ABOUT FBEP

… is a collaborative effort of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce, the Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board, educators, elected officials and other community groups.

This coalition strengthens the relationships among entities in a neutral, facilitated environment to generate discussion and create action. As businesses divest their core processes into high technology ventures (such as advanced manufacturing and robotics), a “new breed” of skilled employees is required to attract and retain these businesses in the County.

Our focus has always been concentrated on our County’s High Priority Occupations List (HPO List) which is developed by the Department of Labor and Industry. We’ve dedicated a great deal of time to our STEAM jobs (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) and are constantly working to find ways to develop and enhance programing based on these occupations.

Along with acting as portal organization for interchange of information and ideas throughout the workforce community, we have created an aggressive program of action with a focus on assisting our schools with their 339 Career Pathways plans. The Chapter 339 plan is a comprehensive plan required by the PA School code which requires school districts to develop a career guidance plan for every student K-12.

…was created in 2012 in an effort to respond to the needs of our employers to hire and keep skilled staff, and in reaction to a change in the career educational standards for our students throughout their school years. We are administered by the Fayette Chamber of Commerce, whose non-profit arm The Redstone Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization) acts as the fiscal agent.

…pull together 50 to 60 professionals every other month to share information, build programming, and brainstorm ways to make our county a better place to live, work, and do business. This group is comprised of representatives from our educational community (public/private schools, early educators, post-secondary education, etc.); the organizations that support education in the county (Fayette Chamber and Workforce Investment Board, etc.); and businesses who have a vested interest in workforce development in the area (natural gas, healthcare, finance, tourism etc.). These individuals come together with incongruent perspectives of the workforce training and education processes to reach a common goal: an educational workforce in a thriving economy. They accomplish this goal by reviewing the county’s education and training infrastructure, legislative climate, and by providing feedback and programming for systemic improvements.

…we have completed successful programs that continue to grow year after year. For example, our Mechanical Design Competition (which exposes our middle school-aged youth to engineering principles like hydraulics and pneumatics) has grown from 12 teams and one county involvement to 32 teams with four county participation! We have recently added the Young Entrepreneur Showcase which gives kids ages 6 – 14 an opportunity to showcase their creative ideas and sell them to the public. Our newest program that we have added is the National Civics Bee which is a part of the US Chamber Foundation. This program will give middle school students an opportunity to flex their civics knowledge with a possibility to compete at the national championship in Fall of 2025!

…of the Fayette Business Education Partnership (FBEP) is to develop collaborative partnerships between business and education, and to assist partners in creating and sustaining workforce development activities throughout Fayette County. The FBEP is to be a community network that forms working relationships.