The Northeastern Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Association will hold an energy roundtable from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 20 at the Top of the 80s in Hazleton.

The roundtable discussion, "STEM Education and How to Prepare Youth for Today's Energy Industry," will be presented by Mike Butler, mid-Atlantic Executive Director for the Consumer Energy Alliance, and William Desrosiers, External Affairs Coordinator for Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation.STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. The discussion will cover energy (jobs, the U.S. energy boom is "onshoring" manufacturing jobs from overseas, over 2 million new manufacturing jobs in recent years); the challenge of education institutions to meet this growing demand for workers. There could be as many as 3 million in unfilled energy and manufacturing jobs in 2015; STEM jobs will grow by 17 percent through 2018 (compared with 9.8 percent for non-STEM jobs).A key component of meeting this challenge is a focus on vocational education, and a return to skills-based, vocational classes, apprenticeships and on-the-job training.Lunch will be served at noon. The cost is $38 for PAMAEA members and $76 for nonmembers. To register, contact Darlene Robbins at

drobbins@nepamaea.com or call 570-622-0992.