WNY Manufacturing and Tech Coalition Puts Focus on Jobs

Story originally published April, 2025 via The Buffalo News

Local manufacturers, including Moog Inc., were struggling to find trained workers for a specific job.

They needed finishing and deburring technicians, who are responsible for putting finishing touches on machined parts that go into airplanes, space vehicles and other applications.

“They’re very critical,” said Stephen Tucker, president and CEO of the Northland Workforce Training Center. “It’s almost like a jewelry maker doing final touches on an expensive piece of jewelry.”

This is where the Western New York Manufacturing and Tech Workforce Coalition came in – and how nine people ended up getting jobs.

The coalition was formed in late 2023 to identify gaps in the region’s manufacturing and tech workforce and develop solutions. In the case of finishing and deburring technicians, the Northland Workforce Training Center partnered with the manufacturers to determine the equipment they needed for training and to develop a curriculum.

Other coalition partners got involved. The Workforce Development Institute provided $32,000 to purchase the equipment, including the microscopes that the technicians use. Northland obtained funding from Workforce Buffalo, equivalent to $5,000 per student, to cover tuition and class supplies.

Four participating employers – Moog, Keller Technology, Casey Machine and T&T Legacy Metals – agreed to provide a stipend of $2,000 for each student they intended to hire. A master finisher from Moog led the training, with assistance from another master finisher at the company.

Out of 60 applicants for the program, 10 students were selected and started their training in October. Nine of them completed the 12-week program. All of the graduates were hired by the participating employers. Moog hired six of them, with starting pay of $22 per hour.

“This is just the first example of the capability of the coalition,” said Tucker, who is also the coalition’s executive director. Northland will offer the training program again in September, to meet manufacturers’ ongoing need.

Jerry Irving, vice president of knowledge management at Moog, said the finishing and deburring training provided through Northland is an effective way to introduce new hires to the company. 

“It’s been a real win for us, because the people who came through the program came on the job with much higher skills and knowledge than we typically would have,” Irving said.

Once they are working for Moog, he said, it is easier for them to move into other positions at the company. The master finishers who led the training are serving as mentors to the new hires who came through the program.

Moog, which is based in Elma, wants to recruit more workers from Buffalo, and Northland’s program helps with that objective, Irving said. “We want a more diverse workforce. We want to provide opportunities for people who want to get ahead.”

Moog’s headquarters in Elma. (Derek Gee/News file photo) – Derek Gee, News file photo

The manufacturing and tech coalition received $29 million in funding over three years from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and Empire State Development. Tucker said the coalition has built strong support among employers, training providers, pipeline developers and workforce development boards. 

Among the coalition partners’ initiatives:

• Per Scholas Buffalo recently graduated 20 students from the first class of its tech training program, and is teaching its second group of students. Per Scholas Buffalo has ambitions to increase the number of students it trains each year.

• The Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Alliance has helped the “Dream It, Do It” program expand into Erie and Niagara counties. The program introduces young people to career opportunities in manufacturing, through building connections between schools and employers.

• Fresenius Kabi, which makes sterile, injectable drugs at its plant on Grand Island, had some of its employees to go through a mechatronics training program at Northland to expand their skills. The vast majority of them have moved into higher-level positions, Tucker said.

Workers set up the production line in between batches at the Fresenius Kabi plant. (Derek Gee/News file photo) – Derek Gee, Buffalo News

The coalition has grown to 48 employer partners, including prominent companies such as M&T Bank, Moog, ACV Auctions and Cummins Inc.

Collaboration among the coalition’s partners is the key to their work, Tucker said. He said he is confident that the job placement numbers spurred by the coalition’s work will continue to grow.

“This is hard work, building coalitions, keeping coalitions together, demonstrating the impact,” he said. “I think what I’m satisfied about is, this shows the potential if we work together.”