A collaboration between community partners and Jamestown Community College’s Workforce Readiness will look to meet an employment need in advanced manufacturing at no cost to participants.
Hour-long information sessions for JCC’s Maintenance Technician program will take place beginning on Feb. 3 at 10 a.m. The program provides unemployed and underemployed individuals an opportunity for short term, intensive training in electronics, mechanics and robotics to allow entry into an occupation increasingly in demand. Data from the New York State Department of Labor projects that the need for industrial machinery mechanics and maintenance workers will grow by 1,090 positions across the state by 2028.
“This is a way for someone to train or retrain for a new career,” Program Manager Gregg Karl said. “They can enter the program with little-to-no job experience or other credentials and this, in turn, will give them the opportunity for entry-level employment.”
Karl noted that the motivation for the program came as a result of feedback after a 2019 Manufacturing Month open house hosted at the Manufacturing Technology Institute as well as from conversations with local manufacturers and employers. A recent feasibility study by JCC also noted that 21% of participating businesses in the college’s service area were in the Manufacturing/Robotics & Automation sector. That study also revealed that 96% of these businesses indicated that they struggle to find qualified employees for most open positions and that 41% also plan to expand their workforce within the next three years.
The 334-hour, 10-week program is made possible through funding from Chautauqua Works and the Carnahan-Jackson Foundation, which awarded the JCC Foundation monies for the project. The partnership allows students who wish to continue their formal education at JCC the chance to articulate up to 16 credits into the college’s certificate programs in Industrial Equipment Technology and Machine Tool Technology, as well as associate degree programs in Mechanical Technology with Machine Tool Specialization, and Mechatronics.
“The foundation generously provided Workforce Readiness with funding to cover instructional costs, student assessments, supplemental instructional resources, and costs associated with providing students industry-recognized credentials upon completion,” Karl said. “Some people don’t have the time or the funds to complete a full two-year college program and this, in turn would essentially be halfway through a certificate program if they articulated those 16 credits. This is a great way for students to ladder into academic programs.”
According to Chautauqua County’s Demand Occupation List, the average entry wage for Industrial Machinery Mechanics and Maintenance Workers is $39,065 and the mean average wage for both is $54,230.
Subsequent sessions will take place on Feb. 10 at 1 p.m., Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. and Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. at JCC’s Jamestown Campus, 525 Falconer St., in MTI 125. To register, contact Le’Anna Sosnoski-Miller at 716.376.7527.
For more information, visit Advanced Manufacturing through Workforce Readiness.