On Tuesday, April 23, Mohawk Valley Community College and the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) held a ceremony at MVCC’s Utica Campus to celebrate the third and fourth cohorts of the “Real Life Rosies” pre-apprenticeship program that encourages more women to pursue careers in the advanced manufacturing industry. 

Event speakers included Dr. Randall J. VanWagoner, President of MVCC; Michael Frame, Executive Vice President of MACNY; Dawn Roller, Director of Human Resources at Indium Corporation; industry and community partners; and “Real Life Rosies” graduates.

“Real Life Rosies” is part of the Diversifying Advanced Manufacturing with Women in the Workforce program — New York State’s first workforce training program to create a direct pipeline to apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing. The 12-week pre-apprenticeship program helps women gain the skills required to fill apprenticeship positions in this high-demand sector and better diversity the workforce.

MACNY received a grant from Empire State Development’s Office of Strategic Workforce Development to implement the program, which is offered in collaboration with MVCC and Working Solutions. It provides opportunities and support for women of all ages to enter and advance in the manufacturing industry while helping employers that are experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. The program focuses on specific techniques and procedures required to obtain an entry-level job in manufacturing. Topics include safety, hand tool usage, quality/continuous improvement, instruments and gages, inspection, fasteners, CNC, robotics, and additive manufacturing.

Learn more about the "Real Life Rosies" program.

For more information, contact Franca Armstrong, Executive Director of Apprenticeship Programs at MVCC, at 315-794-7670 or farmstrong@mvcc.edu, or Michael Frame, Executive Vice President at MACNY, at 315-256-1045 or mframe@macny.org.