Professional Development: Koppers

Working with Koppers, a global leader in wood preservation and protection products, RMU provides intensive, focused leadership development training for the corporation’s current and future leaders.

RMU faculty members teach the Koppers Leadership Forum, which consists of four training modules, each two and a half days, alternating between the corporation’s Downtown headquarters and RMU’s campus in Moon Township.

The sessions are customized for Koppers, and participants are awarded a digital badge upon the completion of each module through the internationally recognized Open Badges system.

“We wanted to take our internally developed program to the next level, and Robert Morris stood out as a top choice to help us do that by tailoring a program around our specific needs,” said Koppers President and CEO Leroy Ball. “It’s my hope that this initial agreement leads to a longer-term relationship with RMU designed around helping us build out our pipeline of talent to carry us successfully into the future.”

Overseeing this initiative is Derya Jacobs, RMU vice president for corporate relations and senior vice provost. “Our approach with corporations such as Koppers is very consultative, so that we can develop a program suited to their industry and that meets their unique needs,” said Jacobs.

Guiding RMU’s workforce development initiatives, in part, is the Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s seminal study, Inflection Point: Supply, Demand and the Future of Work in the Pittsburgh Region. The 2016 report described a looming a workforce shortage across several industries and outlined steps that educators, employers, government, and civic organizations can take to close the gap. RMU President Chris Howard is a member of the Allegheny Conference Board of Directors.

“RMU aims to be the preferred strategic partner for corporations and other organizations in the Pittsburgh region, and that includes being a leading provider of corporate leadership development,” said RMU President Chris Howard. “We also want to ensure that our professional workforce has the skills necessary for continued economic growth in western Pennsylvania.”