Stanley P. Brozana Jr., 72 – Served 37 Years as Orwigsburg Police Chief
In Schuylkill County, like nearly everywhere else in the U.S., there is a high demand for HVAC professionals. However, there’s a lack of talent to fill the jobs available.
That’s where a new program offered by Schuylkill Technology Center-North Campus comes in. Earlier this month, school and other local officials celebrated the launch of a new HVAC program at the school. It’s set to begin on Jan. 25, 2025.
For students in the new HVAC program, it’s an opportunity to get an education, graduate, and walk out the doors to the school and into a new, high-paying career.
“I think career and technical education has a responsibility to meet the demands of industry,” says Shannon Brennan, STC’s Assistant Executive Director and Career and Technical Education Director. “HVAC is on the in-demand occupation list and the high-priority occupation list for Schuylkill County. It’s definitely a need.”
Brennan adds that about 53% of STC graduates go right into an industry field upon graduation. But there’s an opportunity for STC students to start getting paid for work in the HVAC field before they even graduate.
STC has a co-op program with local companies like Antz Energy Systems Inc., Losch Services, and Leibold Inc. Prior to the start of the HVAC program, Leibold Inc. made a monetary donation to the program in the amount of $3,000. It also delivered a shipment of tools valued at $3798.75 contributed to STC by the Steamfitters Pipefitters & Plumbers United Association JATC Local 524.
According to Derek Bennett, the new HVAC instructor at STC-North, students in the co-op program will attend class one day a week and work (and get paid) Tuesday through Thursday. All a student has to do to enter the co-op program is complete 80% of their task list at school.
Brennan also says STC has a solid partnership with Thaddeus Stevens College, where graduates will go after high school and have the opportunity to “stack” their skills, maybe learning HVAC here and electrical there.
“It’s a great opportunity, especially in Schuylkill County, with this program,” Bennett says.
Bennett says the HVAC program is ideal for any student with a hard-working mentality. He says they learn as a group and take their time through the course work
Getting a Program Like HVAC Started
Starting a program like HVAC at STC isn’t as easy as snapping a finger. Brennan says there’s a process that begins with a stakeholder committee that must identify a prospective new program as a need.
After that, an occupational advisory committee – people specific to the prospective program – must also identify something as a need.
Assuming both those committees give a new program idea the go-ahead, Brennan then approaches Schuylkill County school district superintendents to convince them that the new program is something they should fund. The superintendents take the idea to their individual school boards, who must then OK it and budget for it.
If that all happens, STC gathers the program of study task list from the state’s Bureau of Career and Technical Education and converts it into a curriculum. That curriculum is then sent back to the state for approval.
Brennan says the state doesn’t approve the program until a teacher is hired locally.
In addition to all the administrative work, it also takes physical work to get a program like HVAC started. Equipment must be secured and space needs to be made. At STC’s Frackville campus, a social studies classroom and computer lab have been relocated to make room for the new HVAC workspace.
“It’s at least a two- to three-year endeavor,” Brennan says.
Plans going forward have STC offering an adult HVAC course. That could happen sooner if the school is awarded a grant through the PA Smart Innovation program. If it’s awarded that grant, the adult HVAC program could start within a year.
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