WARREN — One organization’s effort to grow the region’s workforce by helping overcome barriers to employment has received a $50,000 boost from the PNC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of PNC Bank.

The project is part of the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber’s effort in partnership with Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries.

The chamber and Goodwill already have jointly released a community needs assessment that identifies why the workforce participation rate in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys is less than state and national averages, as well as pointing out what barriers might keep residents out of the workforce.

The report, released in April, found the top challenges were transportation, childcare, mental health and substance abuse issues and life skills / soft skills.

The grant funding, announced Monday, will go toward a collaborative effort of community and government leaders, employers and others to remove the barriers through communications, training and long-term planning efforts, according to a news release.

“At PNC, we believe that being part of the community means investing in its future and its economic vitality,” Ted Schmidt, PNC regional president for Youngstown, said in the release. “That’s why working to strengthen and serve our communities is at the heart of our business model. By addressing our relatively low workforce participation rate, this program will ultimately benefit local businesses and the entire community.”

There are about 12,000 job openings in the Mahoning Valley, according to Guy Coviello, chamber president / CEO.

“If we were able to get even half of the unemployed off of the sidelines and into those open positions, we would lift a huge strain from local employers,” Coviello said in the release. “PNC’s funding will go a long way in assisting us in those efforts and helping to grow the local economy.”