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Release: Cuomo announces SUNY Empire State will give $10 million for academic, student, and other support over five years to the Northland Workforce Training Center, a Buffalo Billion project. Transcript, Youtube video included.
NYSNYS News





For Immediate Release: 12/3/2019
GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO



GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN NORTHLAND WORKFORCE TRAINING CENTER AND SUNY EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE

Partnership Benefits Valued at More Than $10 Million over Five Years

Partnership Will Ensure Long-Term Sustainability of the Model at NWTC and Will Expand Offerings and Programs

Governor Also Announces WNY Workforce Development Challenge Round 2 Will Open on December 16


Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a strategic partnership between Northland Workforce Training Center in Buffalo and SUNY Empire State College's Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor that will build on the Center's highly-successful training model and will allow SUNY Empire to collaborate with the Center's CEO and management team, grow and put the Center on a path to long-term economic sustainability. Empire State College will provide NWTC with $10 million in academic, student, and other support over five years.

"The workforce of Western New York has made a remarkable progress since we began making strategic investments in the region to bring back jobs, and now we face a new challenge - making sure there are enough workers for these new jobs," Governor Cuomo said. "By partnering with SUNY Empire State College, the Northland Workforce Training Center will have the best available tools to train underrepresented populations in the region's workforce for the jobs that power a 21st century economy, and ensure Western New York continues to grow and thrive."

"I have seen firsthand how the Northland Workforce Training Center is transforming Buffalo's East Side and investing in our workforce for the jobs of today and tomorrow," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "Young people and workers mid-career have new pathways to success thanks to the work being done at Northland. With this forward-thinking partnership between SUNY Empire and Northland, we will continue to advance our efforts to support job training, innovation, and further economic growth in Western New York."

The SUNY Empire-NWTC partnership will provide a long-term solution to continuing the Center's success and bolster ongoing efforts to best recruit, train, educate, place, research and train Western New York's workforce for the future, in a way that best meets the needs of local industry and is most inclusive to residents of the city's most challenged neighborhoods.

SUNY Empire's Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor will further expand its current footprint in Manhattan (with satellite offices around the state) with a new regional hub at NWTC in Buffalo. Plans call for the appointment of a new upstate director to work with the NWTC management team, board of directors, academic partners and local stakeholders over the next year to identify methods to best partner and strengthen delivery of NWTC's curriculum and services. As one example, SUNY Empire is capable of expanding labor apprenticeships in growing industries, such as green energy, through the creation of a Green Energy Workforce Training Certificate. This will complement Empire State Development's $2 million effort to fund and facilitate the installation of a solar array at Northland as part of Buffalo Billion Phase II, together with establishment of a community solar program to provide low-cost power to the adjoining neighborhood and add to an emerging energy curriculum and lab at NWTC.

SUNY Empire is uniquely prepared to not only strengthen the labor pipeline, but also to further benefit residents of the community with policies and programs that will include the following:

Expand NWTC Curriculum with Additional Academic and Online Course Offerings
SUNY Empire will work with NWTC to locate its dedicated WNY staff and faculty at NWTC in order to provide additional academic and training support. Through SUNY Empire's 800-plus online courses and its Career Connector program, the Center will expand its academic offerings to include BA degrees, and a next generation of local teachers will help train the incoming labor students. A primary goal will be to identify prospective teachers in the pipeline at high schools and community colleges to create the next generation of teachers most reflective of the local community and to create residency teacher partnerships with teaching assistantships.

Give Students College Credit for Previous Labor Training and Life Experience
In this program, SUNY Empire will evaluate apprenticeship programs for college credits, and combine these credits with general education credits for a fast track to an associate's or bachelor's degree in addition to the student's apprenticeship program. Through this "prior learning assessment"—college credits for life experience and other on the job training programs—SUNY Empire will offer students the opportunity to earn college credit for Northland's workforce training programs and all associated apprenticeships. Its ability to evaluate college level learning in licensure, volunteer work, military, in-service course, and independent reading and study will become the model gateway to a new workforce pipeline.

Commitment to Community Development
Equal Opportunity Program (EOP): Buffalo will ultimately become a host site for SUNY Empire's new EOP Program, the first SUNY EOP that focuses on non-traditional students. The program offers 20 students the opportunity to work in a cluster to promote high success rates. Workshops and tailored supports will be provided on site.
Basic Needs Service Coordinator: SUNY Empire will strengthen NWTC's wraparound efforts by appointing a dedicated basic needs service coordinator to help students and workers address unmet needs for food, transportation, housing and overall wellness security, and to ensure that no one has to suffer academically for economic reasons.
Educational Opportunity Center (EOC): This will continue and expand NWTC's partnerships with the University at Buffalo EOC to identify career and education pathways through SUNY Empire or other SUNY colleges.
Empire State Career Connector: This unique partnership between SUNY Empire and the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) will align training and education needs to the job demand identified by the local workforce boards and the Regional Economic Development Councils. It will then connect people to jobs by providing on-site NYSDOL job counselors, working alongside SUNY Empire staff, to work with students to determine what additional education or training they needed to qualify for specific jobs.

Expand Labor Policy Research to Buffalo
A joint partnership between SUNY Empire and the Rockefeller Institute of Government will expand the new Future of Labor Research Center to work with local partners in Buffalo and Western NY to track growth and identify workforce needs. This research identifies current trends and needs as well as flex programs to fill the gap. A Research Fellow will be appointed specifically in Buffalo to study the SUNY Empire-NWTC training programs as well as broader economic and labor issues emerging in WNY.

SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras said, "SUNY Empire is a leader in flexible, personalized education for working students, as well as in awarding college credit for work and life experience, and our Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor has a nearly 50 year history of partnering with labor and communities to upskill workers. This exciting partnership with Governor Cuomo's forward-thinking Northland Workforce Training Center will create a powerful engine of workforce development that will bring far-reaching benefits to the people of Buffalo and Western New York."

Northland Workforce Training Center President & CEO Stephen Tucker said, "We could not be more excited about our new partnership with SUNY Empire State College that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the successful model deployed at NWTC. Northland is now well positioned to prepare Western New Yorkers for high paying advanced manufacturing and clean energy careers for many years to come.

Empire State Development Acting Commissioner and President & CEO-designate Eric Gertler said, "The high-demand skills and training developed at Northland Workforce Training Center are critical to success in in-demand industries in Western New York. The SUNY Empire partnership ensures NWTC's sustainability as well as further growth and opportunity across the region."

While in Buffalo, Governor Cuomo also announced that Round 2 of the Western New York Workforce Development Challenge will open on December 16, 2019. The $10 million program, part of Buffalo Billion II, is designed to promote and invest in regionally-tailored approaches to workforce training for underserved populations organizations in Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Allegany counties.

The Workforce Development Challenge will help increase the capacity of community-based trainers who have proven track records, trusted community relationships, and outstanding abilities for outreach and recruitment. In addition, it will support programs in the region's target sectors currently experiencing growth, including advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences, technology, tourism, energy, and agriculture by providing training for unemployed, underemployed, and/or career ladder opportunities for entry-level and mid-skill workers.

Governor Cuomo announced in December 2018 that $4.2 million in funding from the first round the Western New York Workforce Development Challenge was awarded to six local not-for-profit organizations and their projects: WNY Rural Area Health Education Center, Harvest House, Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES, Gerard Place, Adult Educational Opportunity Center of Genesee Community College with Orleans-Niagara BOCES and PUSH Buffalo.

Representative Brian Higgins said, "Northland is a hub for hands-on training and educational advancement that positions job seekers and those looking to expand job skills for opportunities in quality, high demand fields. This partnership grows and strengthens Northland's offerings to the benefit of workers and Western New York businesses."

Senator Tim Kennedy said, "The creation of the Northland Workforce Training Center was a monumental investment not only on Buffalo's East Side, but across New York State. Through this new partnership with SUNY Empire State College, we're ensuring that the Center will have a strong, indelible impact that will span future generations, and continue to establish new opportunities for academic readiness, high-paying employment, and career advancement."

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said, "Since opening its' doors last September, the Northland Workforce Training Center has been a vital resource in training and preparing Western New Yorkers for the manufacturing jobs of the future. Thanks to the Governor and his Buffalo Billion, this new partnership with the Northland Workforce Training Center will be available to even more people to get the training they need to become providers for their families and productive members of our growing Western New York economy."

Assembly Member Sean Ryan said, "The Northland Workforce Training Center is providing an invaluable service to Western New York workers. This partnership will help the Northland Workforce Training Center continue to be a source of well trained employees with skills that are in high demand in our workforce. The NWTC has been a tremendous success since its inception, and I look forward to seeing what comes next."

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, "Workforce development is a critical and ongoing need everywhere, and here in Erie County our workforce will benefit from the natural partnership between SUNY Empire State College and the NWTC. As jobs and industries change its important to have a workforce equipped with the skills to succeed and this partnership will help in making that happen here in our area by growing the student base at Northland, which will grow the student population of SUNY Erie, which provides many of the courses at Northland. Thank you to Governor Cuomo for his continued commitment to growing our region's economy."

City of Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown said, "The Northland Workforce Training Center is one of the East Side's best assets. This partnership will make the center viable for years to come and provide for expanded offerings for students, many who come from the surrounding neighborhood. I thank Governor Cuomo and SUNY Empire for working together to find the necessary long-term solution, so we can train and educate Buffalo's workforce for tomorrow and keep our economy trending upward."

About the SUNY Empire State College Harry Van Arsdale School of Labor
Created nearly 50 years ago by the State of New York and run by SUNY Empire from its inception, the Van Arsdale School of Labor offers a labor-centered, liberal arts and training program for union workers across the State with convenient in person evening classes or one of more than 800 online classes for working adults. It currently enrolls 1,256 students and has labor partnerships with IBEW Local #3, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), NYC District Council of Carpenters, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, United Federation of Teachers Paraprofessional Program, IBEW #1430, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), United Steelworkers of America - Institute for Career Development, WNY Area Labor Federation AFL-CIO, International Union of Police Associations (IUPA), and New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA).

About Northland Workforce Training Center
NWTC was developed by Empire State Development (ESD), working in partnership with the University at Buffalo Regional Institute (UBRI), Western New York manufacturing and energy companies, and local community leaders. NWTC—located at the former Clearing Niagara Plant which underwent a more than $100 million renovation and is now also home to Buffalo Manufacturing Works—anchors a larger, 35-acre Northland Corridor Redevelopment Area (Northland) on the City of Buffalo's Historic East Side. The building has served as a catalyst for the Northland Corridor and surrounding neighborhood.

ESD and UBRI developed a unique business plan for NWTC, tailored at churning out highly-skilled workers in advanced manufacturing and energy sectors—requiring 20,000 new workers in WNY over the next two decades—and doing so in a manner specifically targeted at the region's most underrepresented populations in the local workforce, largely residing on the East Side. While the actual training curricula is provided by SUNY Erie and Alfred State College, NWTC's staff provides a comprehensive program of wraparound services designed to address barriers to successfully completing existing college-level training programs, including but not limited to transportation, tutoring, substance abuse, debt mitigation/financial counseling, and childcare. Each student is assigned a "career coach" as a day-to-day advocate, employing a problem-solving approach to address issues and assisting in various soft-skill training. In turn, placement specialists match students with apprenticeships/internships during their training, followed by placing graduates into permanent positions with local companies. Career coaches then provide critical follow-up for up to three years with the graduates and their employers to ensure success. ESD contracted with Economic Development Group (EDG), a not-for-profit consortium of Catholic Charities, the Buffalo Urban League, Goodwill Industries, and the Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Alliance, to staff and operate NWTC.

Initially supported by Governor Cuomo's Buffalo Billion, NWTC's operating subsidy to facilitate pre-opening staffing and ramp-up activities will be fully expended by June 30, 2020. While NWTC has successfully leveraged this subsidy with private foundation contributions, the Center's "high-contact" model adds roughly $10,000-15,000 per student in annual services, above standard SUNY tuition costs. The state and NWTC have been exploring ways to make the Center sustainable.

About SUNY Empire State College
SUNY Empire State College educates students at any stage of life with a personalized learning experience delivered online, in person, or a blend of both. Since 1971, SUNY Empire has empowered students to earn an accredited degree around the demands of a busy lifestyle to advance their personal and professional goals. With world-class faculty, more than 1,300 dedicated mentors to help students tailor their degree programs, and cutting-edge distance learning technology, SUNY Empire delivers a trusted and flexible online college experience grounded in more than 30 New York state locations and seven international sites where students can learn and collaborate in person. Our nearly 50 years as a leader in awarding credit for prior learning and life experience helps students earn a degree faster and at lower cost. To learn more, visit www.esc.edu and follow @SUNYEmpire.

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For Immediate Release: 12/3/2019
GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO



VIDEO, AUDIO, PHOTOS & RUSH TRANSCRIPT: GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN NORTHLAND WORKFORCE TRAINING CENTER AND SUNY EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE

Partnership Benefits Valued at More Than $10 Million over Five Years

Partnership Will Ensure Long-Term Sustainability of the Model at NWTC and Will Expand Offerings and Programs

Governor Also Announces WNY Workforce Development Challenge Round 2 Will Open on December 16

Governor Cuomo: "Today we want to take Northland to the next level And we're going to have a new partnership with Empire State College and Northland where they will be providing their services, their courses, together with Northland, providing Northland a five-year sustainability operating plan worth $10 million, where Empire State College will work with anyone who walks in that door to reach whatever goal they want to reach... You can make it. I don't care where you came from. I don't care your race, your color, your creed, your income. You can make it. That's the American way and that's where Buffalo is going to lead the way."


Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a strategic partnership between Northland Workforce Training Center in Buffalo and SUNY Empire State College's Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor that will build on the Center's highly-successful training model and will allow SUNY Empire to collaborate with the Center's CEO and management team, grow and put the Center on a path to long-term economic sustainability. Empire State College will provide NWTC with $10 million in academic, student, and other support over five years.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon Buffalo. How much do you we love Howard Zemsky? You did not go on too long Howard, I would sit there and listen to you all day. You make acknowledgements interesting. Do you know that? I am on the edge of my seat saying what is he going to say about me? Batman and Robin, which is which? Controversial acknowledgements. I never saw that before. Give him another round for all he has done, Howard Zemsky.

To your great Mayor and your great County Executive, I am not going to get involved in who is Batman and who is Robin. Let's give Batman and Robin a round of applause. Thank them for all they do.

Our great Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, let's give her a round of applause.

We have my colleague from the legislature who is here. Senator Tim Kennedy, let's give him a round of applause.

You are going to hear from Jim Malatras, from Empire State College, who is just one of the brightest government professionals I have ever worked with. Let's give him a big round of applause.

And Stephen Tucker. God bless you for what you are doing here - Stephen Tucker.

We also have Thurman Thomas with us. How about those Bills? Go Bills. How about that game on Thanksgiving Day? It was worth letting the turkey go cold. I'll tell you the truth. That was a great one. Sabres won last night, all is good. Thurman, your spirit is still on that field. God bless you.

Howard said it all and Howard said it right. We knew what the first challenge was when we started nine or ten years ago. This was the old Niagara Tool and Machine shop. You can still see the remnants. They did sheet metal work. They did sheet metal work well for a hundred years. Employed 700 people. Then like a light switch, it was off. It was over. That wave of the economy crested and crashed. Then the question was well what do you do next. What is the next economy? And Western New York, and much of upstate frankly, were left on their own to figure it out. But you can't just figure it out on your own. You can't just evolve into the next economy. It takes investment; it takes capital; it takes help. No city, no region has done that - anywhere in the nation have they accomplished that alone. Somebody has to bring some investment to the table.

The State of New York should have done it - should have done it for many years. For one reason or another they didn't, some of them bona fide - the State had tough fiscal times also. But it was not going to happen without someone coming in and investing. That is just a fact. By the way, our conservative friends, Jack Kemp, who was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development before I was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and I knew Jack and I worked with Jack, former Buffalonian, conservative. But he said we have to provide incentives to get businesses to go to places that are not necessarily economically competitive. Even the conservatives agree - but nobody did it. What we did - what Howard did, what the REDC did, what the Mayor did, what the County Executive did - was to come up with a plan and to come up with the funding to make that transition happen.

And that transition has happened - you are living a Buffalo renaissance and that is a fact. That is not a political statement - you know there are still numbers in life. Now everything is just crazy politics, right? There are no facts anymore. You see these arguments in Washington, they just make up stuff every night - it's just amazing. They just make up facts, but there are still numbers. When we started, unemployment was eight percent in Buffalo. Today, unemployment is four percent - that is a fact. It went from eight to four percent. When we started, young people had been leaving for decades. I can't tell you how many parents I spoke to who said, "You know it broke my heart, but I had to tell my child, "You should leave, because there's no future for you here, there's no opportunities, there's no jobs." And I had to tell them that for their own best interest." Young people are coming back: We now have a 20 percent increase in millennials - people coming to Buffalo. These are inarguable facts, so we have accomplished that and you should all be proud of that.

We now have a next phase of challenge, which is what? We now have jobs that we can't fill, because now it's not about creating jobs - it's about teaching the skills for the employees so they qualify for the jobs. And that is the other facet of this new economy. I had a friend of mine over the weekend called me up, he said, "You have to talk to my son. He's graduating high school, he doesn't think he needs to go to college. He thinks he can be a mechanic and emulate his father who was a mechanic that did well and then started a business and is successful and he's going to work his way up. So I got the son on the phone, I said, "What do you know? What are you going to do?" He said, "I'm a mechanic." "Oh really? You're a mechanic?" I said, "To be a mechanic today you have to be skilled and you have to be trained to be a mechanic." I told him about the GM Tonawanda Engine Plant that I went to. GM Tonawanda - they build automobile engines. You know what you don't see anywhere in the factory? A tool. It's all computer. It's all computers. If you can't work that computer, you can't do anything. I said, "You want to be a mechanic you have to go to school. You're not qualified to work on these modern cars. The only car you could work on is my 1968 Pontiac - and by the way I don't trust you to work on my 1968 Pontiac - so you can't even do that." It is about the skills, it is about the education and that's what Northland is all about - getting people the skills to get the job so they can earn their way up the ladder. You're not going to do it with just the sweat of your brow and by working hard and with the power of your back, that doesn't work anymore. You need the skills. We have employers saying to us all day long, "I have the jobs. I can't fill them because we don't have the skills." That's Northland. And today we want to take Northland to the next level.

No individual who walks in the door of Northland should have any limitation whatsoever. So when they walk in the door at Northland, we want to be able to say to them, "You can be anything you want to be and we will work with you to make that possible." You want to be a trades person? We'll make that happen? You want to get an Associate's Degree? We'll make that happen. You want to get a college degree? We'll make that happen. You want to get a Master's Degree? We can make that happen. Just by walking in that door, the sky is the limit. And we're going to have a new partnership with Empire State College and Northland where they will be providing their services, their courses, together with Northland, providing Northland a five-year sustainability operating plan worth $10 million, where Empire State College will work with anyone who walks in that door to reach whatever goal they want to reach and Northland will be operating for five years.

And the challenges: first, now that we have the jobs coming, first challenge, teach the skills to fill those jobs, and second, in our historic remake of the Buffalo economy, to make sure when we remake it, we remake it for everyone everywhere, that we can say, this is an economy that lifts all boats. I don't care what side of town you grew up in, I don't care what conditions you grew up, we're going to give you the chance at opportunity.

And the East side of Buffalo that did not get their fair share and the help and success that we've seen in past generations. This time the story of the East side is going to be different - opportunity for everyone.

That's what free college tuition is all about - first state in the country, proud to say if you earn up to $125,000 your child can go to school tuition-free. You don't have to worry about college tuition; you don't have to lose nights. That's what raising the minimum wage is all about, so people have a livable wage to actually exist on because if you go to work full time you shouldn't also be living in poverty, and that's what Northland is all about and Empire State College is all about - giving people the access to education and opportunity so everyone feels that sense of hope and aspiration and knows that that hope and aspiration is real.

This is not a challenge just for Buffalo. It's a challenge that this state faces, a challenge that this nation faces. You want people to come down? You want people to be engaged? Give people hope and give people opportunity. That's how you bring down the temperature. That's how you bring down the anger. Address the problem. Don't fan the flames of anger and division. Address the problem.

You can make it. I don't care where you came from. I don't care your race, your color, your creed, your income. You can make it. That's the American way and that's where Buffalo is going to lead the way.

Give a big warm welcome to Jim Malatras from Empire State College who thought of this whole idea and is going to make sure it works. Jim Malatras.

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