{"id":290617,"date":"2026-07-08T19:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/290617\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T19:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:16:11","slug":"local-leaders-see-stem-workforce-as-critical-to-new-york-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/290617\/","title":{"rendered":"Local leaders see STEM workforce as critical to New York economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

As upstate New York reaffirms its place as a high-tech hub on the national and global market, two questions are always top of mind: Where will the workers come from, and how will they get the necessary skills?<\/p>\n

Regional industry and academic leaders met at Binghamton University on Monday for a panel on STEM workforce development and how to better align educational opportunities with manufacturing needs.<\/p>\n

The event kicked off the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program<\/a>, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, to cultivate highly skilled technical talent for the region\u2019s growing role in the microelectronics industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the next three summers, a $600,000 grant will fund 24 local middle and high school teachers as they learn about microelectronics research at Binghamton and take that knowledge back to their students.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Professor<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tProfessor Amber Simpson, a faculty member from the College of Community and Public Affairs, led the STEM workforce development panel. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tProfessor Amber Simpson, a faculty member from the College of Community and Public Affairs, led the STEM workforce development panel. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.<\/p>\n

\u00d7<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Binghamton University President Anne D\u2019Alleva welcomed the teachers and panel attendees, stressing the importance of cultivating opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math for youths who show an aptitude and passion for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire is lit early for students in STEM when they go into high school knowing that they want to take a strong STEM curriculum, knowing that they’re excited about engineering or they’re excited about biology,\u201d she said. \u201cThis helps to set them on a path to achievement, and we want to make sure that every single student in your school districts in our surrounding communities can have that fire be lit. You are essential to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u2019Alleva highlighted the University\u2019s critical role in the state\u2019s economic future as well as the importance of industry partnerships and collaboration. She also stressed the importance of teachers for shaping the next generation of innovators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for educating our young people. Thank you for creating our future, and I hope we’re supporting you in that work, to enable you to open even more doors when you go back to the classroom,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Shanise Kent, Binghamton University\u2019s assistant provost and director of workforce development, stressed that manufacturers are looking for workers at all skill levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a number of microelectronics companies in the Southern Tier,\u201d she said. \u201cAccording to conversations I’m having, they have immediate employee needs, and that starts from high school graduates all the way up to advanced degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Attendees<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAttendees at the STEM workforce development panel included Binghamton University faculty and staff as well as local teachers participating in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program this summer. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAttendees at the STEM workforce development panel included Binghamton University faculty and staff as well as local teachers participating in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program this summer. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.<\/p>\n

\u00d7<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Panelists pointed out that feeding tech industry growth can aid the entire economy, since it also creates supporting roles such as human-resources managers and administrative staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the work at Binghamton University, Cornell, our SUNY network, and our community colleges, this area graduates three times the national average of engineers,\u201d said Amy Williamson \u201920, the planning and community development manager for The Agency (The Broome County Industrial Development Agency and Local Development Corporation). “We have the talent here. We have incredible companies already in the microelectronics space and the advanced manufacturing space, and we have the research assets that can continue driving more folks into this area. That\u2019s going to grow opportunities, especially for those with advanced degrees, but all along the pipeline, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christine McLear, workforce development senior lead at multinational semiconductor firm GlobalFoundries Inc., sees how the most successful job candidates and employees learn key lessons beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say a lot that your technical skills will get you in the door, but your professional skills will keep you in a job and keep you moving up,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew Sheehan, director for the Center for Career and Technical Excellence at Broome-Tioga BOCES, agreed that \u201csoft skills\u201d are important, and he stressed \u201cthe three Ps\u201d to high school students when they are on the job: Be present, positive, and productive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also knows first-hand about getting children interested early: \u201cI was at a panel once, and there were 14 well-accomplished women in STEM. Every one of them was asked the question, \u2018When did you decide you wanted to be involved in STEM?\u2019 And every one of them answered somewhere in middle school, because that was the first time they went to a class that had math or science predominant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Amber Simpson \u2014 a faculty member from the College of Community and Public Affairs<\/a>\u2019 Department of Teaching, Learning, and Educational Leadership<\/a>, and one of the RET coordinators \u2014 led the panel discussion. The program is a collaboration among CCPA, the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science<\/a>, and the University\u2019s Analytical and Diagnostics Lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As upstate New York reaffirms its place as a high-tech hub on the national and global market, two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-290617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}