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May 12, 2021Manufacturer Appeals to BOCES Students To Pursue Career With Them
Representatives of a local manufacturer brought its recruiting on the road on Friday, appealing to students in the Capital Region BOCES Machining and Manufacturing program to build their futures with them.
Simmons Machine Tool Corp. Director of Operations Joe Cronin and employee Austin Smith – who is a 2020 graduate of the Capital Region BOCES program – met with students from a wide-range of schools including Shenendehowa, Guilderland and Cobleskill that attend the program at the Center for Advanced Technology at Mohonasen.
Key among their discussion was the fact that Simmons provides its employees with tuition reimbursement if they attend the Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) Manufacturing Program while also working.
That is the route BOCES graduate Smith is taking, having started work at Simmons and classes at HVCC last September.
“It’s great,” said Smith. “I had planned to attend the Hudson Valley program since I started at BOCES as a junior, so this is great that I am getting reimbursed (by Simmons) to go to there.”
Simmons is among approximately 300 business, education and government partners that work with Capital Region BOCES to ensure students receive the training employers seek, as well as real-world experiences and opportunities.
Besides Smith, fellow Class of 2020 BOCES graduate Jonathan Taranfanko was also hired by the company last year.
“We have four skilled laborers retiring this year and we need to backfill those positions. There is nobody out there. If it weren’t for Hudson Valley Community College and BOCES, we would be in very, very serious trouble,” said Cronin. “We need that pipeline provided by HVCC and BOCES for our future workforce.”
