Syracuse-area residents hoping to capitalize on large local construction projects and historic economic development projects might have an ally in a program that’s getting somewhat of a fresh start. CNY ONRAMP is a job training hub in which the state is heavily investing. If successful, it promises to help spread some of the region’s economic prosperity.
New Director of Operations Gary Wiliams showed me around CNY ONRAMP’s headquarters on West Genessee Street in Syracuse. ONRAMP is an acronym for One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships.
My main question for the program was: How do Syracuse citizens benefit from the massive construction projects already underway and the generational economic development on the horizon.
“Talking about 81 and some of the other opportunities as well as the manufacturing jobs that are coming down the pike with the semiconductor stuff … with Micron, the training that we're going to be providing is the sort of training that is going to be required to get the kinds of jobs that are going to exist, that do exist. So it's a real intentional match,” said Mike Pasquale, ONRAMP’s new Chief Program Officer.
At the core of the mission is not only to create a pipeline of workers, but also to ensure access to jobs for historically underserved communities. Williams put it in a little larger perspective. The area has lacked any major job creators for decades, after employment stalwarts such as G-E, Carrier and New Venture Gear pulled out.
“And per the divestment, you know, from the local area, from the region, it seems like that created a vacuum in terms of need, in terms of the decrease of the middle class in the city of Syracuse specifically. (That) creates a great opportunity for us,” said Wiliams. “So I would say underserved is not specifically relegated to ethnicity, gender, et cetera. It's for anyone here who is kind of in a rut, in terms of career growth.”
To make any of this work, he asserted, there has to be a lot of communication with prospective employers to effectively prepare people with the skills that are really needed.
He describes the warehouse space at the headquarters as being developed for training purposes in advanced manufacturing, electrical trade, welding, heavy equipment operation and maintenance, and various construction skills.
“Let's build an ecosystem. Let's work collaboratively. Tell us what your needs are. Tell us what your objectives are. And then let's work together to curate the necessary training and set up steps to make sure that we can meet that to help you meet your organization's objectives,” Williams said.
ONRAMP partners with the workforce innovation program at Centerstate CEO. This Syracuse location is the flagship for a broader program that will be replicated around the state. Albany is making a $200 million investment in the ONRAMP model.
“I've never seen anything like that,” said Pasquale. “And the commitment, not the lip service, but the commitment to working with and within and in partnership with individuals and underserved communities and the organizations that work in those communities, I think is the special sauce here that, a year, two years, three years from now, I think is what's going to make this effort different than any of the other efforts”
Pasquale noted Syracuse has had some success in other job training efforts, such as the Work Train, Health Train, various apprentice partnerships, and targeted trainings through local colleges. This could be more successful long-term, he suggested, with the inclusion of social services support, childcare during job training, and follow-ups for a year or more. But, “there's no guarantee of employment, and there's no guarantee that everybody is going to get to where they want to be.”
He added the various support services “give everybody the opportunity and the chance to be as successful as they can be. Maybe it won't happen on the first try. Maybe it'll happen on the second try. But that's the goal.”
Another goal is to hit specific performance targets: to serve 500 people in the first year, mostly from specific disadvantaged census tracts; to have 80% of them finish training; and to have 4 out of 5 that finish training get hired.
If CNY ONRAMP meets those goals, the economic boom in construction, the Micron project, and spin off tech and manufacturing jobs will allow the people who live here to prosper.
