PHILADELPHIA, PA — A partnership among the 7×24 Exchange Greater Philadelphia Chapter, Netrality and Lincoln Tech is expanding efforts to develop the region’s data center workforce by exposing students to industry careers and increasing scholarship support for technical education.
The organizations hosted approximately 40 Lincoln Tech students on July 8 at Netrality’s data center at 401 N. Broad St., where students from the school’s HVAC and Electrical & Electronics programs toured the facility and learned about career opportunities in the growing mission-critical infrastructure sector.
The event comes as the data center industry faces increasing demand for skilled workers to support cloud computing, digital infrastructure and other technology services.
Students received presentations on the role data centers play in supporting digital services and explored career paths in operations, engineering, network architecture, controls and monitoring, and construction.
“Events like this give students a chance to see the industry firsthand and start building relationships with the people who could become their future colleagues,” Janine Repine, executive director of the 7×24 Exchange Greater Philadelphia Chapter, said. “As the demand for skilled talent related to data centers grows more important each day, partnerships like this one are how we make sure students are ready to step into these careers.”
The industry group also awarded a record $25,000 in scholarships during the event, providing five $5,000 awards to Lincoln Tech students. More than 20 students applied for the scholarships this year, reflecting growing interest in careers supporting data centers and other mission-critical facilities.
“This year marks the first time we’ve been able to award $25,000 in scholarships,” Scholarship Committee Chair Greg Vlassopoulos said. “Our goal is to continue expanding the program each year so we can help even more students pursue careers in this industry and strengthen the workforce for years to come.”
Lincoln Tech is also evaluating the addition of mission-critical industry coursework to its curriculum, a move that could provide students with a more direct pathway into data center and critical infrastructure careers.
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