Madison County manufacturers need workers, offer free training

CAZENOVIA, N.Y. — Madison County manufacturers in need of skilled labor are working with Onondaga Community College (OCC) to provide free training for workers.

OCC’s Office of Economic & Workforce Development is leading the effort.

The manufacturing apprenticeship program has 10 training positions open “and there is no fee to participate,” OCC said in a news release issued Tuesday afternoon.

Knowles Capacitors, located at 2777 Route 20 East in Cazenovia, on Tuesday hosted a program about the training at its facility, according to the OCC news release.

The application and interview process will happen this month. Paid training begins in September and concludes in November. Successful candidates will begin full-time employment after Thanksgiving.

Prospective employees can sign up to take part in at www.aactjobs.com. AACT is short for apprentice accelerator career training. AACT is a program of Onondaga Community College, according to the website.

Training will take place in a “mobile learning lab,” which will be parked at Madison County Career Center, 133 North Court Street in Wampsville.

The AACT project and the mobile learning lab are made possible through $5 million in support from multiple grant awards that the U.S. Department of Labor provided under its TAAACCCT program.

TAAACCCT is the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant program.

About the program

As part of the New York State Manufacturing Intermediary Apprenticeship Program, training will cover the “majority of the 4-year required related,” technical-instruction hours for several advanced-manufacturing positions including CNC machinist, machinist, tool maker and maintenance mechanic.

During the nine weeks of training, students will earn $10 an hour for 40 hours a week. As they complete the training, they will be earning $13 per hour.

Successfully completing the program will allow them to continue in a four-year-long apprenticeship with built-in wage progressions.

Besides Knowles Capacitors, manufacturers participating in the program include Canastota N/C Corp. of Canastota; the Chittenango location of Cleveland, Ohio–based Consolidated Precision Products; Manth-Brownell, Inc. in the Kirkville area of Sullivan; and All Seasonings of Oneida.

Besides the OCC Office of Economic & Workforce Development, the collaboration also involves Madison County Career Center; the Manufacturers Association of Central New York; Workforce Training Institute; Herkimer-Madison-Oneida Working Solutions; Jobs for the Future; American Apprenticeship Initiative; and Camden County College of New Jersey, which is permitting use of its mobile learning lab.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com