Mike Lewis and Mike Sensenig, who, along with Ashley Glensor of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Michelle Rondinelli, make up the leadership team of the Workforce Together Initiative Network, do not hesitate to give each other credit for their roles in the fledgling organization.

"Mike (Sensenig) started all of this," notes Lewis.

"Mike (Lewis) was a natural to become the (chair of this leadership team)," chimed in Sensenig. "His advocacy with workforce development at The Factory (Ministries) made him a natural (choice)."

According to Sensenig, the group - which officially met for the second time on April 16 - has its roots in the fallout associated with COVID-19 restrictions. "It started from a realization after the pandemic that we were hearing the needs of the social service organizations and also hearing the needs of the employers who had no staff," recalled Sensenig, who added that representatives of businesses in the Pequea Valley School District (PVSD) area, PVSD representatives, and representatives of The Factory Ministries gathered when the group began meeting to discuss common issues around 2021. "We met a few times a year, and we realized one of the things we had some control over was future workforce and workforce development," said Sensenig, who went on to explain that workforce development is crucial to alleviating generational poverty.

The group soon partnered with PVSD and the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce primarily to form the First Choice Discovery Program, a work-based program offering career exploration and mentoring to every sophomore at Pequea Valley High School (PVHS). The discussion also inspired PVSD to provide a shuttle from the PVHS to businesses in Intercourse so students could get to their after-school jobs. Sensenig mentioned his own experience with the Intercourse Merchants Association, a network of businesses in Leacock Township. "(Lewis) wants to try to form the same thing for the whole PVSD," he said.

Lewis noted that as the group has gained structure and brought businesses and other entities from PVSD and surrounding areas to the table, a mission statement has been created. "The mission is to foster a network of businesses united to collaborate, connect, and innovate, creating meaningful solutions that positively impact the local community," said Lewis, who noted that the group falls under the Together Initiative Network (TIN) umbrella. "The goal is to set up that networking, collaboration, and ability to see things," he explained. The TIN mission is to alleviate poverty in the PVSD area, but Lewis made it clear that being part of TIN does not necessarily equate to finding jobs for struggling members of the community. "If jobs come from this, awesome, but it's looking at retention and caring for employees and meeting them where they are," said Lewis. "The idea is as businesses positively impact the community, that is going to help alleviate poverty and create retention."

Sensenig agreed. "We are going to help people get jobs, but the reality is, we are going to help those who have jobs, keep their jobs and that's what our whole emphasis is," he stated, adding that businesses invest heavily in new employees with the hopes that they will remain with the company for a significant time. "We need to find a way to increase retention," said Sensenig.

Adam Nagle, executive director of The Factory, has hoped to see businesses more involved in TIN since he joined The Factory staff. "I have always believed that strong businesses are part of a strong community," he said. "That's crucial." He went on to note that bringing together businesses with the school district and other community representatives is essential to enhancing life in the area. "We are all connected and related," he stated, pointing out that business decisions impact local youths in ways that are not always easy to see. "When we think about the issues our community is facing it's so important to have business leaders there," he stated.

Lewis hopes to bring business leaders together to exchange both problems and solutions. "The goal is to create a space where business leaders in our area can look at the current issues," he said. "The structure of this allows for sharing what is going on in our places of business so that the commonalities of challenges and struggles and solutions are coming to the table." Lewis added that he hopes the dynamic will "allow collaborative energy together in the same industry or cross industry to create partnerships that bring big changes and impact the PVSD area."

The group, which is open to businesses in Intercourse, Paradise, and Gap, located in Leacock, Salisbury, and Paradise townships, meets quarterly. Currently, representatives of about 10 area businesses attend. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16, at The Factory, 3293 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise. Readers who wish to attend or learn more may email mike@thefactorministries.com or call 717-256-1643.