In June 2019 the Long Island Association (LIA) hosted the official release of “Driving Long Island’s Innovation Economy: The Pharmaceutical/Nutraceutical Growth Factor,” a joint white paper produced by WDI and the Suffolk County IDA. The white paper highlighted the opportunities and needs of Pharma/Nutra on Long Island, and laid out additional work that needed to be done to support this growing sector. Over the past year and a half, seeds planted from this project have resulted in significant work and accomplishments around the launch of manufacturing apprenticeships to support this important sector.
This past year WDI worked with Ignite Long Island, the region’s manufacturing trade association, by providing funding for an Apprenticeship Coordinator to design and launch the region’s first Industrial Maintenance Technician (IMT) apprenticeship in collaboration with Estee Lauder. Incumbent workers were recruited to the program and apprenticeship training in collaboration with Suffolk Community College was started. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic slowed training in the Spring and early summer and as a result graduation was postponed from August 2020 to later in the year, however success was not blunted; 15 of the 19 Estee Lauder students in the inaugural cohort are scheduled to graduate and move up to the journeyman level.
The Ignite Long Island Apprenticeship Coordinator also identified and performed outreach to Pharma/Nutra companies about NYS Registered Apprenticeship, trained with MACNY to understand and execute the role of the Long Island NYS Registered Apprenticeship Sponsor/Intermediary, and began work on other potential apprenticeships.
The apprenticeship model is seen not only as a mechanism to train new manufacturing workers, but also as a point of access to a career path and wage progression. With many Long Island manufacturers reporting impending staffing shortages due to an aging workforce, the success of the first apprenticeship program at Estee Lauder signals the potential to solve that problem. Other area manufacturers, including one with over 1,000 employees, have already expressed interest in implementing apprenticeships at their locations.
Next steps include exploring a compounding apprenticeship program (that has a potential partner in Nassau Community College) and continuing to engage the community on the vast potential of coordinated, regionwide programs to stabilize manufacturing on Long Island for future generations.
