< PreviousCAround Your Town Around Your Town FAA recognizes three local aviation mechanics This past December, Thomas McMullen of Findlay Township was recognized with the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award by the FAA at a ceremony held in an American Airlines hangar at Pittsburgh International Airport. In so doing, McMullen joined a rarified group of just under 3,300 other mechanics who had received the award, which recognizes those who have dedicated 50 years to the profession. In April, two more longtime aviation mechanics from the western Allegheny County communities joined that list. In a ceremony held at the Air Heritage Museum in Beaver County, Ray Dougherty, also of Findlay, was recognized with the award, as was Moon Township resident Donald Mueller. In addition, Mueller received the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. Both individuals, like McMullen, earned their awards thanks to aviation careers that started in the military. For Dougherty, that career started when he attempted to enlist in the Air Force to become a helicopter pilot in 1963. At the time, America’s involvement in Vietnam had only just begun and many people, including Dougherty, weren’t even aware yet of the far- off conflict. “I wanted to be a pilot, a helicopter pilot,” he says. “Never heard of Vietnam. They turned me down because I was color blind.” Six months later he got a draft notice. “I laughed at it, saying, ‘You can’t draft me, because I’m color blind. You wouldn’t take me when I wanted to go, you can’t take me now,’” he says. This time, military recruiters weren’t so particular and Dougherty was sent to Camp Rucker in Alabama to train to become a helicopter mechanic. He was warned by some there that if he did well on his evaluations he’d graduate to working on jet-engine helicopters like Hueys and get sent to Vietnam. Disregarding that advice, he graduated at the top of his class and was sent to Saigon, where he was assigned as a helicopter crew chief for a general on a Huey UH-1B. When the general wasn’t flying, the crew flew support and combat missions. Dougherty ended up flying 672 of them and earning nine air medals. He could have earned a Purple Heart after a machine gun he was firing malfunctioned and injured him, but turned it down. Released in 1970, Dougherty went back to his job as a manager at a local restaurant chain before signing up to become a reservist with the 171st Air Refueling Wing in Moon Township. That move cost him his job, however, so he took a full-time position as a technician at the base. He was later promoted to crew chief of C-121 aircraft and air refueling tankers flying out of the base. Then, in 1988, he earned his air frame and power plant license so he could apply for a job with the FAA as a flight inspector. He figured it was a long shot, but got hired as an airworthiness inspector with the agency’s Pittsburgh office. Dougherty held onto that role for almost 20 years and was activated three times, during Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield and the Kosovo War. He finally retired from the reserves in 2001 as a chief master sergeant, the highest rank available to enlisted service members, after 34 years in the military. In 2007, he retired from the FAA after getting an offer to join the aviation consulting firm Joe Del Balzo and Associates. These days, he continues to work as a consultant, drafting manuals and auditing regulatory compliance for both domestic and foreign airlines flying out of places like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. He’s also a member of an honor guard in Beaver County that participates in military funerals. For Mueller, his aviation career also started when he got drafted during the Vietnam War. Mueller tested into the Air Force’s jet aircraft maintenance technician program and spent the next three- and-a-half years working on fighter jets in Texas. He later earned an associate degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, which got him his air frame and powerplant license. He earned his bachelor’s degree by attending night school and then took a job teaching aviation mechanics at a vocational high school, where he helped overhaul the curriculum. Afterwards, he went to work for Eastern Airlines for 12 years. He then applied for a job at US Airways so he could move to Pittsburgh to be closer to his parents. He was hired as a foreman in the maintenance department and filled a myriad of roles at the airline for 27 years before retiring in 2015. Many of those roles concerned maintenance and training to ensure the safety of the aircraft. All the while, Mueller continued earning his pilot certifications. “When I was in the Air Force they had an aero club at the base I was working at, and that was where I got my first taste of being a private pilot,” he says. He earned his license through the club and, in the process, followed in the footsteps of his father, who had been a primary flight instructor during World War II. “He took me up when I was little and I got bit by the bug,” he says. Mueller says he considered going on to become a professional pilot, but that the flood of experienced pilots returning from Vietnam around that time squeezed out new pilots like himself. Instead, he continued to earn his pilot certifications on his own, including his multi-engine and instrument certifications. While doing so, he even trained and tested with Mary Gaffaney, a former Women’s World Aerobatic champion. Later on, he got his son, Nathan, interested in aviation. The Moon Area High School graduate went on to become a commander on a B-52 and is now a commander on a B-2 Stealth Bomber, as well as a FedEx pilot. “I always just had a love of airplanes,” says Mueller. Similar to the Charles E. Taylor Award, the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award that Mueller received at the ceremony is also based on 50 years, but for being pilot. “It was definitely an honor,” he says about receiving the awards. “It’s good to be seen.” For our story about Thomas McMullen, see the February West Allegheny issue of Allegheny West Magazine at awmagazine.com. STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY PHOTOS SUBMITTED LEFT: Ray Dougherty accepts the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award. RIGHT: Donald Mueller and his wife, Tillie Mueller, are pictured with the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award and the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. 10 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023June/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 11CAround Your Town Around Your Town Each spring, students in Mike Short’s AP art class at the high school turn their attention to finishing their final portfolios. By May, months of conceptualizing, painting, drawing and crafting culminates in students showing off their work to the public at the high school’s annual art show. Then, afterwards, students in the course submit their final portfolios, which, if they’re good enough, can earn them college credit. After that, Short has, in years past, convinced some of his AP art students to take on a mural painting project in the community. His students have painted murals at the North Fayette Municipal Building, Donaldson Park, the school and other locations. Several years ago, students in the course painted a two-story tall mural inside the new Imperial VFD station off Pine Street. “I feel like every year we have some kind of mural that we’re doing,” Short says. This past May, students in Short’s class were back at it. This time, they were painting designs on the exterior of VFW Post 7714 off Steubenville Pike in Imperial. Post member Debbie Douglass says she reached out to the school’s art club after she learned the building was going to get a fresh coat of paint in the spring. Short says he and his students came up with a portfolio of designs to present to the VFW and that, after a few revisions, students came up with some final ideas. On May 15, his students sketched out the designs on the building and then returned the following day to finish. They painted three murals, including a bald eagle logo with the post’s identification on a ribbon on the left side of the forward-facing part of the building. They also painted a silhouette of soldiers on the right of the building. Next to the rear entrance, students Madison Montello and Victoria Mock painted a design with the letters VFW placed vertically alongside a draping American flag. Short says students started at 8:30 a.m. and despite the many intricate details and subtle shading, they had the work nearly finished in just a couple of hours. Art club president Rene Taiyrova, who was among the students helping out that day, says the work went fast and that everyone had a good time. Douglass points out that the work was done in time not only for Memorial Day but also for a spaghetti dinner that the post hosted in honor of Armed Forces Day. “We wanted a new look,” says Douglass. “We thought this would catch people’s attention. There were people pulling over today to look.” Before students painted the murals, post commander Lee Hendricks and his wife, Jackie Hendricks, gave the building a paint job with a gray and blue color scheme. Jackie says the post has been working to draw more attention to itself in recent years and attract new members. Improving the look of the building and hosting community outreach efforts are part of an effort to once again make the post a center of the community, she says. “I have so many memories of when I was little of being up here, and as time passed it just sort of passed the VFW by,” Jackie says. “We’re just trying to bring it back to being community- and veteran-focused.” To that end, she says the post is always looking for new veteran and social members. Anyone interested can visit the post at 7971 Steubenville Pike or find them on Facebook. On July 29, the post is planning to host a beach party that will be open to the public. In May, the post also hosted its annual Some Gave All Bike Ride, which benefits a scholarship established in memory of Capt. Jason West. The post provided free dinners to veterans during its Armed Forces Day spaghetti dinner and held a ceremony on Memorial Day at Clinton United Presbyterian Church. During the winter, the post once again collected clothing and donations for area VA patients and took on a new effort that involved soliciting donations at Shop’n Save for 500 wreaths to be placed on veterans’ graves. As for the murals, Douglass says the post is thrilled with the work and that it already has plans to have another cohort of students return to paint the emblems of all the military branches at a later date. “We’ve already got them locked up for next year,” she says. Students who worked on the project, including those already mentioned, were Brian Curry, Aleah Dudek, Karly Kruze, Victoria Mock, Madison Montello, Max Seibel, Kristen Stofan, Rene Taiyrova and Kylie Ye. The West Allegheny Aqua Club is in search of knowledgeable, passionate, motivating and creative assistant coaches. The positions are part-time and require availability three to six days per week and two to four hours per day, plus weekends as needed for swim meets or practice. These positions offer competitive hourly pay and reimbursement for all certifications required for the position. Key responsibilities include running daily workouts, attending swim meets as needed, training swimmers in proper stroke techniques and racing strategies, and some in-water instruction. Good candidates will be able to maintain healthy relationships with the swimmers and their families. Coaches are expected to be positive role models, maintain high moral standards and adhere to the club’s rules. Candidates should have prior high school or club coaching experience, a competitive swimming knowledge base, and be able to complete and maintain USA Swimming certifications. Those interested should contact head coach Courtney Fazenbaker at coachcourt.wa@gmail.com. WA art students lend artistic talents to VFW Post 7714 STORY AND PHOTO BY DOUG HUGHEY Coaches needed for WA Aqua Club CONTENT SUBMITTED West Allegheny AP art students Max Seibel, Rene Taiyrova, Aleah Dudeck and Kylie Ye work on a mural at VFW Post 7714 in Imperial. This was one of three murals the students painted on the building. 12 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023CAround Your Town Around Your Town It’s Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and the checkered flag has just waved. Winged sprint cars that have been taking pace laps around the half-mile dirt track burst down the straightaway as they cross the starting line. Weighing in at around 1,400 pounds and propelled by powerful 900 horsepower engines, the cars rocket into the first turn. Dirt flies as families, packed together up in the stands with hot dogs, popcorn, nachos and oversized drinks, watch in earnest. It’s a scene that members of the Miley family know all too well. When the Miley siblings were kids, their parents William and Bertha used to take them to races a lot like this one at tracks around the area, some of which no longer exist. Then, for the past 35 years, they’ve been hosting races at this track in Imperial every Saturday night throughout the summer. Races often feature cars on a circuit traveling to other tracks throughout the area, with winners sometimes getting payouts of up to $25,000. Big names in the regional racing scene regularly make their way through. Sometimes, racers like Tony Stewart, who won first place in a winged sprint car race here in 2017, even come to race. This year, racing at PPMS kicked off May 6 with an evening headlined by the RUSH Sprint Cars. Leading up to it were races featuring late models, hobby stocks, pro stocks, four cylinders and a young guns race with drivers just entering the sport. Several of the young gun drivers were women, who are continuing to make headway in the racing scene. “Opening night was great,” says PPMS announcer Tyler Harris. “Both the front and back gate were good, which is to say we had a lot of people coming to watch and a lot of competitors coming to race.” Despite the track’s longevity, Harris says a lot of people living in the area still don’t seem to know about it, even though they’ve no doubt heard the roar of the engines that can carry for miles. The track is located on Kelso Road, adjacent to Route 22/30 and the North Star Restaurant on Steubenville Pike. With tickets costing just $16 apiece most nights, kids under 5 getting in for free and some reasonable concessions, it’s a relatively inexpensive night of fun for the family. The track first opened in 1979. Back then it was operated by Nick and Emma Garin, who built it using assets from the now- defunct Heidelberg Raceway. A shopping mall now sits where that track was located. The Miley family began operating the track in the late 1980s and purchased it from the Garin family about a decade later. Miley siblings Matt, Red, Ben, Ty and Jerry all have taken on central roles in the track’s operations. The Miley siblings began racing themselves since 1969 and in the process gained the experience and connections that have proven vital to its operations over the years. Right around the time the Mileys purchased the track, Red, who had played an oversized role in the its promotions, passed away. Since then, the Miley family has continued to honor Red each year with a memorial race, now called the Red Miley Rumble. This year’s 17th Annual Red Miley Rumble takes place Aug. 19. In December, the Miley family lost yet another family member when Matt passed away at the age of 64. Since Red passed, Matt had been heading the track’s marketing and communications, after retiring from a 30-year career with AT&T. This season, that role is falling to Harris, who has been the track’s announcer since 2022. “The family is taking it very hard,” Harris says about this most recent loss. Still, as racing season was approaching, he says the family was back at work, just like they’ve been every season for nearly four decades. Between prepping the track, taking care of the grounds, the promotions and concessions, he says it’s a tremendous amount of work and that everyone has been throwing themselves headlong into it. “There’s still a task at hand that we have to get done,” he says. Coming up, there are some big regional racing events taking place at PPMS. Many race nights throughout the rest of the summer feature a combination of the RUSH Late Model Touring Series, pro stocks, hobby stocks, young guns and four-cylinder racing. Adrenaline enthusiasts will also want to be sure to mark July 1 on their calendars for the BOSS Wingless Sprint Car Series. The cars, which lack the large spoilers that help stabilize their winged counterparts, can make for some thrilling action. “They’re scary,” says Harris. “As an announcer, I’m holding my breath the entire time, because, you never know.” Bookending the season is the Pittsburgher on Sept. 30, the track’s biggest race of the year. The evening features the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and RUSH Dirt Late Model Series. The NASCAR-style chase event determines the final four cars that will go on to vie for the season’s championships at Eldora Speedway in Rossberg, Ohio. Racing takes place at PPMS every Saturday night through Sept. 30, weather permitting. The track is located at 170 Kelso Road, Imperial. For tickets, a schedule and more information, visit ppms. com. Local racetrack PPMS delivers another season of excitement STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY PHOTOS BY STEVE SKARUPA Read and share stories at awmagazine.com. June/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 13 ABOVE: RUSH late models (top) and sprint cars (bottom) headlined the opening day of racing May 6 at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. BELOW: A drone shot shows an aerial view of the half-mile track at night. y > Learning Curves Learning Curves The off-season is a time of opportunity for athletes CONTENT SUBMITTED BY D1 TRAINING PITTSBURGH WEST As all student athletes are well aware, the regular sports season is no cakewalk. Throughout, they must juggle practices, games, school and other responsibilities that are all competing for one’s time. That’s why the off-season is so valuable, as it provides athletes with time to focus on the conditioning that often gets pushed aside during the regular season. Here are some of the benefits of an off-season training program: Of course, while the off-season provides plenty of opportunity for conditioning, it’s also important to remember that athletes need to maintain a balance between training and rest. Over training can lead to burnout or increased risk of injuries. Athletes should thus work closely with their coaches, trainers and other professionals to develop a well-structured off-season training program that aligns with their goals and allows for appropriate recovery time. The D1 Training approach At D1 Training, we believe in training the entire body as a unit in order to produce an optimal human response to performance. We don’t follow gimmicks or fads. We utilize trusted and proven training techniques to build the world’s best athletes and deliver them in age-appropriate programs under the direction of our expert coaches. Nothing at D1 is random. Every workout and every day follows a strategic eight-week training cycle that is meticulously planned and backed by sports science. With one-on-one personal training, small group training, team training, and class membership training, D1 offers a range of options to help every athlete meet their goal. Consistent training, along with proper nutrition and sleep, will keep an athlete performing at their best. At all times, our number one goal is to provide proper training for the specific athlete in front of us. D1 Training Coach Peter Fisher,CSCS, encourages athletes to view their training not just as a means to be better at their sport but to build a physical and mental habit that will stick with them long after their competitive playing days are over. The idea of training evolves from sports performance into being physically and mentally resilient in life and building these skills at a young age leads to greater competency in movements, development in self-esteem and self-efficacy, and an interest that will stay with athletes forever. D1 Training Pittsburgh West is located at 6522 Steubenville Pike, next to Golf Galaxy, in Robinson Township. Call them at (412) 775-3953 or visit them online at www. d1training/Pittsburgh-West. Focused conditioning Without the immediate demands of competition, athletes can devote more time to conditioning. This allows them to improve their strength, speed, agility, endurance and flexibility. Physical fitness improvements gained during this time will serve them well once the regular season starts. Correcting weaknesses The off-season also provides an opportunity for athletes to identify and address weaknesses in their conditioning. By working harder, they can target specific areas that need improvement, such as strength imbalances, mobility limitations and inadequate aerobic capacity. Putting in extra effort allows athletes to correct these weaknesses and build a more well- rounded physical foundation. Competitive advantage Not everyone works hard during the off season. Some athletes see it as time off. The athletes who do train during this time can thus gain a competitive advantage. By working harder, athletes improve their physical attributes and surpass their competitors who may only be maintaining their current fitness level or even regressing. Resiliency and injury prevention Conditioning during the off-season helps athletes develop greater resiliency and reduce their risk of injuries. A well-conditioned body is better equipped to handle the physical demands of training and competition. Athletes who put in the effort are more likely to maintain their conditioning and reduce their chances of setbacks due to fatigue or overuse injuries during the season. Mental fortitude and discipline Throughout the regular season, athletes have a coach standing over their shoulder telling them what to do much of the time. That’s not the case in the off-season. By taking the initiative, athletes can develop mental fortitude and toughness, as well as the determination and ability to overcome challenges. This mental conditioning can be just as crucial as physical conditioning when it comes to performing under pressure during the regular season. 14 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023June/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 15y > Learning Curves Learning Curves I wanted to take this opportunity to invite you to meet Conti Law’s newest associate, Laurel Krajewski. Laurel comes to us with an impressive litigation history and will be expanding her expertise to include the intricacies of estate planning and administration. I thank all of our loyal readers for the support you’ve shown over the years and hope it continues as Conti Law expands. ~ Michele Conti, Founder, Conti Law Prepping your family for your death: How to make a difficult time easier for your loved ones BY LAUREL KRAJEWSKI , CONTI LAW Laurel Krajewski graduated magna cum laude with her B.A. in Political Science & Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh. She received her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. While in law school, Krajewski received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Foundations of Legal Research and Law of Armed Conflict. She also served as the business manager and treasurer for Pitt Law Women’s Association. She and Michele Conti can be reached at (724) 784-0239. Talking about what you want to happen at the end of your life is difficult and emotional. Most people are uncomfortable when confronted with their own mortality or the fact that mom and dad won’t be around one day. That’s why it’s important to think about what you want to happen to you when you pass away and to either write down or discuss your wishes with your family. Doing this helps to not only ensure that your loved ones aren’t left guessing when you pass away, but that your wishes are also honored. Making decisions about what you want to happen at the end of your life, including your funeral decisions, are difficult, and each person is different. It is important to make sure that your family knows what your wishes are so that they can meet them. Talking to an estate planning attorney to prepare a Healthcare Power of Attorney and talking about your wishes with your loved ones can make a difficult time much less stressful for your family. How do I make it easier for my family to make end of life healthcare decisions on my behalf? Dying can be sudden or a process of the family making many different medical decisions on your behalf. Many people realize that there are so many things that they didn’t talk to their families about when making end of life medical decisions. Did mom want tube feedings? Would dad have wanted to be placed on life support? Why won’t the doctors share mom’s status with her kids? These are all issues that can be planned for ahead of time, whether you are comfortable talking to your family about your preferences or not. Most people benefit from having a Healthcare Power of Attorney and Living Will. This document tells the person you appoint what you would have wanted if you could make the decision yourself and what goals you have for end of life and your funeral. Many people find relief in knowing that they made the decisions that you would have made if you could have spoken for yourself. What can make these decisions even less complicated for your loved ones is to have a conversation about your goals. Talking these things out, even just once, can help clear up a lot of confusion. If you are comfortable discussing these issues, it is best to have an ongoing conversation about your goals to make sure your loved ones know if your opinions and feelings ever change. How do I make sure that my family knows what I want to happen to me upon my death? Funeral planning can be full of stressful decisions. It can be difficult to figure out what someone wants done with their remains and where they want their remains to be located. Some people wish to be cremated and some wish to have their remains buried in a specific cemetery plot. Some wish to have a traditional wake and burial while others lean more toward a celebration of life. Many funeral homes will allow you to pre-select elements of your funeral, including the type of service, burial plot, casket or urn. If you do choose to pre- select elements of your funeral, you can keep information about your selections with your Will and Power of Attorney documents to ensure that the information is easy to find. Even if you are not quite ready to go to a funeral home and pre-plan a funeral, you can include information about your wishes in your Healthcare Power of Attorney or along with your Will and Power of Attorney documents to ensure that your family has a good idea of what you want. Most funeral homes and banking institutions will also give you the ability to put money into an account specifically for funeral expenses or to pre-pay for the funeral that you have pre-planned. (724) 784-0239 contilawpgh.com A word from the Founder of Conti Law... 16 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023y > Learning Curves Learning Curves Spring has finally sprouted. Baseball season is here. School has ended or will end soon. It’s the time of year for change, for students, families and businesses alike. Do you know a recent grad? Are you looking for a career change? Are you a helper to someone who is changing jobs? At Express, change is a constant as we help job seekers find their passion during all seasons of their work-life journey. When I think about the extremely high number of job openings in our region, I ponder how we, as individuals, can help others incorporate what they like or love into their career choices. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines passion as “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.” Passions are often things you would love to do constantly, like traveling, perhaps. Sometimes our passion is something we would love to do for work. What a gift that can be, and what a gift we can give others by helping them discover their passion in a first or new job. I am passionate about work, gardening and travel. I recently had the opportunity to travel to Greece with the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce travel program. Greece was wonderful. The experiences shared with my travel friends and making new friends reinforced my desire to travel more. Our expert travel guide, Nikki, exemplified working and living her passion as she shared her knowledge about Athens, Mycenae, Corinth, Olympia and more. She led us on six tours and engagingly helped us learn and understand many facts about the country and its rich history. Nikki was always “on” and could easily deliver a prepared topic and field a question at a moment’s notice. From childhood, Nikki wanted to be a travel agent. Now she leads tours internationally. She is an active learner who loves what she does and who she does it with! On the way home, knowing the Munich airport was about to go on strike, we were a little concerned about the impact on service. Yet, their agents guided us through passport control and the security queue with professionalism, kindness and patience. On the contrary, Newark Airport personnel shouted at us as we entered a queue, “People, read the signs.” There was no personalization or care in how they interacted with us. Traveling can be tiresome and make directions a little harder to follow. The kind of assistance we receive impacts the experience. Can you find a way to share your stories and feelings about how others impacted you with their passion? I challenge you to think about how you can help a student or someone looking for a new career to uncover their passion. Ask questions that result in answers that bring out the light in their eyes and get them talking excitedly about their interests or desire to learn more about a new skill. Maybe they can find their passion in one of the many opportunities that exist today: • Skilled trades like welding, maintenance, CNC machining and carpentry. • Office services like administrative assistant, dispatcher, data entry and customer service. • Professional positions such as project coordinator, automation engineer, health and safety administrator, and more. The opportunities are endless and if not a new job, additional education or the military can help individuals find their way. Help others be like Nikki. Congratulations to the graduates and those who are experiencing change. Make a change for the right reasons and the right feelings. “To thine own self be true.” Helping others find passion in their work BY DEB GRAY, EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS PITTSBURGH WEST Deb Gray is the owner of Express Pittsburgh West, which has offices in Robinson Township and Monaca. Whether you’re a job seeker or employer, Express can help. Call them at (412) 494-2000 or visit ExpressPros.com/WPittsburghPA. June/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 1718 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023N Your SchoolsYour Schools STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY PHOTOS SUBMITTED Pittsburgh Technical College Congressman Chris Deluzio hears a lot about the need for workers in the trades in his district. In fact, he hears it from just about every sector. “We hear about it in healthcare, we hear about it from manufacturing trades, service workers,” he says. “We hear it from many of the highly skilled trades.” It’s a need that isn’t unique to Deluzio’s district, which encompasses the West Allegheny community. Across the country, there’s been a great reshuffling in the workforce in recent years, as 50 million people left their jobs in search of opportunities elsewhere and millions of people retired altogether. That trend exacerbated a skills gap in many trades where older workers had been approaching retirement age and not enough younger workers were stepping up to fill those roles. Deluzio says federal policies that incentivized the outsourcing of manufacturing overseas haven’t helped the situation. The good news for the Pittsburgh region is that there are resources for training workers to fill those in-demand jobs. “I think our region is lucky in that we have strong apprenticeship programs with unions in the trades and training at trades schools,” says Deluzio. “It’s not a small thing.” Among the trade schools in Deluzio’s district is Pittsburgh Technical College. Located just outside of Oakdale in North Fayette Township, the college offers training in a wide variety of in-demand fields. Its courses range from nursing, to HVAC, IT, criminology, electronics, welding, hospitality, culinary arts, business and more. In all, the school offers courses across 25 programs of study, and awards both associate and Bachelor of Science degrees. At one time a for-profit drafting school, PTC has evolved over the past 75 years to meet the changing needs of the economy. According to PTC President and CEO Dr. Alicia B. Harvey-Smith, the school boasts a 96% in- field placement rate, with 75% of graduates remaining in the area. The school also estimates that two-thirds of its graduates from 2015 to 2020 have contributed over $89 million to the regional economy. Dr. Harvey-Smith says one of the school’s biggest hurdles to training students has been the cost of tuition, as 90% of those who apply to the school need some form of financial assistance. Because PTC is a private nonprofit institution, and doesn’t receive public funding, the assistance it can offer is limited. To that end, the school formed a new foundation earlier this year to fund financial aid for students. It has also secured several prestigious grants in recent years, including four National Science Foundation grants worth $5.9 million. Earlier this year, Deluzio helped the school secure another $3.7 million that will aid PTC as it looks to expand access and develop the workforce. The funds were awarded to the school through the Employee Retention Tax Credit program included in the CARES Act. The legislation, which was first signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2020, allows ERTC funds to be awarded to employers that retained workers during COVID-19. Dr. Harvey-Smith says the funds will help PTC back scholarships and support services for students, as well as to retain workers and fund initiatives aimed at training students for in-demand jobs in Allegheny County. “At Pittsburgh Technical College, one of our top strategic priorities is to expand access to higher education for all students in our region through scholarships and grants,” says Dr. Harvey-Smith. “These funds strengthen our ability to serve our mission of providing comprehensive access to advanced technical education.” PTC first applied for the funds in the summer of 2021 but had yet to receive them before Deluzio intervened on the school’s behalf. The congressman says the funds paid to the school represent the initial amount originally requested plus interest. After announcing the release of the funds, Deluzio toured PTC, where he met with students and faculty. He says he sees trade schools like PTC continuing to play a significant role in developing the area’s workforce. “These are not easy jobs,” he says. “They require training in the classroom and on the job. We see that across the region. It’s really important to our region and makes it attractive to investment.” He points out that the White House also recently identified Pittsburgh as one of five cities in the U.S. where federal legislation has made trades training a priority. The Biden administration has designated those five cities as Workforce Hubs, which it defines as cities where workers will be needed to fill jobs incentivized by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. The pieces of legislation have been aimed at infrastructure improvement, construction of renewable energy resources, semiconductor manufacturing and other projects. For more about Pittsburgh Technical College, visit ptcollege.edu. Congressman Deluzio helps PTC secure $3.7 million to bolster trades training ABOVE: Congressman Chris Deluzio tours Pittsburgh Technical College on April 10 with school President and CEO Dr. Alicia B. Harvey-Smith. BELOW: While there, Deluzio visited classrooms and met with instructors. June/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 19Next >