The Long Island Apprenticeship and Workforce Task Force launched Thursday to help fill thousands of manufacturing jobs in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
There are millions of dollars in funding for job training on Long Island. But lawmakers say it’s not efficiently being used to fill the 7,000 vacant manufacturing jobs on the island.
“We already have many job training and apprentice programs here. We talk about the building trades and the great model. We have BOCES, we have our community colleges, we have some money that we’re trying to get our arms around. We want to bring all of this together and kind of create a one-stop shopping for all of this,” said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
The task force will find ways to develop well-trained workers over the next three months and make recommendations for outreach and training opportunities.
Joseph Bryant, a local businessman who will assist the task force, said they need to break the stigma of working in manufacturing.
“Take a tour they say, ‘Wow, this is something. I didn’t think it was like that, I thought it was dark and dingy.’ It’s not dark and dingy. Its clean, it’s neat. Beautiful kitchens, beautiful benefits. We give so many benefits because we know they need benefits.”
By the end of May, the task force will have a report that says exactly what resources they have and the actions they will take.