MVCC WORKS
MVCC works is a set of innovative programs and partnerships to support positive community change. With community in its name, MVCC takes its role as a community hub seriously.
Challenges
Workforce demands are growing more intense and complex as employers struggle under COVID. Oneida County’s economic development priorities include the Wynn hospital, Skydome, Wolfspeed and the growing needs of the advanced manufacturing sector, the Nexus Center, and continued growth of the cybersecurity sector anchored by the Air Force Research Lab. There is a need to build a workforce pipeline that creates competitive advantage and programs that align with workforce needs.
Solutions
- PTECH – Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) is a strategic partnership with OHM-BOCES and local employers that offers an integrated high school and college curriculum.
- Upward Bound – A federally funded educational opportunity outreach program in partnership with Utica City School District and T.R. Proctor High School for students from underrepresented populations in grades 9-12.
- GearUp – GearUp is a federally funded partnership between MVCC and other local organizations that provides supports for high school students.
- The Science Technology Entry Program (STEP) serves students in grades 7-12 that are under-represented by encouraging them to consider careers in STEM fields and health and licensed professions.
- Math Corps – Designed to enhance mentorship, enthusiasm for, and understanding of mathematics concepts in youth.
- Program for Regional Opportunities & Pathways for Enhanced Learning (PROPEL) – Early College High School (ECHS) program in partnership
with MO-BOCES that delivers highly accessible, accelerated college completion pathways generating a consistent regional workforce pipeline to sustain
high-growth and emerging industries.
Challenges
The Mohawk Valley Region is home to several underserved populations. Homeless shelters for women and children are almost non-existent; more than 2,000 individuals are released from a correctional facility each year; hundreds of military veterans return to the area; refugee resettlement is returning after years of declining numbers; several non-profits provide services to a growing population of individuals with developmental disabilities – all of whom are in need of additional education and training.
Solutions
- College-Community-Connection (C3) – The C3 program is an on-campus access point to community based services and resources
for low-income students in need of wrap-around services and resources.
- Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) - provides access, academic support and financial aid to students who need special academic assistance as well as financial need.
- Educational Outreach Center (EOC) – YouthBuild – The EOC is located in the heart of Utica as a community outreach facility that provides ESL and TASC programs, as well as housing the YouthBuild program that provides carpentry and life skills to out out of school youth ages 18 – 24.
- Adult Literacy Education (ALE) grant – MVCC provides an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program that focuses on improving the English skillls of its participants while also developing employment skills that will benefit students professionally and socially.
Challenges
The Mohawk Valley region ranks in the lowest national tier for the total amount of both venture capital investment and the number of new business startups. There are more than 6,000 small businesses in the Mohawk Valley, covering a vast spectrum of firms from neighborhood coffee shops and homegrown construction businesses to specialized tech firms and nonprofit service providers. The COVID pandemic has hit small businesses extremely hard and they need help navigating an uncertain future.
Solutions
- thINC – MVCC’s thINCubator is the hub of the new business startup ecosystem in the region. thINCubator has assisted over 200 entrepreneurs over the past 5 years through mentorship, meetups, programming, and 1-to-1 consulting. We help startups ‘start up’ by supporting students and community members in developing and launching new ventures to revitalize the local small-business community.
- YEA! - The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) takes local students in grades six through twelve through the process of starting and running real businesses over the course an academic year.
- Small Business Development Center – The Mohawk Valley regional SBDC has served more than 2,200 individuals from 842 business – including helping 137 new business startups - in the past three years from its location at the thINCubator.
Challenges
With student debt at an all-time high, everyone is concerned about whether time and money spent on education translates to improved outcomes. Guided Pathways reforms have become a dominant theme in the community college sector. Students don’t have time nor resources to not graduate on time while securing the knowledge and skills to improve career trajectories and receive accessible, high-quality educational opportunities for all students.
Solutions
Mohawk Valley Community College attracts a very diverse set of students in terms of age, race and ethnicity, ability, and career aspirations, preparing them to further their education and achieve their professional dreams.
MVCC offers degrees, certificates, and non-credit training in a variety of fields that cover high-demand and emerging workforce sectors like Healthcare, Nano/Mechatronics, Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS-Drones), Cybersecurity, The Advanced Institute for Manufacturing (AIM), and Data Analytics as well as the skilled trades that support our community infrastructure.
The College spans two campuses – one in Utica and one in Rome – offers 90 degree and certificate options for its enrollment of more than 13,000 individual students in credit programs (8,400) and non-credit and support programs (5,000).
Challenges
According to Census figures, the number of people who identify themselves as Asian, black, mixed race and Native American all increased between 2010 and 2020. Additionally, the arrival of a large number of refugees and immigrants since the 1990s has shifted the region’s demographics. According to The Center, one quarter of Utica’s population is represented by refugee families, with over 20% of the population over the age of 5 speaking a native language other than English.
Solutions
- 21-day Equity Challenge
A community-wide shared experience that engaged more than 37 employers and 1,100+ individuals in learning more about diversity, equity, and inclusion. - Cultural Series – Bringing world-class lectures, concerts, comedy, theatre, and more to the entire community, serving over 8,000 guests annually, enriching the college and the greater community.
- Community Meetings and Events – MVCC hosts and coordinates meetings and events for more than 60 different community groups, with an approximate annual attendance figure of more than 40,000 people (Pre-COVID).
- Center for Leadership Excellence – MVCC and Leadership Mohawk Valley have joined forces to develop the Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE) and address the region’s need for effective, equipped, and engaged community leaders. In addition to LMV, CLE provides robust and relevant training through a Leadership Academy, Supervisor’s Institute, Board Leadership series, as well as Neighborhoods Rising to support community leaders in the Cornhill neighborhood of Utica.