Monroe Community College is one of four regional workforce centers chosen to share $200 million in state funding to focus on filling high-skilled, advanced manufacturing jobs.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced MCC and two other sites in the Capital and Mohawk Valley regions, have been chosen to join the previously announced flagship Syracuse site CenterState in Central New York.
Together, the regional locations make up the state’s One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships (ON-RAMP) program, which Hochul announced last year. The goal is to establish or bolster workforce centers in each region focused on scaling up operations to meet the needs of companies like Micron and Global Foundries.
"But here's we're talking about — not just the skills training, but wrap-around services," the governor said during a news conference in Albany. "Understanding that people, in order to be lifted out of their circumstances, have to get transportation and ... child care, one of the great barriers to bring more women into the workplace. Who's taking care of the kids at home?
"We're training the workers of tomorrow while looking after their needs today. That’s how you get ahead as a state."
The three regions announced Thursday will receive up to $300,000 to develop “detailed roadmaps” for establishing the workforce centers. Each center then will receive up to $40 million in “implementation funding” once a business plan is completed.
The program promises to enlist industry, academia, social services, organized labor and community groups to address potential barriers to higher education, also including academic readiness and affordability.
In the Finger Lakes, MCC in its downtown Finger Lakes Workforce Development Center will be the flagship, leading a network that includes RochesterWorks, Genesee and Finger Lakes community colleges and others.
“We must equip our workforce with the necessary skills to support New York’s rapidly expanding advanced manufacturing sector,” state Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said in a news release. “By offering comprehensive training and wraparound services, this program offers New Yorkers across the state a pathway to well-paying careers now and for years to come.”
In Albany — where manufacturing employment reportedly is at a 22-year high, driven by the semiconductor, energy and biotech industries — the Center for Economic Growth will re-use a vacant building on former College of Saint Rose campus. And in Utica, Mohawk Valley Community College will redevelop the soon-to-be-vacant Science and Technology building on its campus.
"Here's the good news, friends," Hochul said. "There's no shortage of opportunities. Unemployment is low. I just need. More trained workers. Our employers need more trained workers. We have 400,000 open jobs in the state of New York right now."
