New opportunities help the next generation stay in Western Pennsylvania
Students in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, are making the most of skills training to explore new paths and prepare for a re-energized future. Emma McDonald is one of those students. With generational roots in Beaver County, she is excited about her future career in the place she calls home.
Watch! Powering Progress with opportunities
Working hard has always been in my family. It's in my blood.
Twenty-year-old Emma McDonald’s Beaver County roots extend several generations. Growing up on her family farm, she prides herself on a strong work ethic and knowing more random farming facts than the average person.
When the steel industry collapsed, Beaver County lost 20,000 jobs. The area found it hard to recover. Emma knew she wanted to stay in Western Pennsylvania and contribute to the future of her community, but career options were limited.
"Growing up, it didn’t seem like there were a lot of opportunities for jobs or even education here in Beaver County,” McDonald says. “Life was a bit difficult whenever the steel mills shut down and different industries kind of went away."
In communities impacted by the decline in domestic manufacturing, pride, strong will, and determination to rebuild are creating opportunities for a re-invigorated workforce to find new careers in ultra-modern manufacturing, technology, and more.
When opportunity meets preparation
Harnessing their generational work ethic, the McDonald family chose to stay and fight for a brighter future. When Shell opened a 384-acre plastics plant just outside Monaca, Pennsylvania – smack-dab in the middle of Beaver County – the McDonalds, like so many others in the community, saw an opportunity for their hard work and determination to pay off.
Nearly a decade in the making, the plant signaled new investment in a community primed for a re-energized future. The plant, Shell Polymers Monaca, will produce an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of polyethylene pellets used by Shell’s customers to create products that we see and use every day – including common household goods, consumer and food packaging, and industrial and utility products.
Developing the workforce
Shell Polymers Monaca employs roughly 600 associates, and Emma hopes to eventually be one of them. After Shell gave a presentation at her high school, she decided to attend CCBC, where she now studies at the Shell Center.
A straight-A student, Emma is learning crucial skills for becoming a process technician or operator. She hopes to secure a well-paid, skilled career at the Monaca plant when she graduates.
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