If the global economy has changed the way American manufacturers do business, there are ways to build a better mousetrap ”“ and  to create and keep jobs here in the U.S.  One of them is convincing today”™s youth that not all careers will come in a three-piece suit and leather briefcase.
Council of Industry members filled the Powelton Club to hear some sobering statistics from Robert Ward, deputy director of the Rockefeller Institute.  Despite the loss of jobs to foreign shores, manufacturing remains an integral part of New York”™s economy, “generating 15 to 20 percent of private wages ”“ in some upstate counties, nearly 30 percent of the workforce is comprised of manufacturing jobs … with the Hudson Valley generating $4 billion in 2008,” Ward told more than 250 guests attending the COI”™s annual luncheon on Nov. 4.
Conversely, New York has lost more than 39 percent of its manufacturing jobs since 2000, Ward said, with many companies who relied on giants such as IBM as customers sinking or changing to stay afloat as multinational corporations took their products and started building off shore.
“As a result, manufacturers must learn to “reinvent themselves ”“ we have many in the audience who have done that successfully ”“ sometimes more than once ”“ in order to stay in business and remain competitive.”
Ward was encouraged by those who have redefined their business models after losing some valued customers to cheaper labor offshore, pointing to Fala Technologies in Kingston as a company that nearly went under after IBM pulled up stakes in Ulster. “Frank Falatyn and his family didn”™t give up. They found a way to make their company relevant and changed their business model. In fact, they”™ve done it twice. In order to stay alive, we have to keep thinking one step ahead.”
There needs to be a change in the mindset of today”™s young workforce, Ward said after the luncheon. “Many companies are looking for skilled labor, but today”™s job seekers are not looking at manufacturing as a career option. Yet, there are skilled, well-paying jobs with a future out there. For students coming out of college with a two year bachelor”™s or associate”™s degree in math or science, many industries where the workforce is aging out are looking to hire and train them. Manufacturers believe we need to do a better job in educating the workforce; part of that is convincing young people manufacturing is a valuable career.”
Vince Cozzolino, founder of The Solar Consortium in Kingston, is expanding TSEC beyond the solar industry and entering into a new partnership with the Council of Industry, working to support all sectors of manufacturing, he said after Ward”™s presentation.
TSEC has just secured a $2 million federal economic development grant, which will be used to create manufacturing jobs.
“Of that amount, $1 million will go to SUNY schools in Orange and Ulster, as well as to SUNY Binghamton, to create new training classes and delivery methods,” Cozzolino said. “Gateway to Entrepreneurial Tomorrows (GET) will partner with us on the project. We are in the process of determining whether the focus will be on lighting, renewable energy or medical devices. The goal is to create jobs, starting in Newburgh.”
“Since our focus is to help the underserved minority community promote employment and economic development,” said Rob Lunski, president of GET, “this is a great opportunity for the people of the city of Newburgh.” The city has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, surpassing the 25 percent mark before the words Great Recession were ever whispered ”“ a trend Lunski and his like-minded colleagues would like to see reversed.