President Obama has declared parts of Pennsylvania disaster areas after Tropical Storm Lee caused massive flooding damage throughout much of the state and Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties are included in the Disaster Declaration.

If you live in an area that was hit by Lee you may qualify for federal assistance, which could include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured or under insured property losses and other other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the flooding.

Click here to view a fact sheet regarding Tropical Storm Lee.

The Youth Council of the Luzerne/Schuylkill Workforce Investment Board held a TANF Youth Services Pre-Proposal Bidder’s Conference on Wednesday, August 10, 2011. Providers have been asked to submit proposals to operate programs for youth ages 5-18 and qualified by TANF guidelines. The special focus of this funding is on programs for youth in grades five through eight. The programs intent must be to address identified youth who are reading and/or have math skills below grade level. Programs should concentrate on literacy, career awareness/exploration, financial literacy, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) awareness. TANF eligibility must be determined prior to programs commencement. Pre and post assessment measures are required. The program period is from 9/15/11 - 6/30/12.

Please click the following link to view the minutes of the Pre-Proposal Bidder’s Conference:
TANF Youth Services Pre-Proposal Bidder's Conference

(HAZLETON, PA, July 18, 2011) – The NEPA Logistics and Transportation Industry Partnership, funded through the Luzerne/Schuylkill Workforce Investment Board, held a Comprehensive Safety Analysis seminar during its end of the year meeting on July 8 at Top of the 80s restaurant in West Hazleton.

The partnership’s goal is to align economic and workforce development programs to meet the skill needs of logistics and transportation industry companies and the career goals of workers and to attract and retain quality employers in the northeastern Pennsylvania region.

HAZLETON, PA, June 24, 2011) – The Pennsylvania CareerLink® center in Hazleton has completed its second installment of a successful employment program.

On Friday, nine people graduated from the center’s ESL Warehouse program, which prepares participants for jobs in the warehouse industry. The 285-hour course focuses on topics specific to warehouse employment in addition to teaching English communication skills. On Friday, the graduates of the program earned their completion certificates.

Click here to download the Commuting Patterns Report.

Click here to download the LUZERNE-SCHUYLKILL
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT AREA FAST FACTS.

Click here for the Regional Data downloads page
for more useful information about our area.