Voss Manufacturing, an upstate New York family-owned business since 1967, makes machinery for the heat exchanger industry and does custom design and manufacturing.

It also comes equipped with a workforce of 110 employees, with roughly 30% near retirement.

"The biggest challenge for Voss to grow is being able to hire skilled trades. For every five skilled tradesmen that are leaving the workforce there's only one coming in," said Dan Yousett, engineering and development manager, Voss Manufacturing.

What You Need To Know

  • Dream It Do It expanding into Erie and Niagara counties

  • The goal is to help recruit the next generation of manufacturing employees

  • A number of employers, like Voss, are on board

To help combat that, Voss is one of many companies now connected to Dream It Do It Western New York, working to build a talent pipeline and recruit the next generation of skilled workers.

"They are the bridge between education and manufacturing," said Yousett. "They go out and make the connections and find those kids, that probably are not good candidates for college and encourage them to find a better pathway to a good rewarding career."

Dream It Do It Western New York recently announced it's expanded its program to help businesses in Erie and Niagara counties, building on its success in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany.

"To engage with students, to engage with schools, to get students connected with manufacturing careers," said Todd Tranum, president, Dream It Do It Western New York.

Tranum says he hopes the program can serve as a model for the rest of the state, facing the same manufacturing employment issues.

"We've built a program that is scalable. We've built an industry recognized certification that is scalable," said Tranum. "And we would certainly welcome the opportunity to have a broader conversation with partners across New York state to see what could be done."

For companies, like Voss.

"The schools aren't encouraging enough young people to pursue skilled trades," said Yousett. "We have someone out there that's talking to these kids, talking to the teachers, talking to the counselors, talking to their school superintendents, and demonstrating to them and showing them how dire of a need."

Dream It Do It Western New York includes more than 1,600 manufacturers, employs roughly 70,000 people and generates close to $27 billion in manufacturing shipments a year.