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Cornell University

Third annual Cornell University food processing bootcamp introduces students to in-demand careers

By Press Release
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Press Release:

Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) hosted its third annual food processing bootcamp at Genesee Community College, training graduating high school students from 11 districts in Genesee, Livingston, and Wyoming Counties with experiences in high-wage in-demand careers.

The free, three-day “Cornell in High School” program teaches students about practices and opportunities in the food processing industry, Genesee County’s largest employment sector. 

“Our subject matter experts from CALS provide local high school students with an introductory program that teaches the basics of the food processing industry, educates them on the many career opportunities within the industry, and bring in local employees and HR professionals from local organizations within the industry from the GLOW region,” said Dairy Foods Extension Program Director Kimberly Bukowski. 

“The GLOW region offers hundreds of immediate job opportunities within the food processing sector; our job is to ensure local youth are aware of these opportunities while preparing them with the proper skills.”

At the conclusion of the program, participants received a “Cornell Food Processing Certificate” which will give them an advantage in securing careers in food processing. In addition to Cornell CALS, the program featured industry experts from Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Yancey’s Fancy, O-AT-KA Milk Products, Nortera and HP Hood.

“We have seen a significant increase in the skill set of next generation of workforce candidates and this paradigm shift in prospective employees can be attributed to the committed workforce development programs that have flourished in Genesee County for the past several years,” said Eric Brooks, Director of Specialty and Milk Balancing, Upstate Niagara Cooperative. “This is due largely to the great work of our HR and workforce development stakeholders across the
region.” 

Significant investment from the food and beverage, advanced manufacturing, and skilled trade sectors in Genesee County equates to the readiness of the local workforce for these industries. 

Programs such as GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing, GV BOCES Mechatronics, Finger Lakes Youth Apprenticeship Program, Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship and the Cornell Food Processing Bootcamp have contributed to the preparedness of the local workforce.

“Our approach to youth workforce development has set us apart from other regions and programs across the country. As sectors such as advanced manufacturing and food processing are key components of our regional economy, we are able to work with employers, students, and other stakeholders to tailor programs based on the constant-changing needs and skills of the workforce,” said Genesee County Economic Development Center Vice President of Business and Workforce Development Chris Suozzi. 

In partnership with New York State, the Office of Strategic Workforce Development awarded Cornell CALS a $400,000 grant to provide dairy industry training through a “dairy processing boot camp” and an online dairy science and sanitation course throughout New York State. 

“In the past two years Cornell has conducted three free food processing boot camps in Genesee County to support the growth and demand of the local food and beverage sector along with the good-paying debt free careers that local students have embraced for employers who are looking to fill these positions immediately,” said Suozzi.

Submitted photos from Cornell Food Processing Bootcamp.

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Coach's Corner: Rest not an option in Workforce Development

By Chris Suozzi
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William Muoio, from Graham Corp., supervises Justin Deleo, a Byron-Bergen student, during the FFA/4-H welding competition at the Genesee County Fair in July 2023. The competition is another aspect of workforce development in Genesee County.
File Photo by Howard Owens
Chris "Coach Swazz" Suozzi

I’ve never been a fan of load management in basketball. I see the value in taking a breather mid-game, but taking yourself out of the competition or a great opportunity never made sense to me.

Challenging yourself in new ways is how you grow as an athlete, as a person, and as a professional. 

Did the 1,100 students who participated in GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing need a breather? Absolutely. There was so much for them to learn in one day – about themselves and all the skilled trades, manufacturing, food production, and agricultural careers in their backyard.

But meeting with 65 employers in the GLOW Region and testing out dozens of careers was energizing, not exhausting.

We once again saw how Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming county kids are ready for this unique challenge.

  • They hammered with precision and power at Camp Hard Hat’s nail-driving competition.
  • They jumped into the controls of construction vehicles and welding simulators.
  • They scaled power poles, raced wheelbarrows weighted down by cinder blocks, and grasped the lessons taught through GV BOCES’ mechatronics lab equipment.

Through it all, our GLOW With Your Hands participants showed a passion that we need to continually embrace. That’s a big reason I am excited to have a new placement on the workforce development calendar for our next big event. It keeps the momentum going!

Cornell in High School takes the wide-scale career exposure concept from GLOW With Your Hands and focuses it on a group of career-focused students in the Class of 2024 from Nov. 7 - 9.

Over three days of Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences-led training at SUNY Genesee Community College, students get hands-on experiences in food production, plant safety, and the financial benefits of a career in the food industry.

Employers like Nortera in Oakfield and Bergen, Upstate Niagara Cooperative in Batavia, and Yancey’s Fancy in Pembroke have welcomed this opportunity. Our students are going to connect with them in the classroom and in facility tours.

Participating students will earn a Food Processing certificate from Cornell University’s Department of Food Science, giving them a free head-start for careers that offer great lives with no college debt – and they do this all while they are still in high school!

Know a student who would fit this program? Registration is at tinyurl.com/CornellBootcamp and I’m a call (585-409-1301) or an email (csuozzi@gcedc.com) away when it comes to connecting kids to careers.

I worked with Cornell to launch this program in 2022 because of the potential it had in Genesee County. Our strong base of food and beverage companies is the largest employer within our region. Continued investment in this industry results in ample and rewarding job opportunities.

There are great futures ahead for our students at Nortera, Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Yancey’s Fancy, and across many food and beverage employers in our region.

I’m not taking a game off, or letting an opportunity pass by for our kids to succeed.

Looking ahead, there are matching days for this year’s Youth Apprenticeships in December, a Senior Job Fair, and the Youth Apprenticeship internships and co-ops early in 2024.

Chris "Coach Swazz" Suozzi is VP of Business Development for the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

Genesee County families among WNY beneficiaries of Piffard dairy farmer's largesse

By Billie Owens

Press release:

At a time when many Americans are facing unprecedented hardships as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, Kirsty Northrop, owner of Lawnel Farms in Piffard, is working to provide nutritious dairy products to those in need.

“With so many members of our community in need of food assistance, I feel passionately that we come together to support our neighbors,” Northrop said. "It is hard for food banks and community organizations to provide dairy in food assistance programs. By bringing together many groups we were able to do just that.”

Currently, some dairy processors have capacity to produce dairy products as a result of surplus milk due to the declines in foodservice. Northrop, through a partnership with her cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America, and her alma mater, Cornell University, was able to secure approximately 5,800 half gallons of fluid milk to be distributed throughout Livingston, Wyoming and Genesee counties.

“As a dairy cooperative owned by family farmers across the country, we are dedicated to helping provide nutritious food for family tables,” said Jennifer Huson, senior director Marketing, Council Affairs and Industry Relations for DFA Northeast.

“We are very excited to partner with DFA to produce fluid milk for donations to foodbanks. We have already worked closely with foodbanks in the Ithaca areas to donate products made at the Cornell dairy plant to them” says Professor Martin Wiedmann from Cornell University, who currently helps coordinate activities at the Cornell Dairy plant.

“There are feeding programs throughout Livingston, Wyoming and Genesee counties distributing food to families in need, but unfortunately many of them do not include any dairy,”  Northrop said.

To assist with distribution, Chicago-based Coyote Logistics covered the transportation costs and leveraged their carrier network to move the shipment of packaged milk from Cornell University to various drop-off points throughout Livingston, Wyoming and Genesee counties.

“We are proud to support this cause in order to get dairy products into the hands of those who need them most,” said Jason Knight, sales manager at Coyote Logistics.

Livingston County would like to thank Kirsty Northrop, Dairy Farmers of America, and Cornell University for the wonderful donation of milk to add to our distribution sites.” Angela Ellis, deputy county administrator.

“As a multigenerational farm, our family has always been community conscious and in a time like this, what better time to share a little of what we do with our neighbors and friends.” Northrop said.

Cornell Alumni Welcome Cayuga's Waiters to O'Lacys

By Sarah Noble Moag
Cornell Club of Genesee Orleans International Spirit of Zinck's Night October 20 ~ Batavia, NY Special Guests: Cornell University’s Cayuga’s Waiters O’Lacys Irish Pub, Five School Street, Batavia, NY 14020; 585-343-3270 7:00- 9:00 pm Join the entire Cornell community—both students and alumni— by observing the annual Spirit of Zinck's Night at your favorite Irish Pub in Batavia. You may be still 100 miles from Cornell, but on Thursday, October 20, you can feel just steps away from the Hill by attending Zinck's Night.
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Local Cornellians host Dean Kathryn Boor, from Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

By Sarah Noble Moag

The Genesee-Orleans Cornell Club is pleased to announce a luncheon Thursday, April 7, 2011  with Dean Kathryn Boor'80 from Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Ms. Boor was named the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences  last July. 

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JOIN THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

By Jan Beglinger

 

Count for Fun, Count for the Future
New York, NY and Ithaca, NY—Bird and nature fans throughout North America are invited to join tens of thousands of everyday bird watchers for the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), February 13-16, 2009.
 
A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation. Participants count birds and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.
 
“The Great Backyard Bird Count benefits both birds and people. It’s a great example of citizen science: Anyone who can identify even a few species can contribute to the body of knowledge that is used to inform conservation efforts to protect birds and biodiversity,” said Audubon Education VP, Judy Braus. “Families, teachers, children and all those who take part in GBBC get a chance to improve their observation skills, enjoy nature, and have a great time counting for fun, counting for the future.”

 
Anyone can take part, from novice bird watchers to experts, by counting birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and reporting their sightings online at www.birdcount.org. Participants can also explore what birds others are finding in their backyards—whether in their own neighborhood or thousands of miles away. Additional online resources include tips to help identify birds, a photo gallery, and special materials for educators.
 
The data these “citizen scientists” collect helps researchers understand bird population trends, information that is critical for effective conservation. Their efforts enable everyone to see what would otherwise be impossible: a comprehensive picture of where birds are in late winter and how their numbers and distribution compare with previous years. In 2008, participants submitted more than 85,000 checklists.
 
“The GBBC has become a vital link in the arsenal of continent-wide bird-monitoring projects,” said Cornell Lab of Ornithology director, John Fitzpatrick. “With more than a decade of data now in hand, the GBBC has documented the fine-grained details of late-winter bird distributions better than any project in history, including some truly striking changes just over the past decade.”
 
Each year, in addition to entering their tallies, participants submit thousands of digital images for the GBBC photo contest. Many are featured in the popular online gallery. Participants in the 2009 count are also invited to upload their bird videos to YouTube; some will also be featured on the GBBC web site. Visit www.birdcount.org to learn more.
 
Businesses, schools, nature clubs, Scout troops, and other community organizations interested in the GBBC can contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473 (outside the U.S., call (607) 254-2473), or Audubon at citizenscience@audubon.org or (202) 861-2242, Ext 3050.
 
The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by support from Wild Birds Unlimited.

News roundup: Richmond promotes literacy

By Philip Anselmo

From the Daily News (Monday):

  • Richmond Memorial Library has about finished mounting eleven banners on schools, shops and organizations around Batavia. The 9-by-12-foot posters depict blown-up illustrations intended to promote preschool literacy as part of the library's Giving Reading Opportunities program. Check out the article on page A-3 for a full list of sites.
  • Seventy-three years after the Cornell Women's Club of Batavia held its first meeting, it held its last this past weekend. Part social club, part unofficial recruiters for Cornell University, the Women's Club was established on December 15, 1934. Member MaryAnne Sovocool told reporter Joanne Beck: "We may not be meeting together, but we'll never end. We'll be in the meeting room in heaven."
  • Beck also attended the Notre Dame High School graduation ceremony Saturday. Her coverage can be found on the front page.
  • Byron-Bergen student Trent Jeffords got a perfect score and first place at the third annual Dancing Under the Stars at Stuart Steiner Theatre Saturday. His partner was Millie Tomidy, executive director of the Genesee County Mental Health Association. (If anyone got a video recording of the dance, please let us know, and we will post it here on the site for all to see.)
  • A story on page A-7 about Genesee Community College's summer forensic science camps was featured on The Batavian a few weeks ago. Follow the link for more information.
  • Notre Dame's Fighting Irish baseball pulled a come-from-behind victory over Northstar Christian Academy Saturday to advance to the Class D regionals. They will play "Section 6 champion Pine Valley in the Far West Regionals tonight in Jamestown," writes reporter Brian Hillabush.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

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