Our local and regional workforce training centers are a significant source of workforce talent for manufacturers in Genesee County.

Recently, Buffalo Business First profiled how our investment of over $700,000 into training equipment for the Genesee Valley BOCES mechatronics lab in Batavia, NY is delivering results for Oxbo (agriculture machinery and farming equipment - Byron, NY) and Nortera (frozen vegetables - Oakfield and Bergen, NY).

“We’re very much looking for skilled tradesmen that want to be involved in that electro-mechanical side of things,” Oxbo Plant Manager Chris Chadbourne told Business First's Katie Anderson. “As an employer, we’re looking for those hidden gems that are not going to run off to college or join the military, but are looking for a place to go and are interested and curious.”

Chadbourne said he has six employees that recently came out of the BOCES program and about 7% of his total workforce came from BOCES programs.

“So, the BOCES link to Oxbo has been strong,” he said.

See the full story at Business First of Buffalo