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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 14, 2011                                                                             

Workforce of the Future to be Analyzed at
Upstate Conference

BUFFALO, NY – Downtown Buffalo will be the site of a first-ever Upstate New York conference on growing regional economy on August 4 and 5 as the Buffalo Niagara Partnership presents “Accelerate Upstate,” a two-day community conversation involving stakeholders from across the state. A key component of the discussion will be needs and opportunities of Upstate New York’s workforce of the future in a Day Two (Friday) session, “Where’s Our Future Workforce? Who’s Going to be Running New York in 2020?” at the Smith Theatre on Main Street.

“One of the most important and often overlooked concepts in job creation is that when a job is created job, you need someone with the right skills to fill it,” said Andrew J. Rudnick, President & CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership. “There is a current disconnect in workforce – which has yielded a situation where our young people are leaving town because ‘there are no jobs,’ and Upstate employers are clamoring for talent they can’t find. As part of Accelerate Upstate, this terrific panel will be leading attendees in a discussion on how we can ensure that education and training programs today are meeting the needs of Upstate employers tomorrow.”

Presenting on the topic of workforce are: Jeff Tredo - Director, Bryant & Stratton (Buffalo region); John Twomey - Executive Director, New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP); Jeremy Cooney - Chairman, “We Live NY”; and Michael Moley - Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Catholic Health

Throughout the two days, the event’s attendees will be invited to submit comments, observations and ideas in a number of ways – through comment periods attached to each of the conference’s panel sessions, through written comments or via social media. Feedback on the Workforce session and all other event topics will be aggregated into a presentation to be given at the conference’s closing session, and then compiled into an Accelerate Upstate action agenda to be delivered to Albany and Washington following the event.

Working with the Buffalo Niagara Partnership to present Accelerate Upstate are City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Erie County Executive Chris Collins, Visit Buffalo Niagara, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and Buffalo Place. Accelerate Upstate is sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York.

To contact:

Andrew J. Rudnick - 716.852.7100

Jeff Tredo - 716-677-9500

John Twomey - 518.465.1473

Jeremy Cooney - 585-263-3925

Michael Moley - 716.706.2561

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ABOUT THE BUFFALO NIAGARA PARTNERSHIP

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership includes nearly 2,500 employer members, working for improved business competitiveness and expanded economic activity in the region.  The Partnership advocates, locally, and in Albany, and Washington, D.C., for policies and resources to increase private sector investment and jobs. The Partnership also offers programs and services to its members to increase their chances for business success.