Nancy Dischinat, the СŷƵ’s workforce development guru for several decades, has died, just months after she announced her retirement.
Dischinat, 79, executive director for since 1998, died Saturday.
Dischinat, who lived in Moore Township, was the face of the Workforce Board, appearing at business events across the СŷƵ and giving updates on the state of jobs in the region with a folksy charm. One of her last appearances was at the Greater СŷƵ Chamber of Commerce’s СŷƵ Manufacturers Forum on Oct. 1.
During that speech, she asked businesses to give younger workers a chance to fill their openings. Dischinat was passionate about helping emerging professionals entering the job market for the first time.
“We need their engagement in the workforce to meet the demand,” she said. “It’s our responsibility to inform them of the jobs and the career pathways and manufacturing, we need to be more creative manufacturers. We’re very willing to help you.”
Dischinat worked for Whitehall Township before moving to the chamber to help with an apprenticeship program.
Her proudest accomplishment was creating the workforce development system in the region, she told СŷƵ after her retirement announcement. The system includes job listings and data to point employees and employers in the right direction.
“My goal is every employer in the СŷƵ has a career pathway on their website so the young kids can look at it and say, ‘Oh, I might like that,’ because the data tells us that’s where we’re getting our workforce,” Dischinat said.
Those who worked alongside her over the last few decades spoke highly of the woman who helped shape the workforce system in the region.
Tony Iannelli, president and CEO of Greater СŷƵ Chamber of Commerce, said Dishcinat was an amazing woman who always gave 150%.
“She was relentless in her efforts to make the СŷƵ a better place,” he said. He worked with her since she was leading workforce development for Private Industry Council, which became Workforce Board.
Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong said Dischinat worked with her in the 1970s, when they both worked in Whitehall. He continued to work with her for the next few decades.
“She lit up a room whenever she entered it,” he said, adding that she had a bubbly personality.
She was entertaining, he said, but added that she got the job done. The amount of grants she got for her program was unbelievable, Armstrong said.
“You can’t think of CareerLink without Nancy,” he said.
“Nancy was a mentor to a lot of women growing in their careers, including me,” СŷƵ Planning Commission Executive Director Becky Bradley said. “For the longest time, we were among the only female regional directors in the СŷƵ. We’ve had a bond and a partnership, to the point where the Workforce Board and LVPC now share an economist position that was created entirely because we agreed how important it would be to this region’s growing economy. Nancy was a role model who built quite a legacy.”
Don Cunningham, president and CEO of СŷƵ Economic Development Corp., said in July that Dischinat played a significant role in the Valley’s economic success.
“The СŷƵ’s economy is growing because of the region’s partnership-based approach to attracting and developing the talent that employers need,” said Cunningham, who worked with Dischinat on the Workforce Board and as Lehigh County executive.
“Nancy’s longstanding, passionate commitment to workforce development in the СŷƵ has played a leading role in those efforts, positioning our region for success.”
Dischinat , Charles R. Dischinat, and granddaughters, Aubrey Anne Bartholomew and her fiance, Austin Pelliciari, and Abbygail Jennifer Bartholomew. She was predeceased by her daughter, Jennifer Bartholomew.
