Last week, Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist, officials from his administration, Jamestown Community College, and representatives from employers met at the first meeting of the Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy held at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. The Academy a new peer-learning cohort led by the National League of Cities and the United States Department of Labor to accelerate city efforts to design, develop, and launch a workforce initiative to build pathways into good jobs. At the gathering, Mayor Sundquist met with Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House Officials on future opportunities and Jamestown’s workforce development challenges.
The Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy works with municipalities to spur innovative and scalable city-supported solutions that upskill and reskill workers into quality, high-demand jobs in infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing jobs made possible by investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The City of Jamestown has already convened a group of organizations and is leading the effort alongside the Manufacturer’s Association of the Southern Tier (MAST). Jamestown joined 15 other cities, Birmingham, AL, Chattanooga, TN, Duluth, MN, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Frederick, MD, Jamestown, NY, Kokomo, IN, Lansing, MI, Missoula, MT, Monroe, NC, Newark, NJ, San Antonio, TX, Santa Fe, NM, Saint Louis, MO, Tacoma, WA, and Tempe, AZ – at the convening.
In a statement, Mayor Eddie Sundquist said, “I am thrilled that Jamestown was selected to be a part of the Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy and our participation last week. We have already brought together over government, employers, unions, service providers, and non-profit partners to help find solutions to eliminate barriers of opportunity to economic growth. The goal is to create win-win scenarios so that we all benefit. I am excited about the progress we already made and am excited to work with the experts at the National League of Cities and Department of Labor to ensure that our region can become a model of workforce development for smaller cities.”
Todd Tranum, Executive Director of Manufacturer’s Association of the Southern Tier (MAST) and President of Dream It, Do It of Western New York said, “The most significant challenge to maintaining and growing the manufacturing sector is an adequate supply of skilled workers. Manufacturing continues to be the backbone of the economy locally and in the region with over $5.1 billion in annual shipments produced in Chautauqua County’s manufacturing facilities. Notably, manufacturing employment in Chautauqua County is 18% of the labor force while the national average is around 9%. Again, this signifies how important manufacturing is to our economy. These jobs are mostly great career opportunities that pay well and provide benefits such as health care and retirement. In partnership with the Mayor and his team, we look forward to building upon a multi-stakeholder collaborative approach and working in lock step with experts from the National League of Cities and Department of Labor to build the youth talent pipeline, help adults move into family sustaining careers and support manufacturers in upskilling and retaining talent.”
There are over 200 manufacturers in Chautauqua County, most of whom have a variety of job openings now and into the future. The City of Jamestown is looking to create a comprehensive system of support and guidance for individuals preparing to enter, entering, or exiting the pipelines to advanced manufacturing jobs and infrastructure trades. Through this academy, the goal is to align and coordinate partners so that all supportive services, training, education providers, and employers are working in conjunction with one another to fill open positions in the new manufacturing economy. The Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy will run through 2024, however the systems approach being developed will be a long-term approach to workforce development.
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