Career Jam set for this month in Queensbury

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with The Washington- Saratoga-Warren- Hamilton-Essex BOCES and The Workforce Investment Board, have collaborated to inspire students with ways their learning is applied in real regional careers.

Career Jam, to be held at The Dome in Queensbury on Oct. 18, will promote area job opportunities to raise awareness among eighth and ninth grade students, their families and educators of the direct skills and jobs needed in our region.

Officials said that highlighting these job options earlier can help influence student education and training choices and retain their talents to fill local jobs that can drive future growth.

Organizers said the event builds on the workforce development priority that led to the inaugural Career Jam last fall at HVCC-TEC Smart. So far, the second annual version has already doubled the registered number of students coming from as far as Indian Lake to Kinderhook schools. Employers across business, trade labor, and public sectors are participating to highlight job

skills in action.

“We are excited to partner with key stakeholders in business and education to deliver workforce events highlighting the skills needed and pathways to a successful career in our region,” said Dennis Brobston in a news release, President of SEDC. “This student-employer exchange is in direct response to the voiced concerns of business leaders and educators wanting to better align skills development with needed workplace job opportunities. This is designed to be a fun, engaging educational opportunity to bring young people in contact with area employers featuring a wide variety of skills and job options.”

SEDC’s Advance Saratoga strategic initiative has prioritized improving workforce development. Its Advisory Team of local employers and education leaders helped to highlight the need to better align students with current and future employer needs.

“We are working to improve teacher and student recognition of the area workforce needs now and in the future,” Kim Wegner, Lead Coordinator for Innovative Programs, BOCES. “Career Jam has clearly built momentumbecause so many of us realize the need for demonstrating applied learning to advance the pathway to meaningful careers. Challenging employers from varied sectors of our economy and skill needs to come forward with engaging, handson demonstrations of job options to meet this student interest has been a great partnership. We are excited to see this initiative continue to improve educator and industry collaboration to foster local talent to meet nextgeneration job needs.”

Career Jam is an annual one-day event for 8th & 9thgrade students from local school districts.

The event highlights the skills needed for employment across the 16 Career Clusters in the area:

• Agriculture, Food& Natural Resources

• Architecture & Construction

• Arts, A/V Technology & Communications

• Business, Management & Administration • Education & Training • Finance

• Government & Public Administration

• Health Sciences • Hospitality & Tourism

• Human Services • Information Technology

• Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security • Manufacturing • Marketing

• Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics

• Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

“As the Vice Chair of the Workforce Development Board and an employer at Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. we are excited to hold this event to showcase the diverse skills and job options our region has to offer,” said Peggy Murphy, HR Director/Corporate Secretary/FSO. “Connecting area young people and their families to the skills needed for real career options that exist in our communities will nurture talent to help us remain competitive and grow.

“We enjoy working together with our community partners at SEDC to catalysts for this workforce pipeline. We knowfrom last year how positively this event is received by employers, educators and students alike. I cannot encourage strongly enough more employers participating with creative demonstrations of skills used in the workplace to generate value for the value our businesses, nonprofit causes or in public service.”

Local businesses, nonprofits and government entities from each Career Cluster will be present with handson activities to engage and encourage students to look at the many career opportunities and areas of study relevant to workforce skills needed in our region.

For more information or to sign up your school or business, please visit www. Career-Jam.com.