BUFFALO, N.Y. — Construction on the new Northland Workforce Training Center is almost complete, with empty rooms soon to be filled with teachers and equipment to prepare eager students to become welders, machinists, electricians and technicians.

Kristeka Rogers of Buffalo is looking for a fresh start.  The former preschool teacher is one of several people who stopped by Mount Olive Baptist Church Wednesday to learn more about what the center has to offer.

“I came from a job that was only paying me about $12 an hour. Everyone thinks that they have to be the average doctor or a lawyer just to get money,” she said. “There's different jobs out there. There's different opportunities.”

Beginning this fall, the training center will have one and two-year programs for college credit in partnership with SUNY Erie and Alfred State. Students will have a coach helping them through the process of getting started with school to finding and keeping a job, with the promise of starting pay between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.

“Most of our students will have jobs with these companies before they even finish,” said Duncan Kirkwood of the Northland Workforce Training Center. “It's built into our program that they're going to do co-ops with the manufacturing partners while they're in school doing the training."

Recruiters for the center say there are currently more than 3,000 job openings in Western New York in manufacturing and energy. With input from those businesses looking to hire, the goal is to give people the tools to take those positions.

The center hopes to have about 300 students training each year.  Students must be at least 18 years old. They also need a high school diploma or equivalency and pass a reading and math test at a10th grade level. There is help available to help people meet those standards.

If money is a problem, financial aid, scholarships and grants are there to make it affordable for most.  A background in manufacturing and technology is not required to make it happen.

The final touches on construction here at the Workforce Training Center are expected to be complete by August 24 and the first classes are set to begin on September 10.