Local Leaders Celebrate Official Opening of Citizens Bank Regional Maritime Training Center
(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA • October 3, 2019)—Today, local leaders, including Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, joined Citizens Bank, the Collegiate Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, PhilaPort, and Philadelphia Works to celebrate the official opening of the Citizens Bank Regional Maritime Training Center.
Citizens Bank Chairman and CEO Bruce Van Saun cut the ribbon on the new facility, located at 3062 South 61st Street in Philadelphia. He also announced an additional $75,000 investment to expand training opportunities for maritime industry personnel. The $75,000 investment is in addition to $100,000 the bank provided last year to help create the center.
“We are proud to support the Citizens Bank Regional Maritime Training Center and its continued expansion to serve the maritime industry,” Van Saun said. “Providing the region with its first formalized maritime training program will help elevate the local workforce and drive economic growth.”
The additional funding will help expand training for maritime industry personnel to include additional immersive classroom, simulator-based and hands-on learning opportunities designed to improve safety, efficiency and productivity.
“We thank Citizens Bank and our other partners for enabling us to go forward with this wonderful initiative,” said Dr. L. Joy Gates Black, Chair of the Collegiate Consortium, and President of Delaware County Community College. “The training provided by the Center is tailored to the regional needs of labor and industry, will increase the global competitiveness of Greater Philadelphia’s maritime industry, and will support good family-sustaining wage jobs.”
The Collegiate Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, which includes Bucks County Community College, Camden County College, Community College of Philadelphia, Delaware County Community College, Montgomery County Community College and Drexel University, developed the curriculum for the training center. Among other things, the training provides workers with the opportunity to become certified or recertified in operating motorized equipment routinely used in and around the port. Thus far, 45 people have taken advantage of training at the center, and more than 200 employees are scheduled to be trained this fall.
Citizens Bank’s substantial investment in the center represents a long-term commitment the bank has made to give back to the communities it serves through the Citizens Helping Citizens initiative. Citizens Helping Citizens Strengthening Communities is one component of this program, which is focused on giving back by investing in resources that create solutions to the toughest challenges in our neighborhoods: economic development, job training, small business development, affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization.
“We at Citizens Bank have made a commitment to providing workforce development opportunities to the communities we serve,” said Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, President of Citizens Bank, Mid-Atlantic Region. “By bringing all of these crucial partners together to create this program, we can ensure that workers have the skills needed to keep the maritime industry thriving.”
The Philadelphia ports serve one of the most densely populated areas in the country, with approximately 27 million people located within 100 miles. PhilaPort is the independent agency charged with managing and maintaining port facilities along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania and is a critical partner in this initiative. Other important partners include Philadelphia Works, the city’s workforce development board, which has helped fund and has overseen training services at the center.
“With the official opening of the Citizens Bank Regional Maritime Training Center, we are making good on our commitment to expand opportunities at the port,” said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. “This investment will help support family-sustaining jobs and elevate our region’s position as a leader in the maritime industry. Public-private partnerships of this kind are what make our city so special and serve as the key to our growth and prosperity.”
About the Collegiate Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development
Established in 1994 as the Shipyard College to provide education and training to displaced workers of the closing Philadelphia Naval Base and Shipyard, the organization initially was comprised of three area community colleges (Delaware County Community College and Community College of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania and Camden County College in New Jersey) and Drexel University to leverage the region’s expertise in various areas of training. Several years later, the organization was renamed to its present moniker and expanded to include two additional Pennsylvania community colleges (Bucks County Community College and Montgomery County Community College), bringing the total to five community colleges and one university. This collaboration of institutions of higher education serves the needs of regional employers to upgrade the skills of incumbent workers as well as to provide training to new hires. To date, over 20,000 area workers have been served. For more information about the Consortium, see: collegiateconsortium.org.
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $162.7 billion in assets as of June 30, 2019. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions.
Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 2,900 ATMs and approximately 1,100 branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate, institutional and not-for-profit clients a full range of wholesale banking products and services, including lending and deposits, capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest rate products, and asset finance. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
About PhilaPort
PhilaPort, The Port of Philadelphia, is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of port facilities along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district. PhilaPort works with its terminal operators to improve its facilities and to market those facilities to prospective port users around the world. Port cargoes and the activities they generate are responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.
About Philadelphia Works
Philadelphia Works, Inc. is the City’s Workforce Development Board. We are a quasi-public, non-profit organization serving both career seekers and employers. We invest public resources in a variety of workforce solutions. These solutions connect Philadelphia residents with employment and training opportunities and help employers find, grow, and retain local talent. For more information about our dedicated board members and staff, workforce news, labor market data, services, innovative initiatives, and current opportunities to connect, please visit www.philaworks.org.
Photo Caption (from left):
- Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney
- Patrick Eiding, President, Philadelphia AFL/CIO
- President/CEO Philadelphia Works Inc. Patrick Clancy
- Dan Fitzpatrick, President, Citizens Bank Mid-Atlantic Region
- Dr. L. Joy Gates Black, Chair Collegiate Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development (CCWED), & President of Delaware County Community College
- Bruce Van Saun, Chairman & CEO of Citizens Bank
- U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon
- Rich Lazer, Philadelphia Deputy Mayor of Labor (behind Congresswoman Scanlon)
- Dr. Donald Generals, CCWED Trustee, & President of Community College of Philadelphia
- Jeff Theobald, CEO of PhilaPort
- Daniel Astolfi, Citizens Bank EVP and Commercial Banking Executive
- State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler
- Dave Saunders, Business Agent, International Longshoremen’s Association
- Rocky Bryan Jr., President, Teamsters Local 929
