Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf joined LCCC President Ann Bieber and board of trustees Chairwoman Roberta Marcus on Tuesday for a tour of the college’s commercial truck driver training facilities and new manufacturing mobile unit.

The mobile lab helps develop workers for more higher-level jobs in the field of manufacturing.

While viewing the CDL training site, LCCC’s CDL program director John Craven answered questions and explained what the student drivers are learning in the program. Instructors Don Worman and Tom Bux also discussed the mobile manufacturing lab.

At a roundtable discussion, Wolf spoke about the importance of truck driving, manufacturing and the need for those departments in the job field.

He also spoke about how they’ve changed over time.

Local company leaders described what their trucking or manufacturing companies are doing.

Wolf was also able to have discussions with current and former LCCC students who went through the CDL program or manufacturing classes.

Students included Matt Romanyshyn, a current manufacturing student and employee at FlexLink; Armando Caraballo, manufacturing student and employee at Equipto; Jessica Petresky, a graduate of the CDL program and current LCCC CDL instructor; and Deverri Santiago, a CDL student.

All students explained how much they learned from their courses.

They identified that when first beginning in the program they all thought they only had to learn how to drive a truck.

By enrolling into the CDL program they learned there is much more to truck driving.

Students said the program made them feel more advanced and ready for jobs in these fields. They learned so much their heads felt full, but it was plenty of worthy information, students said.

“We were just thrilled that the governor chose to come to the Lehigh Valley and certainly Lehigh Carbon Community College,” Bieber said.

“It shows that (Wolf) really appreciates all of the work and the efforts (in) all of the business community as well as the education community here in the Lehigh Valley,” Bieber said.

She referenced the college’s partnership with LCCC.

“We have such a strong partnership and to ensure that we have economic development (and) a strong economic development in the Lehigh Valley,” she said.

“And certainly two of the areas that are certainly instrumental in that strong economic development is CDL and advanced manufacturing and that’s why (Wolf) chose to come here.”

To focus on how hard we are training the students, how are people coming in from the local community to be retrained and what are the job opportunities there for them after they receive training.”

“For us we were thrilled that he chose (this) institution in the Lehigh Valley and to spotlight that throughout the commonwealth when he has conversations,” Bieber said.