Good Jobs, Great Cities

The City of Jamestown is one of 16 cities nationwide to be selected to participate in the “Good Jobs, Great Cities” Academy.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the program is through the U.S. Department of Labor and National League of Cities, “The grant in particular sends individuals from the Department of Labor to Jamestown to work with all of our workforce development partners on creating a pipeline for workforce development, that’s aiding our manufacturing, health care, construction, anything else in between.”

Sundquist said American Rescue Plan monies set aside by the city for workforce development will be used for this effort. He did not specify how much would be allocated.

He said there are currently over 300 manufacturers with over 2,000 unfilled advanced manufacturing jobs in the Jamestown area today.

The program will run through 2024.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist meets with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in Washington D.C.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist discussed workforce development concerns with representatives in Washington D.C. on a recent trip.

Sundquist was in the nation’s capitol for the National League of Cities‘ lobby day where he was able to meet with Congressman Nick Langworthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

He said part of day was spent discussing the Infrastructure Act and the concern from the White House over there being enough people to do the work of building new roads, bridges, and more, “And there was a really great discussion from senior leadership officials in the administration on how can cities be the driving force for workforce development? And how can we create models that can replicate across this country to train people to work on those items, that infrastructure, rebuilding our infrastructure across this country.”

Sundquist said one workforce development model is being worked on with the construction trades here in Jamestown, “The City Council allocated over a million dollars in workforce development funding. Half of that going to construction trades and the other half going to workforce development in terms of manufacturers, and other builders, and things like that. So, we’re working through that process now and we’re hoping to make sure that our workforce is on the cutting edge for what’s to come.”

Sundquist also discussed the importance of SNAP benefits and the need for the return of Essential Air Service to the Jamestown Airport with representatives.

Hear his comments on those topics and more on tonight’s Community Matters at 5:00 p.m. on 107.9 FM and streaming online at wrfalp.com

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE

A conference call with Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) and regional media representatives. Held Tuesday afternoon, June 21, 2017.

During the conference call, Congressman Reed provided an update on Workforce Development legislation and responded to several questions regarding the Arlington, VA. shooting incident that severely injured  one of his congressional colleagues. The congressman also discussed the GOP American Health Care Act, which is currently still being drafted in the Senate in what has been criticized for being a closed-door process.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning) is announcing his support for a bipartisan proposal to increase workforce development by providing tax credits to companies that offer apprenticeships to individuals in the labor force in need of learning new skills.

On Tuesday Reed discussed his support for the Leveraging and Energizing America’s Apprenticeships program, also known as the LEAP program. Reed said that currently across the country, manufacturers are struggling to fill positions due potential workers lacking the necessary skills.

“We’ve seen reports of about nine million unemployed Americans, and yet there’s five million job openings,” Reed said. “A lot of those disconnects in those job openings that those nine million folks could apply for result exactly from the situation of not having the skills necessary to fill those open positions.”

Reed said the LEAP Act could help address this issue by giving tax credits to programs and employers that develop apprenticeships, with the company receiving a $1000 tax credit for ever apprenticeship involving an individual over the age of 25, while also providing a $1500 tax credit for every apprenticeship involving an individual 25 or under. He added that there is no limit on the number of apprenticeship tax credits a company could receive, but also added there would be oversight to prevent abuse of the program through the Department of Labor’s office of apprenticeship.

There’s no timetable for when the measure would be acted on by the house. A similar version of LEAP has also received bipartisan support in the Senate.

Above, community members of the Chautauqua County Education Coalition gather to understand job descriptions and the workforce development needs of Athenex.

DUNKIRK – County officials are started the effort to prepare for the arrival of a multi-million dollar economic development project in Dunkirk.

County executive Vince Horrigan and the Chautauqua County Education Coalition recently hosted a roundtable discussion with representatives from Athenex at the Fredonia Technology Incubator in Dunkirk.  The Education Coalition is hoping to help guide the process of bringing together the various stakeholder organizations to ensure the workforce development needs for the company will be met.

Earlier this year Athenex announced a partnership with SUNY Polytechnic Institute and New York State that would result in 900 new jobs coming o the Dunkirk Area.  An exact timeline for when the facility will be built and open for business has not yet been released.

Athenex is global company with multiple offices and manufacturing facilities located in both the U.S. and China. It was founded at the University of Buffalo and expanded in 2003 with a ten-year funding stream committed by more than one hundred local business and medical leaders in upstate New York.

The program is entitled From Baby Boomers to Millennials: The Challenge and the Opportunity.

The County Planning Board, local educators, County, and local officials will gather together to hear Katie Geise, Executive Director of Chautauqua Works and John Slenker, Labor Analyst with the New York State Department of Labor, present on the generational shifts in employment that are taking place and how it is affecting Chautauqua County.

For more information on the event, contact the Chautauqua County Department of Planning & Economic Development at 716-661-8922.