Partnership connecting students and summer internships through Say Yes Buffalo
Scott Pallotta, and his team of about 150 employees at Zehnder Rittling, hosted two exclusive, behind-the-scenes tours last week. The two groups, comprised of Dream It, Do It (DIDI) students and participants in our Manufacturers Council Tour Series, were fascinated by innovate techniques for manufacturing heating and cooling systems.
On January 7th, The Buffalo Niagara Partnership unveiled its 2016 Advocacy Agenda in front of a capacity crowd. Our dedicated members and more than 50 elected officials and government leaders came together as we rolled out nearly two dozen specific policy priorities the Partnership will be working on in 2016.
Workforce development is the top priority of our Manufacturers Council for the 2015-16 season. We have broken the topic down into three main “buckets” – developing baseline skill sets, ensuring upskilling opportunities, and growing the workforce pipeline.
Over the last year and a half, we have been meeting with members, surveying our board and speaking with workforce development professionals about current workforce issues.
While there are many training, education and other issues employers and individuals are facing, the issue we hear the most about (across the board) is a lack of “soft skills”.
Have you heard about the Communities that Work Partnership?
Through a nationally competitive review process, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership was chosen as one of seven organizations to participate in a new joint project of the Workforce Strategies Initiative (AspenWSI) of the Aspen Institute and the Economic Development Administration of the US Department of Commerce.
The decision to drastically hike the hourly wage for fast food workers in New York to $15 an hour will ripple well beyond the fast food industry and will do nothing but further disadvantage businesses and job opportunities in this state.
The higher wages will be phased in over the next several years, with workers earning $15 an hour by end of 2018 in New York City, and by July 2021 in the rest of the state.
The Regional Economic Development Council is once again making funding available through its Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) for workforce development.
The CFA represents a great opportunity for companies looking to create or grow a workforce development program.
Manufacturing Days represents the opportunity for regional manufacturers to speak to state politicians about the policies that are of most importance to them.
In two weeks, on March 23 and 24, the Manufacturers Association of Central New York will be hosting its eighth annual Manufacturing Days in Albany.
One aspect of Common Core missing from many of the community conversations around education reform: it is as much about career readiness as college preparation.
