Real Life Rosies program helps women enter manufacturing workforce

UTICA — Rosie the Riveter might be an American icon, but Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC), the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), and Working Solutions are turning out “Real Life Rosies” as they work together to encourage more women to pursue careers in advanced manufacturing. MVCC, in partnership with MACNY, offers a pre-apprenticeship program for women at its Utica campus as part of the state’s Diversifying Advanced Manufacturing with Women in the Workforce program. “The biggest talent pool that is underrated in advanced manufacturing is women,” Colleen Blagg, MACNY’s manager of corporate services and workforce development, tells CNYBJ in an interview. Whether it’s from not thinking manufacturing is a career for them or not knowing where to start, women have tended to shy away from those careers, and the Real Life Rosies program is working to change that and overcome those invisible hurdles. MACNY received a grant from Empire State Development’s Office of Strategic Workforce Development to start the program, which is open to women ages 18 and older to enter the field, which is experiencing a shortage of workers. The program focuses on the basic requirements to obtain an entry-level position. It’s a pre-apprentice program that forges a pathway to registered apprenticeship. A total of 14 trades are offered through the program. Along with job basics like safety, tool usage, robotics, and computer numerical control (CNC), the program also covers skills beneficial to women entering or returning to the workforce.

“You do learn soft skills in the program,” Blagg notes. Networking practice, especially for someone in a nontraditional role, helps build confidence. The program recently celebrated the graduation of the third and fourth cohorts of Real Life Rosies and is already up to cohort six as of mid-June, according to Yawa Zewou, a workforce-development specialist for the Rosies program. Each cohort has an average of 12 to 15 participants. Initial reaction to the program was a bit guarded, Zewou says, until people began to learn more about it and overcome stereotypes about manufacturing jobs. As part of the program, participants receive Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA 10 training and can also take the Certified Manufacturing Associate (CMfgA) exam. It’s not all classroom learning either, Blagg notes. The program tries to bring each cohort to visit three different advanced-manufacturing employers in the area where they can see the job firsthand and interact with female workers at those sites. “We do offer them interviews with up to six different employers,” upon completion of the program, Blagg says. “We have had pretty good success with them getting employed.” There is no cost for the program, which also provides a stipend and wraparound support including childcare, transportation, and work clothing. Participants must be eligible to work in the United States and some general math acuity along with basic English is a must. They must also be willing to work and accept a full-time position upon completing the program. The program also maintains a LinkedIn group for current and past participants where they can network and interact with each other. More information about the program is available online at www.macny.org/women-in-the-workforce.