Page 101 - 914INC - July/August 2022

Making Your Career Work: Alternatives to 4-Year College
Healthcare fields of study include phlebotomy, certified nursing assistant, registered nurse, radiology technician, respiratory care technician, and others. Other students are prepared to enter information technology positions such as help desk support, coding, and cybersecurity. “Many of our graduates enter high-demand fields that lead to the path of social mobility. Twenty-one percent of WCC students who begin their academic journey from the bottom fifth of the income quintiles end up in the top fifth later in life,” Wisell says. “WCC is ranked 21st out of two-year colleges nationwide on this measure.”
Mercy College recently hired Brian Amkraut as vice president and general manager for workforce credentialing and community impact, charging him with developing additional non-degree programs to serve its students, who
are often first-generation college attendees and from under- represented populations. He hopes to tap into current faculty expertise, such as counseling certification in crisis intervention — “for, say, law enforcement for domestic abuse,” he says. “We don’t need every officer to have a degree in psychology, but we can give training in this skill set.”
In addition, new sectors of the economy, such as renewable energy, will offer “lots of jobs,” Amkraut says. “How do we
train people to find a path to successful careers in these brand-new areas? We just launched professional certifications in the cannabis industry. We are not advocating whether you should or shouldn’t be in that industry, but jobs are going to be there. It will be a multimillion-dollar industry in a short time, and some knowledge of the industry, the legal and medical issues, the history will be beneficial and may be required.”
A PATHWAY TO SUCCESS IN A DIFFERENT SETTING
Soulful Synergy, a consulting company that focuses on sustainability and workforce development, especially in underserved communities, offers, among other things, certification training programs and employment placement
assistance, especially in the energy efficiency sector.
Almost two-thirds of students don’t have college degrees, according to co-founder Dwayne R. Norris. The company partners with other organizations and companies, such as NYSERDA, Guidance Center of Westchester and Westhab, to craft trainings and find workers. Soulful Synergy even starts high-school kids on the path to construction jobs, teaching introductory courses on basic building and safety skills. “We know there is a need, but not always programs to match,” Norris says. Co-founder Alejandro Alvarez adds that the company’s programs help “demystify the process. We help the community understand, if they learn certain skills, they can command what they want in a career.”
The trades have always been a strong career choice, and William Mascetta, president of Transit Construction Corp. in Yonkers, argues that most trades today require advanced knowledge as precise as other professions. “It’s not a choice of college versus high school degree. I look at it as choice of a profession where the pathway to success requires an education post-high school but in a different sort of setting,” he says. Construction equipment used today is way beyond just “moving the levers. The machine is guided by GPS satellites and computer programming. We are talking high tech here. Sure, digging a ditch and putting a pipe in the ground hasn’t changed much in a century, but how you do it has radically changed.”
With computers, GPS and artificial intelligence, “the common laborer is highly skilled because it’s all done with tech features, it’s computerized, and they are all trained to do this. We are talking a whole different paradigm for what the perception might be, seeing what someone in a hard hat and boots is doing,” he says.
And with that high-tech training come high-end salaries, some in the six figures. “Trust me, I know,” he laughs, “because I sign the checks.”
40 2022 SKILLS What’s Hot. What’s Next. What’s Needed.
Left: Organizations like Southern Westchester BOCES tailor their courses to teach the practical skills employers in the trades are looking for. Above: Graduates of a Soulful Synergy program proudly display their certificates.
© Courtesy of Soulful Synergy
© Courtesy of Southern Westchester BOCES (SWBOCES)