Times Union: Amid tech boom, a bust
Published:
Monday, October 27, 2014 - 10:39
I wanted to share with you the following article that was published by the Times Union:
Region's high-tech identity has left some residents of poorer neighborhoods behind
Albany
The Capital Region's technology boom is real: Thousands of new, high-paying jobs have been created in gleaming new buildings and laboratories, with billions of dollars in investments.
But not everyone is sharing in the gains.
Just ask Harris Oberlander, director of Trinity Alliance in Albany, which serves a neighborhood where nearly 90 percent of the students qualify for subsidized school lunches and families try to make ends meet on annual incomes of $12,000 or less.
While GlobalFoundries struggles to fill hundreds of clean-room technician jobs, unemployed adults in the Capital Region's poorer neighborhoods lack the skills and qualifications to even apply.
Trinity Alliance, in partnership with SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the Albany Housing Authority, has launched the Capital South Campus Center in an effort to give those adults a chance to participate in the growing tech economy.
Central to this is the Advanced Technology and Information Networking Lab, or ATTAIN, which Oberlander says will provide "a foundational kind of education intervention that can lead a person to get a Microsoft credential, or a Cisco credential. It's a platform to introduce people to various online certificates" that can provide the technology skills to qualify for technical jobs.
It also will help those who want to further their educations, Oberlander says.
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Middle School children who will enter eighth & ninth grades in the fall from the Newburgh Enlarged City School District who participated in INTY, the Institute of Nanoscale Technology & Youth Summer Program, built these small foam model planes and fitted them with radio controls so they can be flown, meet in Collins Circle at the University at Albany for their flights on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, in Albany, NY. The technology camp is sponsored by a partnership between the Center for Urban Youth & Technology, and the College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering. (Luanne M. Ferris / Times Union)[/caption]
SUNY Poly secured $475,000 in funding for the laboratory, and has proposed another $475,000 in funding through the Capital Region Economic Development Council to establish a clean room and training benches to qualify people to work as technicians, addressing what SUNY Poly calls a "chronic shortage."
Oberlander says employers are also are eager for the initiative to succeed.
"Several employers have come our way, essentially saying, 'We'd like to diversify. How can you help us?'
"The diversification of the work force is not happening enough," Oberlander said, "so we have the opportunity capitalize on that."
While the ATTAIN initiative targets adults, schools also are offering paths to technology careers.
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New computers are set up in the ATTAIN Lab that will help area residents prepare for technology careers at Capital South Campus Center -Trinity Alliance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)[/caption]
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New computers are set up in the ATTAIN Lab that will help area residents prepare for technology careers at Capital South Campus Center -Trinity Alliance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)[/caption]
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Empty computer boxes are seen in the corner of the ATTAIN Lab that will help area residents prepare for technology careers at Capital South Campus Center -Trinity Alliance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union[/caption]
The P-Tech, for Pathways in Technology Early College High School, program provides students with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree, as well as priority in hiring for open positions with technology companies.
Riverfront P-Tech, which includes the City School District of Troy, Questar III BOCES, the Center for Economic Growth, and Hudson Valley Community College, as well as local companies GE Healthcare and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, launched its program this autumn.
SUNY Poly, meanwhile, also has other programs that target younger people, such as a partnership with the Albany City School District to provide after-school activities for eighth graders at Myers Middle School, after-school tutoring and mentoring, and an effort with Girls Inc. through its Eureka! program to encourage young women to pursue careers in nanotechnology.
In Troy, the Commission on Economic Opportunity, seeking to offset the lack of access to technology that low-income families face, will offer through its new Urban Training Center computer workstations, access to the Internet and other technology-based teaching tools.
It also will seek to work with local tech organizations to offer training programs, said spokeswoman Emily Cote.
Oberlander, the Trinity Alliance CEO, will speak to the Albany Roundtable on the topic of Inclusive Economic Development in a High Tech World, during its luncheon meeting at noon on Nov. 12th at the University Club of Albany at 141 Washington Ave. More information and registration is available at www.albanyroundtable.blogspot.com
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="590"]
New computers are set up in the ATTAIN Lab that will help area residents prepare for technology careers at Capital South Campus Center -Trinity Alliance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)[/caption]
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White erase board in the ATTAIN Lab that will help area residents prepare for technology careers at Capital South Campus Center -Trinity Alliance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="590"]
New computers are set up in the ATTAIN Lab that will help area residents prepare for technology careers at Capital South Campus Center -Trinity Alliance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="590"]
New computers are set up in the ATTAIN Lab that will help area residents prepare for technology careers at Capital South Campus Center -Trinity Alliance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)[/caption]
Times Union: Amid tech boom, a bust
By Eric Anderson
Published 1:33 pm, Saturday, October 25, 2014
eanderson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5323
