At the request of local employers, AM&T, GST BOCES Adult Education and Career Services, CSS Workforce NY and the Workforce Development Institute (WDI) have partnered to provide an enhanced machining program available to adult students in the Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben County areas. As a pilot project, the Hybrid CNC Machining Program provided classroom instruction braided with internships with local employers. Upon graduating our second class of machinists, the program will be rebranded and further referred to as the Accelerated Machinist Partnership (AMP).
The resulting program includes 440 hours of classroom instruction at GST BOCES in addition to 280 hours of hands-on experience in local businesses. Current participating businesses include IDM, SEPAC, Emhart Glass and Tobeyco Manufacturing. We anticipate that other employers will decide to be part of this exciting way to partner with educational institutions to create a skilled machining pipeline.
According to Debra Harrington, GST BOCES adult training and development specialist, internship experiences are interspersed throughout the 7-month course. Students attend class for four weeks, then spend a full 40-hour work week training with a local participating employer. Students return to the classroom for another four weeks, then complete an internship with a different participating employer. This cycle runs for the duration of the program and exposes the students to several different manufacturing environments.
WDI’s input has been pivotal in the development of the machining program, as well as providing fiscal reimbursement to the participating employers. Reimbursement is for the time their incumbent workers dedicate to training the students in the internship setting.
As the course draws to a close, students will spend two days with each participating employer to evaluate how the student has progressed throughout the training program. At the end of this last rotation, the employers interview each student and give feedback on his/her work performance. At these interviews, employers may offer students an 80-hour internship that could lead to possible employment.
A graduation ceremony is planned for the end of the course in May. Representatives from the participating employers, as well as local dignitaries, will be invited to attend the event.
For more information about this program, please contact:
Debra Harrington, GST BOCES: dharrington@gstboces.org, 607-739-4296,
Kellie Christofer, CSSWNY: christopherk@csswfny.com, 607-937-8337 x1113,
Lynn Freid, WDI: lfreid@wdiny.org, 585-233-8818,or
Jim Cunningham, AM&T: jcunningham@amt-mep.org, 607-725-1225.
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