The state DOT is ramping up workforce recruitment and development for the I-81 project as it continues to progress in and around Syracuse. If turnout at a recent heavy construction training fair is any indication, there’s plenty of interest. Jonathan Salva moved to Syracuse from Brooklyn a couple of months ago, and is immersing himself in every opportunity.
“I don't have the experience of with under my belt for this kind of thing," Salva said. "But it's places like this that are going to open up doors for people like me or people who are not like me and have the experience.”
Salva says he’s also enrolled in a seven week course at Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center to get OSHA certified.
“Now I'm getting more and more of an understanding of construction and what a flagger is," Salva said. "With the OCM BOCES program, who's offering a six month welding, I'm very interested in that. So maybe I'm going to try to shoot for that afterwards.”
Salva says he’s confident that he’ll be among those freshly upskilled from training programs that contractors will be looking for. Director of Syracuse Build Chris Montgomery says the programs vary in length.
“We have some programs that run 11 weeks," Montgomery said. "We have some training programs that run 6 to 8 months and some that may run two years depending on the scope of the training and that the intensity of the curriculum to be able to make sure that folks are prepared and certified in the right way to be able to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Montgomery says some classes are always starting up, while others have specific registration times.
I-81 Project Community Liaison Tenesha Murphy says they’ll always need workers in the pipeline for the duration of the project.
“Once the spring and the summer come, contractors are gonna be looking for people," Murphy said. "And not only that, we have contract two, which are both in the northern and southern interchanges of I-81, I-81. This year we're going to be awarding contract three and we'll need people working on that. That project is going to be located in the Inner Harbor of Syracuse. So we need people, and we'll constantly need people until the project is over.”
Murphy says all anyone needs is some interest in a training program, and the state can work around any potential barriers like child care, education, or a criminal history.
