careers

Students from school districts in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties engage with employers throughout the event, exploring careers that could unveil new opportunities they may not have previously considered.

Over 70 businesses provided hands-on activities and simulations in the advanced manufacturing, agriculture, food production, skilled trades sectors as well as the various branches of the military. Students learned about career opportunities in their own backyard that offer good-paying opportunities immediately after high school graduation, as well as accelerated training programs available in the region.

 “We have seen GLOW With Your Hands participants grow into successful professionals, and businesses that participate in our manufacturing and healthcare event grow their next generation. Having over 1,000 students and a record number of employers at our event reaffirms that there is a significant need for these connections and a significant benefit created at our events,” added GLOW With Your Hands, Co-Chair Karyn Winters.

Led by Platinum Sponsors LandPro Equipment, National Grid, and newcomer Davis-Fetch, many businesses have participated in every GLOW With Your Hands since 2019, including representatives of the advanced manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, and construction trades.

Davis-Fetch specializes in commercial building construction services focusing on building interior spaces, walls, ceilings, and acoustical wall panels. This is the company’s inaugural GLOW With Your Hands event featuring a hands-on demonstration of installing drywall screws and using a drywall zip tool around electrical boxes. Davis-Fetch used this as an opportunity to engage with the next generation of workforce candidates in the GLOW region.

“Rather than setting up a booth and speaking with students, we were able to interact with the next generation of workforce candidates with a hands-on approach that was educational and informative of our work, " said Davis-Fetch President Frank Kittlinger. “After witnessing the engagement of over a thousand students today, we look forward to being a part of GLOW With Your Hands annually.”

After launching in 2019 with 800 students, GLOW With Your Hands has grown into the premier workforce development program in the region. Including GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare, a hands-on medical careers program held annually in March, more than 5,000 students have participated in GLOW With Your Hands events since 2019.

“Our goal is to provide local youth with family-sustaining career opportunities that lead to fulfilling lifestyles and positively impact local communities,” said GLOW With Your Hands Co-Chair Angela Grouse. “By getting hands-on and informational experiences, our students are taking the first step toward that goal.”

 Albion High School Senior Joseph Schoberlein said he was not aware of many of the careers present at GLOW With Your Hands before today and came away with an understanding of what opportunities are available to him after graduation this upcoming spring.

 “There are a number of jobs you learn about at GLOW With Your Hands that you do not experience in a traditional classroom setting, a lot of these careers do not require a college degree. I can enter the workforce immediately out of high school with a good-paying job without taking the college route,” stated Schoberlien.

Press release:

Ten participants from the third annual Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Program graduated from this year’s six-week paid training program. The “boot camp” style program is an earn-while-you-learn model which pairs in-class instruction at the Genesee Valley BOCES in Batavia and on-the-job training at several local advanced manufacturing companies. 

The Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Program was created in 2021 to assist companies in the greater Rochester and GLOW Region (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties) with recruitment and training for one of the region’s largest industries. Participants graduated from the program with 96 hours of state-of-the-art mechatronics training and more than 100 hours of on-the-job experience at advanced manufacturing at companies in Genesee, Livingston and Monroe counties. 

“This program continues to train workers of all ages, skill levels and abilities for a wide array of high-demand careers in advanced manufacturing,” said Bob Coyne, Executive Director of the Rochester Technology and Manufacturing Association (RTMA). “The ‘Genesee Valley Boot Camp’ is an incredible partnership between industry, academia and workforce development partners in our community.”

The Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Program includes hands-on simulation training for a variety of available careers; including electromechanical trades, construction materials manufacturing, agricultural manufacturing and more. In addition to the classroom time, participants received paid, on-the-job training and a fast-track opportunity for a full-time career with local manufacturing companies.

“Enabling students to acquire hands-on skills training without incurring any costs, the Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Program stands as a pivotal workforce enhancement,” remarked Jon Sanfratello, Director of the Instructional Program at Genesee Valley BOCES. “This remarkable training initiative forges a career pathway that effectively addresses workforce employment demands. Such practical skills development serves as a shining illustration of our dedication to aiding GLOW regional students and current employees while also meeting the precise needs of our local business community.” 

"The BEST Center at Genesee Community College remains grateful for the funding provided by SUNY DOL and its Reimagine Workforce Preparation Training Program that provides resources for high-demand training for industry-recognized credentials like the Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Program", said Jennifer Wakefield, Executive Director of Workforce Development, "We look forward to continued collaboration in this program to expand opportunities for increased pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training." 

Training was provided at no cost to the students and companies due to grants secured by Genesee Community College’s BEST Center, Genesee Economic Development Center and the Workforce Development Institute.

Participating employers for the 2023 program include Oxbo, United States Gypsum, Triton Mechanical, Goforth Electric, Diamond Packaging, Arctic Refrigeration, Maris Systems Design and more.

“This year’s Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Program offered students a unique opportunity to discover their career path and their future without the burden of college debt. Thanks to our participating employers, students have been introduced and empowered to succeed in these in-demand careers through instruction and on-the-job training,” said Chris Suozzi, Vice President of Business and Workforce Development, Genesee County Economic Development Center.

Automotive techs are in demand and the demand is growing, according to Peter DeLacy, owner of DeLacy Ford in East Aurora, which is why the WNY Ford Dealers started a program three years ago to donate cars with "real world" experience to local high schools.

The goal is to help and encourage high school students with an interest in auto repair to stick with it as a career choice and gain valuable experience working on cars with some of the last technological advancements.

"They're often working on 15-year-old cars and there isn't much interest in working on cars that don't have the latest technology," DeLacy said.

Yesterday, the dealers donated at 2014 Ford Fusion to the automotive shop at BOCES.

"We rely on donations like this in order for our kids to get the best training possible so that when they leave school, they can go right out to the workforce and do the best they can," said BOCES in Batavia Principal Jon Sanfratello (speaking at the podium in the photo above).

The dealers pool their resources to acquire cars from Ford Credit that have come out of the lease program. Delacy said auto teachers want cars with some mileage on them and in need of some maintenance, not brand-new cars, for their students to work on. Once the dealers have ensured all auto shop programs in the region have cars, they will start a three- or four-year rotation process of providing newer slightly used vehicles to the schools so students always have close to the latest technology at their fingertips.

There isn't much about a Ford or a GM or a Toyota that is so proprietary that a student can't learn a broad range of applicable skills, regardless of which car it is, Delacy said. Many car components, and the technology today that enables and manages them, are built to government-mandated specifications, so when a tech hooks up a diagnostic computer to a car, the readout is the same regardless of the make or model.

"The diagnostic codes, how you access the primary powertrain control module, how you do all of these things is pretty much the same for all manufacturers," Delacy said.

The goal for the Ford dealers, of course, is to ensure as many young techs come out of high school and two years of college with an interest in working at Ford dealerships, but as long as there are more techs in the market, it's better for everybody.

"The technicians we have now, they’ve put their time in and they want to retire," Delacy said. "There’s not a big pool of talent to choose from, so knowing that the Ford dealers of Western New York, including myself, decided to ask, ‘where do we get technicians? How do we get them interested?’ Because a lot of people don’t want to get into that. They want to be other things and this is a very good pay program when you get into the dealership level."

It's a good career choice, Delacy said, because it's stable, it pays well and dealership jobs are good jobs, and since the only college required is couple of years at a community college, so the career makes sense financially.

"The great part is it's not a huge investment," Delacy said. "They don't have student loans to pay for five or 10 years. They’re out in the real world, earning real money, keeping their money and investing it, so we’re on the ground floor of great opportunity, allowing students to get a good education and they’re ready to go when they get out of college and they don’t have a huge debt load, so it’s a win-win-win for everybody."