Advanced manufacturing is on the rise in Appalachia, with multiple large-scale projects boosting the industry in recent years alone. Meanwhile, there has also been a focus on helping manufacturers adapt to the new energy economy.

Pittsburgh-based ARC grantee Catalyst Connection is leading the charge in both aspects—training workers for in-demand advanced manufacturing jobs, while also helping small- to medium-sized manufacturers operate more cleanly and efficiently.

Across the region, many small- and medium-sized manufacturers lack the capacity to participate in the supply chains for green energy production or green products manufacturing. Appalachian manufacturers and energy providers seeking to pivot to greener models face difficulties in post-COVID supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, increasingly dated facilities and technology, and lack of availability of training in said technology.

By using more than $12 million in ARC funds for two innovative projects, Catalyst Connection is revitalizing manufacturing in Central and Northern Appalachia.

Forging Your Future

Many industry partners point to a need for highly qualified workers throughout the region. In order to develop a robust and trained advanced manufacturing workforce, Catalyst Connection will use $2 million in POWER funds for its Forging Your Future project.

Through a three-pronged training strategy, Catalyst Connection and its partners will prepare Appalachians for advanced manufacturing careers in sectors like clean energy, robotics, automation and machine learning, and the national defense supply chain.  

• Students in the first stage of their advanced manufacturing career journeys can complete a pre-apprenticeship program and be eligible to start manufacturing jobs right out of high school.
• The trainees from the pre-apprenticeship programs and other job seekers can move directly into full-time, paid, on-the-job training through registered apprenticeships.
• Lastly, in the final stage, participants can attend state-of-the-art learning labs to deepen their knowledge of specialized sectors.

“Manufacturing in southwestern Pennsylvania is a $12 billion industry that employs almost 90,000 workers with average annual wages over $90,000,” said Catalyst Connection President and CEO Petra Mitchell. “Manufacturing jobs offer workers from hard-hit Appalachian communities hope and opportunities for family-sustaining wages, career pathways and community development. Each manufacturing job leads to another 2.6 jobs in the community. When manufacturing companies and workers succeed, everyone in the local community can benefit.”    

Manufacturing the New Energy Economy

Using $10 million in ARISE funds, Catalyst Connection’s Manufacturing the New Energy Economy project seeks to eliminate supply chain and other difficulties for small- and medium-sized manufacturers by establishing a “Next Manufacturing Task Force.” Comprised of ten Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) affiliates and regional non-profit ReImagine Appalachia, the collaborators are mapping and surveying the green energy and manufacturing markets and supply chains across Appalachian Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. 

“There are many resources and incentives to assist manufacturers in Appalachia to enter clean energy supply chains through federal, state, local and private agencies, but it can be a challenge for small businesses to find them and determine the best way to move forward,” said Catalyst Connection’s CEO Petra Mitchell. “This program guides manufacturers to these resources and helps each company map out the best path that will help them achieve their goals in this expanding clean energy economy.”

Partnership Makes it Possible

Catalyst Connection and its MEP affiliate partners – Maryland MEP, West Virginia MEP, New York MEP (FuzeHub), MAGNET, Innovative Manufacturing Center PA, Northeast Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center, Northwestern PA Industrial Resource Center, MANTEC, Manufacturers Resource Center, and ReImagine Appalachia – are providing technical assistance, training, supply chain mapping, factory and product upgrade guidance to over 1,000 renewable energy businesses.

The foundational improvements facilitated by the project will have lasting effects that vastly outlive the duration of the project itself, with over 20,000 jobs created or retained in the region, as well as putting Appalachia at the forefront of green industry and solutions to climate change. 

“These Bipartisan Infrastructure Law resources will empower the Appalachian Region to build on America’s manufacturing might, and the skills of our workforce, to build the clean and green sectors of the future,” said Mitchell. “When it comes to the industries and technologies needed to grow our local economies and keep this nation at the forefront, we intend to take the words ‘Made in Appalachia’ to new levels.”

We’re proud to support Catalyst Connection in its innovative work to bolster emerging Appalachian industries! 

Learn more about ARC’s $68.2 million POWER package announced on October 16, 2024, at the headquarters of POWER grantee Catalyst Connection in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which supports 65 economic diversification and revitalization projects in coal-impacted communities across 10 Appalachian states.