News
October 3, 2018Manufacturing Day Press Conference & Panel Discussion Highlights Value of Business-Education Partnerships
Area business, education and elected officials gathered on October 1 in Rotterdam to highlight the importance of business-education partnerships and their value in overcoming the skilled-labor shortage.
Speaker after speaker at a press conference and panel discussion at the Center for Advanced Technology at Mohonasen touted the need for skilled workers and the value of programs like the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) and the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School.
“The way we are doing these programs is bringing industry partners in to collaborate. That is what Capital Region BOCES does so well, that’s what SUNY Schenectady County Community College does so well,” said Matt Grattan, director of community and economic development at the University at Albany.
Speakers said that the demand is skyrocketing for skilled laborers in the manufacturing industry. This comes at a time when the industry workforce is aging and many of its workers are reaching retirement age.
“The manufacturing sector continues to grow here in the Capital Region at the highest level we have seen since 2001,” Andrew Kennedy, president of the Center for Economic Growth told a crowd of more than 100 students and dignitaries. “Businesses want to hire local.”
Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara concurred, adding, “Whether in engineering or manufacturing, there are a lot of jobs being created here in the Capital Region.”
One of those businesses is Ren Tool and Manufacturing Company of Schenectady, which is one of the more than 300 businesses that partner with Capital Region BOCES.
Senior Chris Zautner of Voorheesville is working at Ren Tool as part of his studies in the BOCES machining and manufacturing program and described in front of a packed house of dignitaries and fellow students the excitement he has every day reporting to school because of the business-education partnership.
“How many people can say they are still in high school and they are manufacturing parts for General Electric? I can, thanks to Capital Region BOCES and Ren Tools,” he said.
Speakers praised the value of the programs and partnerships in seeking to fill the needs of Ren Tools, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and numerous other regional businesses.
“Every day we continue to grow and every day we continue to provide more opportunities and that is because of the people we partner with,” said Capital Region BOCES Senior Executive Officer Joseph P. Dragone, Ph.D.
Assemblyman Chris Tague, a 1986 Capital Region BOCES graduate from Schoharie, credited BOCES with propelling him to a career of success.
“The learning I did at BOCES propelled me to be a state assemblyman,” he said.
The manufacturing day event was hosted by the Mohonasen Central School District, and was coordinated by Capital Region BOCES, the Capital Region Chamber, the Center for Economic Growth, and SUNY Schenectady County Community College and the Mohonasen and Watervliet school districts.
