The coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to reimagine how they do their jobs, but for Nancy Dischinat, the pandemic has forced her to reimagine how everybody works. As executive director of the Workforce Board Lehigh Valley, Dischinat is responsible for the entire region's workforce—at a time when “work” looks much different than it used to.
“Our challenge is to reimagine workforce services to people who must work remotely and virtually, to provide business and industry with the on-site workforce they need to be able to produce their products while following CDC guidelines,” Dischinat says.
Dischinat, who came to the Lehigh Valley from Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, has devoted the better part of her life to building the Lehigh Valley's economy. With the Workforce Board, an extension of the U.S. Public Workforce System, she and her team work to identify the Valley's workforce development needs, and then work with local businesses to fill those needs.
“As one of their many functions, boards facilitate partnerships between local businesses with similar training needs,” Dischinat says. “I never lose sight that our main customer is business and industry.”
As part of the job, she has also met five U.S. Presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Despite the pandemic's financial fallout, Dischinat believes the Lehigh Valley will be able to bounce back stronger than ever. Even in a time of unprecedented economic turmoil, the Workforce Board Lehigh Valley remains open for business, she says. “We are in a period of not only pandemic and unease, but also in a period of reimagining and reinventing. After all, the Lehigh Valley is resilient; we are resilient.”
