RIDGWAY — Workforce Solutions for North Central PA Inc. was awarded funding from the PA Department of Labor and Industry to support the 2020 State/Local Internship Program (PA SLIP) in the six county region of Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter counties.

With a regional unemployment rate of 6.82% (January 2020) and a looming population crisis creating a threat of a labor force shortage, the SLIP internship is a great strategy to assist in retaining young people and making them aware of the career opportunities in their own backyard.

The goal of SLIP is to expose youth to the career opportunities in the local region that will encourage them to stay or return after high school or post-secondary education providing employers with a workforce into the future.

Eligible employers include for-profit and/or non-profit employers. Eligible interns must be between the ages of 16 and 24. The internship must pay a minimum of $10.35 per hour and be at least an 8-week experience for 35-40 hours per week. Recruitment of interns will be up to each individual employer. Employers will be reimbursed for 65% of the wages paid to each approved internship at a minimum of $10.35 per hour for eight weeks. The employer match requirement this year is the remaining 35% of the intern’s wage.

Employers must complete an application for each internship position and submit to Workforce Solutions scunningham@ncwdb.org. The application and criteria can be found on Workforce Solutions website at https://workforcesolutionspa.com (under Resources/Employer Resources).

Funding is still available for this program and applications are currently being accepted. The program will run through Oct. 30. Anyone with questions is asked to contact Workforce Solutions at 814-245-1835 or email scunningham@ncwdb.org.