Governor Wolf’s Middle Class Task Force Kicks Off First Regional Roundtable
Government That Works, Press Release Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf’s Middle Class Task Force, a panel of business, labor, education and workforce development experts, today held the first of six regional roundtables to hear from Pennsylvanians about how to improve the lives of hard-working, middle class families.“This task force is bringing together a special combination of representatives for employers, workers, educators and students to listen to people across the commonwealth about how we can support and grow Pennsylvania’s middle class,” said Governor Wolf. “Our state is making progress by increasing education funding and expanding economic incentives and workforce training, but middle class families know we must do more.“It is important this task force hears from people on all sides so we can develop education, training and economic development opportunities to ensure middle class families can live and complete in the 21st century economy.”The governor appointed four chairmen to lead the task force: Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Gene Barr, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Assistant Vice Chancellor Dr. Sue Mukherjee, and Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association Chairperson Susie Snelick. Additional leaders from these constituencies will be invited to join these discussions as well.“With our prime location, diverse industry base and strong work ethic, Pennsylvania is uniquely poised for a host of economic opportunities,” said Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. “But despite these benefits, there are people without jobs, and there are good paying jobs without people to fill them. I’m excited to listen and meet with residents from across the commonwealth to discuss the challenges currently facing our state – including a growing jobs skills gap – and to work with my fellow task force members towards solutions that will help the middle class and Pennsylvania’s economy to thrive.”“This is an exciting opportunity for worker advocates, businesses, legislators and community organizations to come together to hear the concerns of working people,” said Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. “It is imperative for the future of Pennsylvania that we look ahead with the fullest understanding of the current realities working families face across our commonwealth. At a time when economic inequality is at the forefront of so many conversations, the Governor’s Middle-Class Task Force is a step toward understanding and growing opportunities for working people in the 21st century.”Over the next few weeks the task force will hold five additional regional discussions to listen to businesses leaders, workers, educators, students and others for suggestions on ways the commonwealth can better support working families to get and keep jobs, as well as to invest in education and training to make businesses in Pennsylvania more competitive.“By forming the task force, Governor Wolf is again helping us focus, individually and collectively, on a problem that matters,” said Dr. Sue Mukherjee, assistant vice chancellor with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. “At the State System, we believe that education is at the core of socio-economic mobility. We also know that our state continues to struggle with a mismatch among jobs, workers, and students. We need to learn more.“Governor Wolf’s Middle Class Taskforce will provide our education community the opportunity to learn directly from the families and regional businesses we serve so we can better catalyze pathways to economic security for all.”As the task force works to find common ground, Pennsylvania’s middle class and economy are changing, creating challenges for workers and businesses. Near full employment has caused a tight labor market and a shortage of workers in some industries along with the need to train workers to close the skills gap for the available in-demand jobs.“Governor Wolf’s Middle Class Task Force is an ideal forum for workers and employers statewide to collaborate on policy recommendations that support the governor’s ‘Jobs that Pay’ priority,” said Susie Snelick, chairperson of the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association. “I look forward to hearing from middle class workers and employers across the commonwealth about ways we can all help everyone succeed and sharing those suggestions with the governor.”Representing the Wolf administration on the task force are Department of Education Secretary Pedro Rivera, Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin, Acting Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak.The task force will present recommendations to the governor later this year. September 29, 2017 Governor Wolf’s Middle Class Task Force Kicks Off First Regional Roundtable
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With Syracuse down a goal and 30 seconds left in the first half, midfielder Loren Ziegler cut from left to right across the field with the ball, fell and fired a shot past Albany goalie Courtney Henderson.SU head coach Gary Gait greeted Ziegler with a smile and a fist bump, and Mallory Vehar said, “That was sick,” to her on the sideline. The goal was Ziegler’s fourth of the game and helped SU go into the locker room with the game tied.The rest of the No. 9 SU (11-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) offense converted on just three of its 11 first-half shots, but Ziegler stepped up. She scored four first-half goals, more than she had scored in her first three years at SU. The senior’s five tallies led the Orange to its 14-12 win over No. 19 Albany (11-3, 4-1 America East) on Senior Day in the Carrier Dome. Ziegler was one of just three Orange players to score in the first half.“Nothing like a senior stepping up on Senior Day like Loren Ziegler,” Gait said. “Five goals, a career high. Not a better day to do it.”Ziegler kicked off the scoring for the Orange. After SU goalie Kelsey Richardson made a save on a high shot, the Orange ran the length of the field. Attack Halle Majorana sent a pass from the left side of the Albany crease and attack Kayla Treanor couldn’t corral the pass on the right side. Instead she picked up the loose ball as it rolled away and fired it to Ziegler, who buried a shot from the front of the crease.AdvertisementThis is placeholder textWhen she was one-on-one with defenders, she used a jab step to draw defenders one way before she moved the other way. The move helped her get to the net. In the second half, she beat her defender and a foul sent her to the 8-meter arc for a free position.She buried the ensuing shot to give SU a 12-8 lead and, as she ran off the field, fist bumped associate head coach Regy Thorpe, and hugged teammate Ella Thorpe.Albany head coach John Battaglino said that the Great Danes played Ziegler well, and Albany players were positioned correctly, but Ziegler just managed to get her stick free from checks.“I don’t know if she missed, did she?” Battaglino said. “…You tip your hat to her.”Against Albany, Ziegler scored on both her free-position shots and five of her seven shots. As a team, the Orange has struggled to do both lately. SU had not converted above 45 percent of its shots in its last three games and scored on just seven of its 25 free-position shots. Ziegler’s efficient performance helped SU make half of its shots and more than half of its free positions.“I think it was all mental really,” Ziegler said. “I think just knowing that it’s Senior Day, it’s your last guaranteed home game in the Dome, you just gotta dig deep and just go hard.”Staff Writer Jon Mettus, jrmettus@syr.edu, contributed reporting to this story. Comments Published on April 19, 2015 at 5:59 pm Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati Facebook Twitter Google+
BUFFALO, N.Y. – One question facing baseball this season: Will cooler heads prevail? On Opening Day, the sport will doff the traditional wool cap in favor of a new polyester blend model designed to wick away sweat before it can stream down a player’s face. The change is part of commissioner Bud Selig’s focus on boosting player performance, a Major League Baseball official said, and follows a general trend toward moisture-managing “performance” materials in sports apparel. “We started to think, `How can those developments be applied to our headwear?”‘ said John DeWaal, vice president of brand communications at New Era Cap Co., the manufacturer that holds the cap contract. Among early supporters of the new cap is AL Rookie of the Year Justin Verlander, who got a preview while shooting a commercial for New Era. “They look exactly the same, they breathe more and they won’t shrink,” Verlander said. “The best thing is, when it rains, the hats won’t stink like the wool ones did.” In broaching the change, New Era was well aware of the 100 percent wool cap’s long-standing place in baseball history, DeWaal said. Aside from tweaks here and there – a switch from leather sweatbands to cloth in the 1980s, for example – this is the first major overhaul of the baseball cap since the current, six-panel model was adopted in 1954. “There’s a lot of tradition in baseball and we couldn’t completely go against that tradition so we always had that as a parameter,” DeWaal said, “but we wanted to take as open-minded a look at this as possible.” Steve Vucinich, equipment manager of the Oakland A’s, didn’t think there was anything wrong with the old caps when he began testing the new ones with the team’s pitchers about a year ago. 
“This one is just so much better,” he said after putting it through its paces atop Dan Haren, Joe Blanton, Huston Street and others. The key is the new cap’s ability to absorb sweat so that it can quickly evaporate. “The heat is from the inside of the cap where your head is,” Vucinich explained. “Before, it would just sweat to the band and it would drip kind of toward the bill but drip off there. Now the sweat goes out of the cap, even on top, and then it dries naturally.” There are also some changes to the cap’s underside. The piece under the visor, for example, has gone from gray to black to reduce reflection and glare from the sun and stadium lights. The new caps will retail at about $32, up from the current $29, DeWaal said. 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set!