Mario Cavallaro was a sophomore in 2022 when he played a key role in Norwin’s PIHL Penguin Cup championship run.

He scored the game-winning goal in the finals on an assist from his brother, Anthony.

But Super Mario was far from finished.

Cavallaro went on to play for the South Hills Amateur Hockey Association 16U team, playing with a broken arm, mind you, that was protected by a hard cast.

He then joined the Ohio Blue Jackets 18U program before zeroing in on a college career.

Now a starter on the hockey team at South Florida, Cavallaro found a spot on the AAU D2 team as the youngest player on the roster (18).

As if that accomplishment wasn’t impressive enough, the freshman was the second-leading scorer on the team and finished top 10 in the league in assists and points.

Cavallaro had 15 goals and 24 assists in 27 games.

“I know it sounds conceited but yes, I did expect to have the season I did,” he said. “I’ve always went into hockey with a confident mindset as it allows me to do things that I would otherwise not think I could. My confidence allowed me to step up in big moments and be a contributing factor to the team.”

John Yudichak, President of Luzerne County Community College, said this week that for the past decade, Pennsylvania lost economic ground to states like Virginia. He said Virginia used creative economic incentives that built the largest data center market in the world that sustains 74,000 jobs and contributes $9.1 billion to the GDP of that state’s economy.

“It is not lost on me that Luzerne County, which played a central role in the industrial revolution with the production of coal, now stands to be a prominent player in the technological revolution as the epicenter of hyper-scale data center development that will fuel American dominance in artificial intelligence technologies,” Yudichak said.

On Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Amazon is planning to invest $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The governor said Amazon’s investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs.

The first communities identified as sites for these future campuses are Salem Township, Luzerne County, and Falls Township, Bucks County. Several additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration for data center development.

NEPA becomes target zone for data centers

John Augustine, President/CEO at Penn’s Northeast, said the close proximity of natural gas through the Marcellus Shale and the reliable and robust infrastructure of our utilities make our region one of the top spots in the United States.

Since Monday’s announcement by the governor, Augustine said he has received a half dozen calls from companies interested in locating data centers in NEPA.

“This is in addition, to the four that we are working with in Lackawanna County, three more in Luzerne County and another in Schuylkill County,” Augustine said.

Augustine said for every $26 dollars of tax revenue that a data center generates, they spend a $1 on servicing the center. He said each campus is providing millions of dollars in local and state revenue along with thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of high-tech, high-paying positions.

“The hyper-scale facility in Salem Township alone is a $10 billion dollar investment,” Augustine said. “Besides ongoing manufacturing, we are seeing the third wave of industrial development in Northeastern PA — coal, warehousing/distribution facilities and now data centers. Our region is poised to be a leader in the race for artificial intelligence infrastructure. This is a generational opportunity to provide huge tax revenue and high paying jobs for our residents.”

Community colleges performing critical role

Bucks County Community College President & CEO Dr. Patrick Jones spoke at the Amazon announcement, stressing a vision as more hyper-scale data centers are planned.

“Through a unique, consortium approach, we will be able to better focus on the needs of data centers and help ensure students are prepared with the knowledge and skills required for this unique sector,” Jones said. “We will collaborate to determine industry needs and share expertise and resources so that no matter where someone lives, one of our colleges will be able to help them attain the skills they need for success in this growing industry.”

Under the lead of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges (PACCC), Luzerne County Community College, Lehigh Carbon Community College, Northampton Community College and Bucks County Community College are joining forces to partner on a Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium in an expanded Northeast Region of Pennsylvania.

The PACCC collaboration will bring together these four community colleges to address workforce needs during the construction of hyper-scale data centers and the jobs needed once they are built.

As more hyper-scale data centers are constructed, other community colleges across the Commonwealth will join to expand the ADVANCEPA Technology & Trade Workforce Consortium.

Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium

Yudichak said there is no sector of higher education better equipped to adeptly respond to the changing workforce development demands of the technological revolution that is driving historic economic growth than Pennsylvania’s community colleges.

He said the three pillars planned by the Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium are:

Career & Technology Academy

An innovative regional partnership formed by community colleges and career and technical center high schools to create new pathways for career and technical center students to earn post-secondary credentials in technology and the skilled construction trades. The goal of a Career & Technology Academy is to serve under-served student populations in career and technical center high schools to build a consistent workforce pipeline of entry level technicians and skilled trade workers.

MicroCredential Academy

The MicroCredential Academy will rapidly develop post-secondary credential programming that makes upskilling career credentials for Pennsylvania workers efficient, cost-effective, and accessible. The goal of the MicroCredential Academy is to serve Pennsylvania workers where they live and work by identifying high demand industry clusters and providing online, mobile, and campus based microcrendential programming that empowers workers to advance to a high wage, high demand career.

Construction & Trade Pre-Apprenticeship Academy

The Construction & Trade Pre-Apprenticeship Academy will forge a strategic partnership the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trade Unions is to build a pre-apprenticeship pipeline of students who will learn from a foundational curriculum that will prepare them to enter union registered apprenticeship programs and secure employment in the skilled building and construction trade industry.

The goal of the Construction & Trade PreApprenticeship Academy is to promote, educate, and drive interest in students pursuing union apprenticeship programs to meet the growing demand for skilled trade workers in the Pennsylvania economy.

Yudichak said:

• Pennsylvania’s 15 community colleges collectively serve nearly 240,000 students annually through academic programing and workforce development training programs that focus on high demand and high wage jobs.

• Pennsylvania community colleges fuel regional economic growth and serve as the central workforce development pipeline in the Commonwealth with 90% of community college graduates going on to live and work in Pennsylvania after graduation.

• Pennsylvania’s community colleges partner with over 2,000 industries in the Commonwealth to align their academic and workforce development programing with a rapidly changing economy driven by technological innovation.

The Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium will strategically coordinate resources, avoid duplicative investments in equipment, and foster innovative college and industry collaborations that will streamline a fragmented workforce development system to deliver the highest quality workforce in Pennsylvania history, Yudichak said.

The Consortium will work with the State Board of Higher Education, federal and state agencies, Career and Technical Centers, high schools, Pennsylvania Construction & Trade Unions, and employers to ensure that curricula remain current and aligned with workforce needs to establish clear educational and career pathways for students, Yudichak said.

As the former state senator and chairman of the Pennsylvania State Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee, Yudichak said he worked on the passage of Act 25 of 2021 that established data center tax exemption to serve as a economic incentive to attract data center development to Pennsylvania.

He said as president of LCCC, he is honored to be working with the Pennsylvania State Board of Higher Education, the Shapiro Administration’s Department of Community & Economic Development, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Community Colleges to establish a historic workforce development partnership through the new Technology & Trades Workforce Consortium.

“This will be the central workforce development pipeline to supply thousands of new technology and skilled trade workers to meet the demand of Pennsylvania’s 21st century economy,” Yudichak said.