which have about 85 people on the waitlist, are conducted every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon at the CareerLink office and the Presbyterian Church of Charleroi. Intermediate Unit 1 and Literacy Council of Southwestern PA work together to provide ESL and GED classes, which take place at Career-Link in the morning Tuesdays through Thursdays.

“So we’ve really been trying, but it’s difficult because you can’t just put any ESL student in a class together because of their levels,” IU1 Supervisor of Career Readiness and Adult Education Rachel Zilcosky said. “Some of them know no English, some are intermediate and some are advanced.”

Zilcosky and Brandi Miller, executive director of the literacy council, both said the new Charleroi location is less of a hassle for their students to get to than the previous Donora space.

“We found that probably half of our students, when we were in Donora, were coming more from this area for the GED, and especially a lot of the ESL students,” Zilcosky said.

The 6,485-square-foot office building’s groundbreaking occurred in November at the site of the former Atlas Warehouse.

“I work with a lot of government projects, and speed is never something that I would say we’re really good at. But it feels like it was yesterday that we broke ground,” Sherman said.

Mon Valley Alliance CEO Jamie Colecchi emphasized the collaborative effort required to make the new PA CareerLink office possible.

“It doesn’t happen without good partners in the building here and on site, so thank you,” Colecchi said.

Colecchi credited Charleroi school board Vice President Adele Hopkins and the late Ken Wiltz, who served as board president until his death, for envisioning a revitalization of the area where the dilapidated former Atlas Warehouse once stood.

“Ken Wiltz, hopefully he’s going to see plenty more ribbon cuttings soon to come as well,” Colecchi said.

Department of Labor and Industry’s Bureau of Workforce Partnership and Operations Director Crystal Houser thanked Gatts and the Southwest Corner Workforce Redevelopment Board for the “intentional layout of this beautiful space.”

“The BWPO is a partner in PA Career-Links across the state, and what do we do? We serve the people,” Houser said. “So we need a wonderful, inviting space for our customers to feel comfortable and proud to come in and receive the programs and services that we have.”

In addition, Houser pointed out the new location’s accessibility in Charleroi.

“Our customers can get here in many different ways,” she said. “You’re on the bus line, you’re downtown. So I have a feeling that customers will be flowing in, and this economy will be stronger because of the work that you all do here.”