With a state-of-the-art 35-acre workforce training center, the development of the Northland Corridor puts a much-needed spotlight on investment in Buffalo’s East Side. And a search is now underway to select a president for the facility.
The Western New York Workforce Training Center was spearheaded by Catholic Charities of Buffalo, Inc, Goodwill Industries of Western New York, Inc., Buffalo Urban League, and the Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Alliance. The initiative is committed to fostering both education and a culturally diverse working environment on Buffalo's East Side. "This is kind of a unique approach to really marrying the needs of the manufacturing community employers and the potential students that come from the East side among other parts of the city," states Tom Lynch, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of WNY.
Jennifer Evans, a senior search consultant at Performance Management Partners, describes that the ideal individual is someone who can bring all of the key stakeholders and the entire community together to get this center off the ground. The focus is not only for this individual to secure funding, but also to build key partnerships, ensure that key metrics are being met and develop a strategic vision for the facility.
“You have to be able to relate. They have to be entrepreneurial in nature. You have to have a passion and have worked in a mission related venture,” Evans says. “They have to want to make a difference with uplifting the underrepresented and making that difference.”
The Northland Initiative hopes to be a one-of-a-kind facility that will connect ready, willing and able people with jobs in the manufacturing and skilled labor sectors. SUNY and Buffalo State are currently putting together a curriculum for the Center. The target opening of the WNY Workforce Training Center is in 2018.
For more information regarding this position, please see the following job position located on Performance Management Partners' website at www.performancepros.net/career-opportunities/president.