Real Life Rosies pre-apprenticeship program celebrates graduates

UTICA, N.Y. — On Tuesday, April 23, Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) and the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) celebrated the third and fourth cohorts of their Real Life Rosies pre-apprenticeship program that encourages more women to pursue careers in advanced manufacturing, the organizations announced.

Real Life Rosies is part of the Diversifying Advanced Manufacturing with Women in the Workforce program. It’s the state’s first workforce-training program geared toward creating a direct pipeline to apprenticeship in advanced manufacturing.

The 12-week pre-apprenticeship program helps women gain the skills required to fill apprenticeship positions in this sector and better diversify the workforce.

Speakers at the graduation event included MVCC President Dr. Randall J. VanWagoner, MACNY Executive VP Michael Frame, Indium Corp. Director of Human Resources Dawn Roller, industry and community partners, and the Real Life Rosies graduates.

MACNY received a grant from Empire State Development’s Office of Strategic Workforce Development to implement the program, which is offered in collaboration with MVCC and Working Solutions. It provides opportunities and support for women of all ages to enter and advance in the manufacturing industry while helping employers that are experiencing a shortage of skilled workers.

The program focuses on specific techniques and procedures required to obtain an entry-level job in manufacturing. Topics covered include safety, hand-tool usage, quality/continuous improvement, instruments and gages, inspection, fasteners, CNC, robotics, and additive manufacturing.

More information about the program is available at www.macny.org/women-in-the-workforce.