Having a winning gameplan starts with knowing your strengths and quickly understanding what is going to work on the field.

I think we’ve seen that with the start of the Bills season – when the gameplan works, we’re winning comfortably against Jacksonville and Miami. When it doesn’t we’re losing to Baltimore and Houston.

I’m impressed by how scripting the first 15 plays of the game to test out a gameplan has continued for decades. And I see this “game script” as a best practice that we’ve brought to so many students in the GLOW Region.

Our students and businesses don’t need to gameplan every single play because they realize the benefits of a short game script executed so well at GLOW With Your Hands.

The GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing and Healthcare events give students a clear direction on the careers they’ve love at companies right in our backyard.  Since 2019, we have welcomed over 5,000 students at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in the fall and Genesee Community College in the spring.

Parents of our GLOW With Your Hands participants, your kids have been incredible!

They have a lot of fun at these events, but they also have taken these hands-on experiences and opportunities to talk with employers and professionals seriously. Companies growing in the GLOW Region have told us it’s the quality of this generation of future leaders that gives them confidence to expand their workforces.

And Parents, there are good-paying jobs ready for your kids.

Careers without college debt or minimal debt like new tech/skilled trades programs at GCC.

Opportunities to succeed and advance.

And we have a gameplan that you can be a part of!

Whether your student attended GLOW With Your Hands this year or not, I want to invite you to the next step we recommend to every student at the event – start exploring a career in a great training program.

Genesee Valley BOCES is hosting open houses for prospective students at their Batavia and Mt. Morris campuses in the coming weeks. BOCES programs in Mechatronics, CNC machining, and welding guide students directly into in-demand careers, apprenticeships and no-debt paths to earning up to $60k + a year to earning at total of $1 million in their first 12 years of employment.

I want to see you at the Batavia campus for an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 23rd, or with our peers in Mt. Morris from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 24^th.

Discover pathways for your child outside a traditional high school classroom. Interact with instructors and staff from great programs like the three I’ve recommended.

Our region has adapted to the workforce development-focused blueprint we have implemented in Genesee County and our region.

Our students need to take advantage of these opportunities, and I am here to assist them take along the way.  We just need to stick to the gameplan!

Visit www.gcedc.com/careerchecklist to access our free career checklist, featuring eight essential steps to jumpstart your professional journey.

If you are a student, parent, teacher, or guidance counselor contact me at [email protected] to learn how to get involved today!

- Chris “Coach SwazZ” Suozzi is the Executive Vice President of Business & Workforce Development at the Genesee County Economic Development Center.