More than a dozen Chemung County companies had a chance Friday to prove there are good local jobs available during an event at the Greater Southern Tier BOCES campus in Horseheads.
The occasion was the “Made in Chemung County Manufacturing Day,” the first countywide celebration of National Manufacturing Day in the county.
The event was sponsored by the Chemung County Chamber of Commerce and Visions Federal Credit Union, and featured 17 county-based manufacturing firms. Students and staff from BOCES and area school districts had a chance to interact with representatives from the various businesses.
“The purpose of the day is to showcase the importance of manufacturing to our economy,” said BOCES Superintendent Jim Frame.
“My work in Albany focuses on many areas, but first and foremost is economic development. Manufacturing is at the top,” said state Sen. Tom O’Mara, R-Big Flats, who was on hand for the expo. “I believe manufacturing needs to be the bedrock of our economy. We need to do all we can to promote manufacturing jobs.”
“This was a tremendous opportunity to see what our county has to offer in the manufacturing field,” Chemung County Legislators Rodney J. Strange said “We need to be a leader in attracting new businesses and new industries to our small section in upstate New York.”
Local companies that had booths at the expo included CAF USA, Cameron Manufacturing and Design, DeMet’s Candy Co., Eaton Corp., Emhart Glass Manufacturing, FacTooling LLC, E.M. Howell & Co., Hardinge Inc., Hilliard Corp., IncubatorWorks, Kennedy Valve, SEPAC, Silicon Carbide Products, Synthes, Vergason Technology, Vulcraft, and Wrightcut EDM and Machine.
“It’s important to let the generations coming up know that there are opportunities in our area,” said Kennedy Valve representative Nathan Pizzini. “When I was growing up, a lot of people said I’d have to leave the area to get a job. That’s not true. Learning technical stuff is important. There are sets of skills that are disappearing from the American workforce.”
Among the students who had a chance to talk to Pizzini and other manufacturing representatives was Dylan Wolfe, a student at Corning High School.
The expo provided a valuable opportunity to see what’s out there, Wolfe said.
“As a class, we came up here. This is a good experience to be able to walk around and see job opportunities that will be available in a couple of years,” he said. “I don’t really know what I want to do for a career yet. This is definitely going to help me with my choices.”