BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Northland Workforce Training Center, a $60 million project touted under the Buffalo Billion, is shaping up.
The difference inside the 240,000 square foot building from Summer 2016 (when Channel 2 first got a look inside) to now demonstrates the work that's been going on and will continue as administrators move into new offices this June.
Jon training will begin with a fall semester-like schedule in August.
The Workforce Training Center is the anchor tenant, Buffalo Manufacturing Works is moving in from Main as the second largest tenant, and others smaller businesses will have tenant space they can lease as well. A cafeteria will take up some of the space, too.
Erie County Community College and Alfred State are developing a curriculum for county college students.
Buffalo Urban League, Catholic Charities, and Goodwill will work with non-students to assess their skills and if they meet the criteria to train here.
Even if they don't meet the criteria, those organizations will be here to help. For example, those without a high school degree or GED equivalent will not be able to train at the Northland Complex, but they can seek help and resources on where to get a GED, other job training facilities, and daycare.
Buffalo Urban Development Corporation’s president Peter Cammarata says Urban League can help point people in the right direction.
"They'll determine what type of training those people will need or what type of services that those people need, and that's a really key to the neighborhood,” he said.
At the Northland Workforce Training Center, job training will focus on advanced to feed the need in the local solar industry, medical field, welding, and more.
"We have a disconnect now between the jobs in manufacturing that are needed, which really require an Associate's degree or equivalent, and some of the chronically underemployed people in the community, because they don't have the skill sets to meet those jobs,” said David Stebbins, vice president of the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation.
The other goal here is to diversify the workforce. The application based classes are soliciting students from the Northland-Fillmore neighborhood in addition to the partnering colleges, and the building itself seeks to bring in tenants that will help and work with minority demographics.