By: Tristan Zuber, Cornell Dairy Foods Specialist, Harvest NY Program
Cornell University’s Harvest NY Program and the NY Association for Training & Employment Professionals (NYATEP) held its second annual food & beverage workforce development summit on June 22nd at Onondaga Community College, featuring NYS Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senior Advisore at the US Department of Labor Zach Boren and Director of the Program on Applied Demographics of Cornell University – Dr. Warren Brown. The daylong summit on “Meeting the Workforce Needs of the Food Processing Industry” drew over 120 people from workforce investment boards, academic institutions and industry giants such as Anheuser-Busch, Chobani, Muller Quaker Dairy, Great Lakes Cheese and Steuben Foods.
Tristan Zuber (Dairy Foods Specialist, Cornell University), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand & Melinda Mack (Executive Director, NY Association for Training & Employment Professionals) at the 2nd Annual Food & Beverage Workforce Development Summit.
Last year’s event conclusions showed that there are many programs that are available to train new and future hires to the food manufacturing industry, but there was a lack of data on the future growth and where exactly that growth was occurring within food manufacturing in NYS.
Research by Dr. Warren Brown of Cornell University showed that 1 in 8 manufacturing jobs in New York State is now in the food and beverage industry and over the next seven years, the New York State Department of Labor expects the food and beverage industry to expand by another 4,500 jobs to a record high 65,000 employees. The challenges will intensify in the year ahead as the food and beverage industry’s stable workforce ages and its employment participation declines. This project was funded by the Workforce Development Institute in collaboration with NYATEP and Cornell University’s Harvest NY Program.
Senator Gillibrand also announced her support for bipartisan legislation for a tax credit provided for employers who look to hire apprentices. “Even though the number of high-skill, well-paying jobs is increasing, companies, surprisingly, often can’t find enough workers in our state to fill them,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. “At a time when unemployment is still a pressing issue in many of our communities across the state, it’s simply unacceptable.” Apprenticeships are a way to address this concern, which is why NYATEP and Cornell University in collaboration with community colleges is looking at the possible launch of an apprenticeship-type program to address needs in food and beverage manufacturing in areas such as maintenance and control technicians.
This year’s food and beverage summit also featured breakout discussions on marketing and attraction to draw new entrants to the food and beverage manufacturing industry. There are many programs around our state that focus on youth to do just this. For example, the Western NY Tech Academy has a focus on food manufacturing for students in high school. Along with that is the launch of videos that can be used in the classroom that showcase careers in food and agriculture – such as those from the Genesee County Business Education Alliance and the Jefferson-Lewis County Workforce Investment Board.
“The workforce training needs of the food industry in New York represent a complex and timely issue that is best addressed by pulling the resources available from all the relevant organizations and stakeholders,” said summit participant and Department of Food Science chair Olga Padilla-Zakour. “The summit is a clear example of how the coordination of efforts is creating a variety of strategies to implement workable solutions. Cornell’s leadership role demonstrates our commitment to support the food industry as part of our land-grant mission.” Cornell University looks forward to further supporting workforce development in food and beverage manufacturing to further drive the success of this industry.
