The Micron mega fab plant planned for Clay will need mega workers to fill mega jobs. The plant is expected to spawn 50 thousand jobs over 20 years-many of them high-tech. The spotlight is on STEM: science, technology, math and engineering. And, central New York's ability to produce the workers. The effort to shepherd students along a STEM path starts young.
"Kids who go through the PTECH program can come out of their high school years with perhaps as much as a two-year degree at no cost," says Mohawk Valley EDGE President Steve DiMeo. "We are fortunate that I think New York State graduates the second most engineers of any state in the country so we have the foundation to support these kinds of initiatives."
Advanced Tool is in Marcy. Their cutting tools are used in chip manufacturing. Though much smaller than a Wolfspeed or Micron, they, too, need stem workers.
"One of the things that we are in need of: people that are good with math and good with critical thinking," says President, Sherry DiPerno.
DePerno found one way to get STEM workers is to grow their own.
"So we have a four-year program, requires no college education. You come in and learn for four years and we're paying you salary and benefits while you're doing it," said DePerno. "Kids don't realize how important those things are like geometry in high school, how it can relate in the real world, and I think if they had more opportunity to see it connected, in the field, they might get a little more excited about it."
Micron estimates their mega fab in Clay will spawn 50 thousand jobs over 20 years. Not all will be high-tech. First, the plant must be designed and built. Mohawk Valley EDGE's Steve DiMeo says around 40% of the construction and trade jobs associated with Wolfspeed, at Marcy Nano, were from outside the area. But he says outside jobs could become inside jobs.
"These are great times. These are types of employers that have the ability to reclaim and actually support population growth," says DiMeo.
Site work in Clay begins next year; construction of the mega fab gets underway in 2024. So there's some time to train and retain the needed workforce.
Gloss