Horrigan, Chautauqua County Education Coalition, and Athenex Begin Workforce Development
Chautauqua County Prepares for Athenex Workforce Needs
DUNKIRK, N.Y.: — Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan and the Chautauqua County Education Coalition are already rolling up their sleeves to begin coordinating education and training programs for our county’s future manufacturing workforce related to Athenex selecting Chautauqua County for its new high potency oncology drug manufacturing site.
Focused and coordinated workforce development is top of the list as Athenex, in partnership with SUNY Polytechnic Institute and New York State, prepares for 900 new jobs, in addition to the workforce needed by our existing valued local manufacturers. Horrigan is leading the collaboration of local education providers in partnership with the Education Coalition to make the process more efficient for all.
To that end Horrigan and the Education Coalition recently hosted a roundtable with Athenex at the Fredonia Technology Incubator in Dunkirk. The Education Coalition’s mission and role will be to guide the process of bringing together the diverse collective of stakeholder organizations to solve our county’s workforce development need.
A full house, the meeting was very well attended by all the key local education providers. The first of several meetings in the process, this meeting was to mobilize Education Coalition members who are specifically focused on training and curriculum as we begin to understand the workforce needs anticipated by Athenex, along with known workforce needs of our local manufacturers, which in some cases are similar.
With five members of Athenex’s leadership team present, Todd Tranum of Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce/ Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier and Katie Geise of Chautauqua Works (both as representatives of the Education Coalition) facilitated the roundtable discussion. They provided an overview of the Education Coalition to Athenex describing the organization’s key focus areas, and defined the process by which our local educators can work together collaboratively to achieve employers’ specific workforce needs in a streamlined and efficient effort. This will create opportunities for our residents while meeting the needs of local employers as they are predicted.
The conversation included an in-depth discussion of several Athenex key employment positions, education requirements and functional needs anticipated. Coalition members are expected to tour Athenex’s Erie County facilities soon to gain an understanding of the culture, work environment and technical requirements for pharma manufacturing. Athenex will also tour several local schools and colleges to learn what local resources are available to them. In addition, this group will bring together local businesses with Athenex to identify common workforce development needs and strategies to address those needs.
Participants of the ongoing initiative will include representatives from the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Jamestown Community College, the State University of New York at Fredonia, Jamestown Business College, Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES, the Manufacturer’s Association of the Southern Tier, Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, Chautauqua Works, Dream It Do It, Dunkirk City School District, Fredonia Central School District, P-TECH, Chautauqua County, County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency, and the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation Economic Development Committee.
About Chautauqua County Education Coalition – The mission of the Chautauqua County Education Coalition is to align resources and build capabilities to meet the evolving workforce requirements of the community. The Coalition has 88 participating stakeholders representing over 60 organizations that are part of the Chautauqua County learning system. For more information visit http://educoalition.com/.
About Athenex – Athenex is a global specialty oncology pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of next generation therapies for cancer diseases and supportive therapies. The company is dedicated to delivering innovative drugs that can have a life-changing impact on cancer patients. In addition to multiple offices in China and the U.S., they have regional development partners in Dunedin, New Zealand; Hong Kong; Guangzhou, China; Seoul, South Korea; Taipei, Taiwan; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Guatemala City, Guatemala.