Latest Chamber News

Call to Action: Save Job Corps

Click the link below to sign a petition to save Job Corps

Sign the Petition to Save Job Corps

The President’s Budget Request released this month includes a proposal to eliminate the Job Corps program. If enacted by Congress, this would result in the closure of the Keystone Job Corps Center in Drums, PA.

Each year, the Keystone Job Corps Center provides education, vocational training, and career readiness support across eight in-demand career areas—including the construction, medical training, and service industries—to approximately 600 young adults. Many of these students come from across northeastern Pennsylvania to transform their lives and launch their careers locally—something some of you have likely seen firsthand through your work with the Center.

Since 2023, more than 4,267 Pennsylvania residents have enrolled in Job Corps programs.

The Keystone Job Corps Center is also a major contributor to the regional economy. Job Corps Center:

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Ask Your Elected Officials to Save Job Corps

Please use the template letter below to reach out to our state elected officials. You can either use it as a script for a phone call or copy and paste it into the appropriate email contact forms using the links provided. Thank you for your help!

General Community Supporter – Email/Phone Call Template

I’m reaching out in support of the Keystone Job Corps campus and in opposition to the President’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal to eliminate Job Corps and the recent halt on required background checks for prospective students that has left over 12,000 young men and women in limbo and their careers on hold.

I respectfully request that you reach out to the U.S. Department of Labor and White House immediately and demand they resume enrollments and continue to fund Job Corps.

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Call to Action: Save Job Corps! Hearing the Success Stories from Students Who Attended the Job Corps Program Is Important!

How can you help?

~ Click here to Sign the Petition ~

~ Click here to Contact Our Elected Officials ~

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No child care teachers, no work: PA must invest to stop economic bleeding

Pennsylvania’s child care teachers are the workforce behind the workforce. When they are in the classroom, parents can go to work with confidence, knowing that their children are safe and learning.

However, child care teachers are leaving the profession making it difficult for parents to find the care that gets them to work every day. This historic teacher shortage is depleting child care providers of qualified staff, forcing them to enroll fewer children or even close their doors.

It’s no secret that child care is expensive, but affordability tells only half the story. The other half of this tale is about the lack of child care availability.

More than 25,000 Pennsylvania children don’t have child care because at least 3,000 child care teaching jobs are unfilled – and that finding comes from a survey of only 17 percent of Pennsylvania’s licensed child care programs. Surely, the real-world numbers are much higher.

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