Schumer: Thousands of Jobs in Skilled & High-Tech Manufacturing Are Going Unfilled at New York Companies Like CutCo, Dresser-Rand & More - Senator to Join Biz Leaders, Jamestown Community College to Ensure Federal Training Programs Better Meet Private Sector Demand, Create New Jobs

Press Release

Today at Jamestown Community College in Olean, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer joined Cattaraugus County business leaders and representatives of Jamestown Community College (JCC) to launch a plan that ensures local community colleges are working to match student skills with local skilled and high-tech manufacturing openings. The legislation called the America Works Act restructures the way that workforce training programs are financed: under the bill, programs that provide portable, industry-recognized credentials to graduates will receive priority in federal funding.

Schumer highlighted that companies in the Southern Tier Manufacturing Alliance, like Cutco, Dresser-Rand, Scott Rotary Seals, Cooper Industries, and more, have cited a lack of skilled workers prepared for jobs in machining, electrical technicians, and more. The America Works Act would provide funding incentives for designated programs in the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act, Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to match local skills with local industry openings.

"In Cattaraugus County, manufacturers need qualified workers to fill vacant jobs, like machinists, electrical technicians, and others and to help spur innovation and competition," said Senator Schumer. "One way to do that is to ensure that federal funding for job training is being used effectively, and establishes universal credentials that give students the skills that match local industry needs, and I'm pushing my Senate colleagues to pass the America Works Act to do just that. This plan would not add a dime to federal spending and instead revamp existing programs to help target worker training initiatives that will bring Cattaraugus County employers like Dress-Rand, Cooper Industries, Cutco and dozens more the skilled and high-tech workers they need to boost competition and jobs in Western New York."

Schumer stood at JCC and was joined by Olean Mayor Linda Witte; JCC President Dr. Gregory T. DeCinque; John Stahley, General Manager Dresser-Rand Olean Operations; Todd Tranum, Executive Director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier; and other local manufacturers.

"Jamestown Community College's mission includes meeting the service area's learning needs in diverse ways. Among those is providing business and industry training to provide a competent, ready workforce and insure the viability of the communities we serve. We appreciate Senator Schumer's efforts in supporting workforce development across the southern tier and are particularly enthused about opportunities to extend our manufacturing-related offerings to Cattaraugus County," said JCC President Dr. Gregory T. DeCinque.

"In the last 18 months, Dresser-Rand has hired over 170 high-skilled local workers to help support our growing operation in Olean, and we plan to continue to hire as a large percentage of our workforce reaches retirement eligibility. However, we have found that there is a substantial shortage of well trained workers in the region. In an effort to reverse this trend, Dresser-Rand is working together with local high-schools through the "Dream It! Do It!" organization, and with local colleges, like JCC, to ensure that local students are properly prepared for the jobs available today and in the future. Senator Schumer's efforts to ensure more federal grants for programs like this will only help us to grow our regional economy," said John Stahley, Dresser-Rand General Manager of Olean Operations.

"Working with Dream It. Do It. we have been able to start engaging area high school students and educating them about the local opportunities available to them in manufacturing. By working with JCC, we can help take these young Western New Yorkers and train them for local jobs that are available today. Senator Schumer's efforts to help provide more funding to programs like this, and his willingness to hold up Cattaraugus County as a model for the rest of the country is tremendously appreciated. We are proud to have Senator Schumer on our team," said Kathleen Martel, Project Coordinator for the Dream It. Do It. program in Cattaraugus and Alleghany Counties.

"I have always been supportive of our educational system and our manufacturing community working together. We have also been working on this in the Mayor's Forum during my administration. Now we are beginning to see the fruits of this effort with the Dream It Do It Program. It's especially important to Olean because we have such a vibrant industrial base that is so active in the community. There are numerous manufacturers that are supportive of this training program," said Olean Mayor Linda Witte.

Schumer highlighted that a report by Deloitte Consulting and the Manufacturing Institute showed that up to 600,000 jobs are going unfilled across the country because employers cannot find workers with the skills they need to fill these jobs. Cutco, Dresser-Rand, Scott Rotary Seals, Sol Epoxy and other members of the Southern Tier Manufacturing Alliance are in need of skilled workers in positions including technicians, engineers, machinists and product testing. The National Association of Manufacturers cites a study in which 74 percent of companies report a lack of available workers for "skilled production" positions, causing a negative impact on their ability to expand.

The America Works Act's goal is to help reconcile those two realities, and would incentivize the use of industry-recognized standards from existing certification and credentialing programs to update curricula of community colleges and job-training centers. The goal is to get students enrolled in welding, machining, computer engineering and other advanced manufacturing programs to achieve national certification while earning their degrees. This will help high-tech employers close the skills gap and improve Americans' access to good-paying jobs in the domestic manufacturing industry. Additionally, workers would learn skill sets that industries and employers need, and employers would be able to more easily identify potential employees with the requisite abilities. Instead of adding to federal spending, this legislation sponsored by Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) would make spending more efficient by ensuring certain federal job training and career education programs give priority to programs that provide an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential.

The America Works Act modifies the way that federal funds flow to designated programs in the Carl D. Perkins Vocational--Technical Education Act (Perkins), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to allow students and workers to get credentials that prepare them for specific industries, that will be applicable across state lines, and that are widely recognized. The legislation modifies the Workforce Investment Act so that adults and youths at one-stop career centers will be encouraged to consider and prioritize programs offering portable, national, industry-recognized credentials, as deemed appropriate by the local workforce board. The bill modifies the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act by directing states and localities to prioritize portable, national, industry-recognized credentials within their plans, and to describe how participants prioritized these programs in the use of those funds. The bill directs the Secretary of Labor to give priority consideration to programs offering portable, national, industry-recognized credentials within the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act.

Schumer highlighted that JCC would be perfectly suited to develop the portable universal credentials that the America Works Act promotes. In fact, Schumer noted that he helped secure a $14 million grant for a consortium of SUNY community colleges in the fall, of which JCC received $35,880 that has spurred the development of several new programs to address the skills gap in Cattaraugus County. Under this grant, JCC will focus on enhancing curriculum development, through focus groups with local manufacturers, like Cutco or Dresser-Rand. Those companies will describe their needs to JCC officials, who will in term develop student curriculum that can help meet those unfilled positions.

For example, the Jamestown Community College offers a Manufacturing Skill Standards Council's (MSCC) Certified Production Technician (CPT) certificate, which verifies a student or worker has mastered essential production modules in Safety, Quality Practices & Measurement, Manufacturing Processes & Production and Maintenance Awareness. The CPT is applicable to all entry-level jobs in all sectors in manufacturing. JCC also offers a certification for the metalworking industry, validated through the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) for machining and metal forming. JCC will also offer one-year technical certificate programs in machining, precision machining, and welding. These are perfect examples of what the AMERICA Works Act would promote and reward at the JCC and throughout the country. Schumer noted that this plan would reward JCC's efforts by prioritizing it for federal funding.

In addition, as JCC continues to develop plans to expand its Manufacturing Technology Center to the Olean Campus the AMERICA Works Act could help to prioritize more federal funding for the types of programs the new center would offer. While the expansion plan is not yet complete, Schumer highlighted that his efforts could help lead to more potential funding for any new programs that JCC should wish to develop.

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