The SEWN Network was launched in the Pittsburgh area in 1993 and had expanded to most of Western Pennsylvania.  Established by a broad coalition of business, labor and community leaders in response to economic hardships faced by Pennsylvania's small manufacturers and working families; the Network provides confidential, efficient operational and financial restructuring, turnaround, buyout and labor management services to firms-in-distress.

In 2005 and in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and several Workforce Investment Boards in Central Pennsylvania, the SVA opened an office in Harrisburg to provide SEWN services in the 25 counties served by the four Workforce Investment Areas of Berks, Lancaster, Central and South Central Pennsylvania.

In this program year 2009-2010, the PA DLI expanded our resources to cover an additional 13 counties comprising Northeastern Pennsylvania down through the Lehigh Valley.  The Network now manages retention services across a regional footprint of 62 counties covering Western, Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania assisting all industrial sectors; including steel, metals, electrical, industrial equipment, instruments and food/baking.

Funded primarily by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), the SEWN Network has grown to become a national model for business and job retention, attracting much acclaim to the Commonwealth. The most recent example of this was the U.S. Department of Labor's prestigious award to the SVA to publish its new Layoff Aversion Guidebook for states and communities.

As our hard working small business owners, managers and worker stakeholders struggle for another year of hard times, the SEWN Network proved itself to be the best anti-recessionary tool we have in Pennsylvania. SEWN has impacted the retention and creation of over 15,000 jobs since 1993. Cost-effectively helping over 700 manufacturing companies, SEWN has saved the Commonwealth and local governments hundreds of millions of dollars of otherwise lost wages, taxes and required income supports.

In "ramping up" to counter the effects of these hard times, our dedicated staff and Board mobilized a number of new initiates to assist in recovery:

• A Broader Regional Retention Team, including economic and workforce development agencies, business and labor, banks, utilities, and others, to coordinate retention cases. The Team adds to a stable of private sector investors/consultants.
• A National Retention Initiative (NSARI), that has provided additional federal dollars and research help for manufacturers impacted by trade.
• New Pension-Capitalized Investment Funds, in cooperation with progressive unions, to provide new equity/debt for capital-starved firms. Our own innovative, Pittsburgh Regional Heartland Fund is moving towards becoming certified as partner of the Pennsylvania Community Bank.
• A Regional/Community Economic Audit, to better monitor the economy, in cooperation with Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), and leading to a new accessible web site for regional stakeholders.

On behalf of the SVA, I want to primarily thank the Commonwealth and the Department of Labor and Industry, but also the City of Pittsburgh, DCED, the Workforce Investment Boards, the DOL and the many other sponsors of the SEWN Network and our associated efforts. You have all played a key role in launching this important experiment to save good jobs. In the next decade, we hope to make SEWN a stable and consistent force for Pennsylvania's working families and firms.