By Ann D. Bieber and John Yudichak
In Pennsylvania, we know how to work hard. Across generations, we have supported essential U.S. industries, from coal mining to steel to natural gas. Our region in Northeastern Pennsylvania has a legacy of developing the workers who have long powered the state’s economic growth and the nation’s industrial revolution.
Now, Pennsylvania faces what could be the greatest economic opportunity in our state’s history: the era of artificial intelligence and the monumental task of building out the digital infrastructure to support America’s global role as a technology leader.
This digital infrastructure superhighway, powered by data center development, is essential to our modern lives, from delivering affordable healthcare to strengthening the United States as a global military power. Pennsylvania has the workforce, experience and energy expertise to lead this moment. We need to ensure the digital infrastructure is built here and built by our state’s workforce.
We already have everything we need to be the world leader in the AI race, including important economic incentives to encourage developers to bring their dollars to our state. Combined with Pennsylvania’s leadership in energy production and workforce development, we are positioned to be the preferred partner in the construction of hyperscale data centers.
For Pennsylvania’s community colleges, this gives us an opportunity to build a leading workforce around a fast-growing industry, providing family-sustaining careers for Pennsylvanians. Our network of community colleges serves more than 240,000 students, producing graduates that fuel the state’s economy, with 90% staying to work in Pennsylvania.
It is these graduates that can fill the workforce gap and meet the demands of building Pennsylvania’s digital infrastructure. At Lehigh Carbon Community College and Luzerne County Community College, we are focused on ensuring our students are prepared to be a part of this economic growth, training them to be the workforce of the future. This is why we welcomed Amazon’s announcement of an investment of $20 billion in data center development in Pennsylvania.
Under the wider Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium, we will address workforce needs and help students reach high-paying jobs as electricians, HVAC technicians and other essential positions for data center construction and operations. The consortium is supported by four key Pennsylvania community colleges, including LCCC, Luzerne County Community College, Bucks County Community College, and Northampton Community College.
PA Works!, a statewide workforce development initiative led by the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, is advancing higher education models with the development of the Career and Technology Academy, the MicroCredential Academy, and the Building & Construction Trade Apprenticeship Readiness Academy at all 15 community colleges in Pennsylvania. Additionally, the TradesFutures Multi-Craft Core Curriculum provides construction apprenticeship pipelines for 14 community colleges in the state.
With a 2024 Pennsylvania Department of Education workforce report predicting an acute workforce shortage of necessary post-second credentials and the need for 300,000 skilled trade workers, it has never been more important to support pathways programs that build a skilled trade educational and workforce development ecosystem.
Pennsylvania community colleges are best positioned to lead in building advanced technology and skilled trade education programming, with affordability, accessibility and community guiding our higher education offerings. That spirit has led us to pursue collaborative partnerships that will streamline efforts to deliver a high-quality workforce development model in Pennsylvania.
Amazon has been a key partner in these efforts, helping build the foundation of real economic and workforce development in the state.
Our message to lawmakers, community leaders and business owners is simple: Pennsylvania’s economic future will be built by those who build the digital infrastructure that drives our modern economy. As leaders in our community, we should embrace meaningful collaboration with developers such as Amazon.
Strong collaboration among community colleges, developers and state policymakers offers a powerful path to meeting the workforce demands of the AI revolution and data center expansion. By uniting these key partners, our state can secure the defining economic opportunity of our generation — unlocking billions in investment, boosting GDP and tax revenue, and creating thousands of high-quality jobs.
This is a contributed opinion column. Ann D. Bieber is president of Lehigh Carbon Community College. John Yudichak is president of Luzerne County Community College and a former Pennsylvania state senator. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at mcall.com/opinion.