LCCC President Yudichak Applauds Amazon's $20B Data Center Investment in Pennsylvania

Luzerne County Community College President John Yudichak responded positively to Amazon's announcement about the new data center in northeastern Pennsylvania, emphasizing the potential benefits for the local community and economy.*

"I applaud the work of Governor Josh Shapiro and the region's state legislators who have championed effortsto attract billions of dollars in economic investment from global technology companies, like Amazon/AWS,that will create thousands of new jobs in northeastern Pennsylvania," said John Yudichak, President of Luzerne County Community College.

As the former State Senator and Chairman of the Pennsylvania State Senate Community, Economic, andRecreational Development Committee, President Yudichak worked on the passage of Act 25 of 2021 thatestablished data center tax exemption to serve as a economic incentive to attract data center development to Pennsylvania. At the time of the passage of the data center tax exemption, Steve DelBianco, President andCEO of NetChoice, a trade association of America's leading online businesses, said, "This [tax incentive] puts Pennsylvania on top of the list of states whose tax policies embrace the investment and jobs that come withlarge-scale data centers.""Luzerne County Community College stands at the ready to be the region's workforce development pipelineby producing the necessary technology and skilled trade workers to meet the demands of a 21st-century Pennsylvania economy through its new Career & Technology Academy, its Applied Technology Programs, and the new LCCC Microcredential Academy," said John Yudichak, President of Luzerne County Community College.

With the support of a $1 million Dual Credit Innovation grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the generous $100,000 scholarship gift from entrepreneur William Rinaldi, LCCC recentlylaunched its Career & Technology Academy-- a first-of-its kind opportunity for more than 2,000 high schoolsstudents in the Hazleton Career Center, the Wilkes-Barre Career and Technical Center, and the West SideCareer and Technical Center to earn a college degree or credential while still in high school.

"Governor Shapiro's higher education reforms have inspired Luzerne County Community College to developinnovative educational partnerships with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, thePennsylvania Commission on Community Colleges, and with local career and technical high schools toestablish the most accessible, most affordable pathways for Pennsylvanias to earn a college degree or post-secondary credential and build a career in a high wage, high demand profession," said John Yudichak,President of Luzerne County Community College.