Regional Alliances

Center for Economic Growth (CEG)
CEG is spearheading a regional workforce development effort that is focused on coordinating and aligning resources to address the immediate need of the growing investment in this region by GLOBALFOUNDRIES and other high technology companies and organizations. CEG is developing a regional plan and implementation strategy that will include a wide range of regional educational institutions, business groups and public and non-profit organizations, including K-12 schools, BOCES, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), chambers of commerce, and others. The Workforce Consortium is currently working under contract to support a Business Intermediary project being funded by the WIB 13N Transformational grant as well as other projects on an as needed basis.

Tech Valley Career Pathways Consortium — The Tech Valley Career Pathways Consortium, formerly known as The Greater Capital Region Career Pathways Consortium, will receive $1.2 million in federal funding over the next three years to further the development of educational programs that prepare students for technical careers in the TechValley region.

The consortium’s membership includes Capital Region BOCES, Columbia-Greene Community College, Hudson Valley Community College, Questar III,Schenectady County Community College, SUNY Cobleskill and Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES.

The consortium’s efforts during the 2010-2011 school year will include:

• Continued efforts to improve the college readiness of high school students (especially in math) through early college placement testing (11thgrade), professional development for high school teachers and curriculum development.
• Continued support for program development and improvement through equipment and supplies acquisitions for Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered at local Community College and BOCES programs in the areas of 21st Century Manufacturing, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, and the Green Technologies.
• Professional Development for school counselors, academic teachers and college faculty to promote awareness of emerging careers in the Tech Valley Region and skill requirements.
• Increasing student awareness of emerging Tech Valley careers through the continuation of Career Pathways Summer Camps in the Emerging Technologies for local high students.

The Workforce Consortium has been asked to support this Tech Valley Career Pathways Consortium again this year as it has managed programs during year one and two of the grant program.

Funding for the Tech Valley Career Pathways Consortium is provided by the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 and the New York State Education Department.

Capital Region BOCES — The Capital Region BOCES delivers more than 160 educational and administrative services to its 23 component school districts and to the City School District of Albany. Combined, these districts educate more than 80,000 students in the New York State counties of Albany, Schoharie, Schenectady and Saratoga. In addition, Capital Region BOCES provides many services to approximately 120 school districts outside the Capital Region area.

WSWHE BOCES –  The Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex (WSWHE) Board of Cooperative Educational Services serves 31 school districts in a five-county region.  WSWHE BOCES has supported teaming up with the Workforce Consortium to develop programs that support multiple school districts and therefore qualify for the share services state aid funding model.

QUESTAR III BOCES – Ted Hennessey is the administrator for the 2008 – 2012 Perkins Title II grant and the Workforce Consortium has been contracted to work closely to provide staff development opportunities with the focus of Green Technology, Advanced Manufacturing Systems, Nanotechnology and Bioscience areas for school counselors, school administrators and teachers grades 7-12 with the four regional BOCES Network.  The outreach and staff development efforts will lay the necessary groundwork to roll out these Programs of Study through awareness building, planning and professional development.  Eventually we hope to present similar activities for other audiences, i.e. parents and students.  .

Hudson Valley Community College — Hudson Valley Community College currently has a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education Planning grant that will submit an official grant application in fall of 2009 for a 3 million dollar center that will support the Tech Valley ATE Center for Semiconductor and Nanotechnology Workforce Development.  As a member of the planning committee, the Workforce Consortium is involved with developing the educational model that will support technician level positions within the semiconductor and nanotechnology related fields.  The Workforce Consortium also looks to build a strong network of teacher professional development activities, articulation courses secondary level – community college and four year degree programs  that will address the career educational pipeline.

Rensselaer’s National Science Foundation funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) — Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center began their nanotechnology curriculum development work with teachers to develop curricular materials for use in technology, physics, and biology classes. The goal has been to use nanotechnology to teach the same learning outcomes that State Education Department currently requires, but to use tools and examples from the science of nanotechnology. In the summer 2008 the Workforce Consortium supported this effort by orchestrating the WSWHE BOCES Support Services connection to expand this program to 5 regional school districts and capture the COSER-able state aided model. This effort extended the impact of these excellent curricula and consequently increase the number of nano-savy teachers and more importantly nano-savy high school students within our region. We continue to build upon each summers’ program to expand the knowledge base within secondary level educators. This summer 2010, Rensselaer NSEC and the Workforce Consortium will be bringing the master teachers of 2008 summer program along with the support and expertise of Rensselaer’s professors from the Biotechnology Center, Smart Lighting Center, Materials Research Center and NSEC to offer another teacher professional development program to further expand the nanotechnology savy teachers within the Tech Valley Region and beyond.

Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center — Rensselaer’s National Science Foundation funded Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center is working closely with the Workforce Consortium to present the Renewable Energy ~ Smart Power and Lighting for High School Students Program to approx. 30 students from local school districts as well as CT, NH, CO, MD. The objective for the program is for the students to learn the fundamentals of renewable energy, storage systems, converting energy from wind, solar, hydrogen and others to usable electrical energy.

The Workforce Consortium is also supporting the summer NSF funded undergraduate research internship programs within the Smart Lighting ERC and NSEC. These programs are for students who currently are studying at other partner non-research focused undergraduate colleges. This gives the undergraduate students a wonderful opportunity to experience the intricacies of research to determine if it is a path they might be interested in the future.

New York State United Teachers — NYSUT has taken a lead role in encouraging and supporting their membership to explore and learn about the emerging technologies within the Greater Capital Region.  The Workforce Consortium has teamed to bring professional development activities to the teachers of the Greater Capital Region most notably the SEMI High Tech U program. NYSUT has also partners with the Workforce Consortium to bring followup activities throughout the school year so that SEMI High Tech U teachers with have an opportunity to stay engaged and learn about other high tech industries and initiatives in the region.

Workforce Development Institute — The WDI Mission is to improve the lives of working families across New York State by providing workforce intelligence and programs in economic development, education and training, cultural enrichment, family support, and disabled and dislocated workers services.  WDI supports organized labor and working families.We provide workforce intelligence: education and training programs, cultural activities, family support services, information, and referral, economic and public policy research, program development and advocacy. The Workforce Consortium has partnered with WDI to develop programs that address elevating the skills for the trades within the area of Cleanroom Construction.

National Alliances

AgroKnowledge NSF- ATE Center
The AgroKnowledge mission is to “Grow educational and business partnerships that strengthen math, science and technology skills of college agriculture students by delivering high quality professional development workshops and curriculum to secondary and postsecondary educators that incorporate new and emerging technologies into agriculture, food and natural resources programs; responsive to agriculture industry employment opportunities.” This organization was introduced to our region through a partnership with the Workforce Consortium to support the biotechnology industry sector. Rick Parker, Director and Co-Principal Investigator of the NSF- ATE Center partnered with the Workforce Consortium to describe the AgroKnowledge mission and describe professional development opportunities such as the work done with students with Venier Probes.

Austin Community College (ACC), Austin TX
Austin Community College has developed a comprehensive “Electronic Core Curriculum” that begins with a year one program that supports the basis for a wide range of emerging technology disciplines including electronics technician, renewable energy, power technology, utility lineworker, automation, robotics controls, networking computer electronics, bio-instrumentation, nano-electronics manufacturing and engineering technology. Linda Smarzik, Dean, Computer Studies & Advanced Technology has supported the Workforce Consortium as a keynote speaker describing the landscape of Austin’s technology industry sector and the challenges educating the workforce.

HI-TEC (High Impact Technology Exchange Conference)
HI-TEC is a national conference on advanced technical education where technical educators, counselors, industry professionals, and technicians can update their knowledge and skills. HI-TEC uniquely explores the convergence of scientific disciplines and technologies such as these four groups:

• Geographic Information Systems and Agricultural Technology
• Information and Communications Technologies, Biotechnology, and Cybersecurity
• Manufacturing, Engineering Technology, and Telecommunications
• Microsystems, Nanotechnology, and Biotechnology

HI-TEC is produced by a consortium of NSF Advanced Technological Education centers and projects and is a great resource for technical education; secondary to post secondary level.

MATEC (Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center)
MATEC is the worldwide leader in education and industry collaboration, supporting the ongoing development of a highly skilled workforce by developing programs, materials, and training that enables students, faculty, and technicians to continuously master the evolving competencies in science, mathematics, technology, and communications required by the workforce of the semiconductor, automated manufacturing, and electronics industries.

MATEC NETWORKS – is a National Resource Center provided by the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC). NetWorks is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (DUE-0501626) and is the foremost online community for exemplary resources in semiconductors, automated manufacturing, and electronics training and education. Its parent organization, MATEC, is a National Center of Excellence in Advanced Technological Education and is a member of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs at the Maricopa Community Colleges. Michael Lesiecki, Executive Director, and his team have supported the workforce development initiatives within the Capital Region on numerous occasions by partnering with Workforce Consortium. MATEC is also a co-sponsor of the HI-TEC (High Impact Technology Exchange Conference) annual event.

NBC2 — The Northeast Biomanufacturing Center and Collaborative is a National Science Foundation – Advanced Technological Education Center specified by NSF Award #0903208. It is comprised of the following six northeast region community college hubs: Great Bay Community College, Minuteman Technical High School, Community College of Rhode Island, Finger Lakes Community College, Montgomery County Community College, and Community College of Baltimore County. NBC2 Mission is 
to coordinate local and regional efforts into a national biomanufacturing education and training system to promote, create, and sustain a qualified workforce. Under the leadership of Sonia Wallman, Executive Director, NBC2 was introduced to the Tech Valley Region in early 2009 through a biotechnology awareness event sponsored by Greater Capital Region Career Pathways Consortium and the Workforce Consortium. This event was the beginning of a fruitful relationship that continues to support the development of education pathway programs in the high schools and post secondary level.

SEMI Foundation operates under the auspices of SEMI, the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chains for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries and is changing the way the high tech industry including the semiconductor industry and clean tech tackles the challenges of preparing middle and high school students for tomorrow’s workforce. The program gives classroom teachers and guidance counselors the unique opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience about microelectronics and the emerging alternative energy industries. It also provides practical applications of math, science and technology for classroom instruction and curriculum development.

Industry Alliances

M + W Group — In October 2009, the international engineering company M+W Zander Group (as of 1st January 2010; M+W Group) had been awarded a contract from GLOBALFOUNDRIES, the world’s first truly global leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing company, to engineer and construct its new semiconductor wafer facility ‘Fab 2’. The construction site is located at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York.

Fab 2 is expected to be the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing ‘Foundry’ in the world. The M+W Group offers its customers worldwide integrated life-cycle solutions for high-tech production plants and infrastructure complexes including all necessary service and modernization support. The customer base focuses primarily on leading electronics, photovoltaic, pharmaceutical, chemical, automobile and communication companies, as well as research institutes and universities.

Beginning Fall 2008, M+W Zander, in collaboration with the Workforce Development Institute and the Workforce Consortium, supported training a regional Cleanroom Protocol and Safety Training program for close to 400 trades people. This effort brought awareness to the new type of manufacturing facilities required by a wide range of high technology industry sectors.

GE Healthcare — GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost.

On June 20, 2009 GE Healthcare gave tours of their facility as the last session of a specialized M+W Group, WDI and Workforce Consortium Cleanroom Protocol and Safety training class for six different trade locals representing Plumbers and Steamfitters, Electricians, Sheet Metal Workers and Laborers.

GE Healthcare has graciously agreed to provide extensive tours of their state of the art Class 100 cleanroom facility. The tour will include a close look of the infrastructure of the mechanical, electrical, HVAC rooms as well as the internal structure of the cleanroom. The trades’ people suited up into the cleanroom garb and learn first hand about the cleanroom protocol necessary to work within a Class 100 cleanroom.

Construction Trades

The following organizations have actively participated in updating their memberships skills so that they are prepared to address the industry high technology construction requirements:

Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 7
Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 773
International Brotherhood Electrical Workers Local 236
Sheet Metal Workers Local 83