BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Northland Workforce Training Center is planning to open in a few months. The multi-million dollar training center will offer educational training focused on advanced manufacturing and energy.
Stephen Tucker, president and CEO of the training center said "these industries have family sustaining wages. The average salary in advanced manufacturing is $47,000 a year, for energy $50,000 a year, so if you're working and you're not happy with your current situation, if you want to
up-skill, if you want to acquire technical skills that is in demand by business energy, regardless of your age, the workforce training center is the place for you."
The training center will have classrooms and state-of-the-art labs facility. The labs are about twice that of a typical lab on a college campus. The labs will focus on welding, electrical, manual machining and milling machinery.
The plan is to enroll up to 300-students annually at the training center. Tucker said about 150-people are currently being assessed for acceptance.
For information on enrolling, call (716) 436-3229 or go to the Northland Workforce Training Center website.
"We want all of our students to be able to achieve a 10th grade literacy and numeracy. We're basically an extension campus for SUNY Erie and Alfred state, so this is a college campus," said Tucker.
Tucker came to Buffalo from Cincinnati where he worked with workforce programs.
The Northland workforce training center offices will open in July and classes will start in August and September.
The training center is a centerpiece of the Northland Corridor. 156 windows will be installed in the building to mirror the original 1911 historic windows of the old Niagara Machine and Tool Works building. The site is on the national register of historic places and could get $19 million dollars in historic tax credits.
Gigi's soul food restaurant will be located as a cafe for students and the community.