Local Leaders Celebrate Official Opening of Citizens Bank Regional Maritime Training Center

New Southwest Philadelphia facility offers enhanced training opportunities to thousands in maritime industry

via Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Philadelphia, October 3, 2019 —

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 today. Citizens Bank Chairman and CEO Bruce Van Saun cut the ribbon on the new facility, located at 3062 South 61st Street in Southwest Philadelphia. He also announced an additional $75,000 investment to expand training opportunities for maritime industry personnel.

“We are proud to support the Citizens Bank Regional Maritime Training Center and its continued expansion to serve the maritime industry,” said Bruce Van Saun, Chairman and CEO, Citizens Bank. “Providing the region with its first formalized maritime training program will help elevate the local workforce and drive economic growth.”

“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 $75,000 investment announced by Citizens Bank today is in addition to the $100,000 the bank provided last year to help create the center. The added 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.

“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. “Public-private partnerships of this kind are what make our city so special and serve as the key to our growth and prosperity.”

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, has developed the curriculum for the training center. This training provides workers with the opportunity to get certified and recertified in operating motorized equipment routinely used in and around the port. 45 people have taken advantage of programming at the center since it began its offerings during the summer while more than 200 employees have signed up for trainings and certification programs this fall.

“Our programming has gotten off to a successful start and we are looking forward to continued growth as more workers take advantage of our offerings,” said Dr. L. Joy Gates Black, President of Delaware County Community College and Chair of the Collegiate Consortium. “Being able to formalize the education process for the port will help provide it with a pipeline to skilled workers, giving it a competitive edge.”

Other important partners include Philadelphia Works, the city’s workforce development board, has helped fund and overseen training services at the center. PhilaPort, the independent agency charged with managing and maintaining port facilities along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, has also played a critical role in this initiative.

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.

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 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 one 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 community colleges (Bucks County Community College and Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania), 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.

About Philadelphia Works
Philadelphia Works is the city’s Workforce Development Board, investing in solutions and services to grow Philadelphia’s economy by connecting employers to workforce talent and career seekers to jobs. We influence the public policies that support economic growth, and optimize funding and resources to invest in regional solutions to build a skilled and thriving workforce.