Cayuga County could become a hub for training future manufacturers. Thursday, Cayuga Community College Open the Advanced Manufacturing Institute. Students enrolled will have the opportunity to learn the many aspects of the industry and specialize in some areas including plastics. Time Warner Cable News' Iris St. Meran tells us what the job outlook is like in this particular industry.
AUBURN, N.Y. -- On Thursday, Cayuga Community College officially debuted its new Advanced Manufacturing Institute.
"Manufacturing is evolving at a very rapid rate, and students [and] workers need skills and training to operate the equipment [and] do the programming," said Christie Waters, CCC Science, Mathematics and Technology Division chair.
"We have programmable equipment here that they'd see in industry. We've got a milling machine and robot station."
Over the years, many manufacturing companies have left the area, but experts say the future is bright for the industry, and in particular plastics technology, where there are a number of job opportunities.
"Plastics industry is a very good, strong industry," said John Currier, Currier Plastics president. "We do a lot of recruiting down at Penn State for students every year, as do the other plastics manufacturers in the area, and having a local source for talent is fantastic for us."
Currier's father, Raymond, founded the Auburn company more than 30 years ago, and the plastics laboratory was dedicated to Raymond. John is hoping to share his father's love for this work with the students and continue this tradition in Auburn for even more years to come.
Cayuga Community College already offers advanced manufacturing, electrical and mechanical technology. This spring, courses will begin in plastics technology.