BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Students at the Northland Workforce Training Center got a head start on their futures Wednesday, connecting with some of Buffalo's top industrial employers.
A hiring event was held weeks before Northland graduates its largest class to date, with more than 150 students set to complete their training.
Steven Tucker, President and CEO of Northland Workforce Training Center, said the goal for these students is clear: build their futures right here in Western New York.
"We want to build a skilled and talented workforce for our business partners, but also create access to opportunities for our local residents," Tucker said.
Tucker added that Northland's mission has become important due to COVID-19's impact, which caused disruptions across the manufacturing sector. But now, momentum is building again, and Tucker said this year's graduating class is a sign of that recovery.
"Our mission is to prepare local residents for careers in advanced manufacturing and clean energy," Tucker said. "As a region, we're projecting the need to fill over 20,000 job openings in the next 5 to 10 years due to retirements."
According to Tucker, the average starting salary for a Northland graduate is $45,000.
"We want to retain that talent here locally," Tucker said. "However, manufacturing across the country is in need of workers, so we're really trying to build that pipeline of skilled talent for the economy."
With more graduates entering the workforce, Tucker and students agree that the market is becoming more competitive.
"It's more competition," student Phinn Safford-Cameron said. "It's definitely healthy because we need more trade workers, so the more the merrier."
