Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Another class of 50 students graduated from the Northland Workforce Training Center's Tesla manufacturing program on Monday.
In partnership with Northland Workforce Training Center, Tesla Gigafactory New York’s Manufacturing Development Program is designed to prepare graduating high school seniors and early career individuals in Western New York with the financial resources, coursework, and experience needed to launch successful careers in manufacturing and clean energy.
"The MDP program is ideal for ambitious graduates looking for a launch pad into a fulfilling career. Buffalo is rich with raw talent, making it the perfect place to connect motivated individuals with the skills to thrive—a win-win that meets Tesla’s needs while helping our community launch successful manufacturing careers," said Antonio Samuel, Senior Manager for Gigafactory New York Operations.
"I think it's just super important that it just shows that Tesla is continuously working to reach out with different trainers and providers throughout the Western New York region and really listen to and make curriculum that work for what their hiring needs are," added Northland COO Asantawa Holley. "They work with different partners with Buffalo Public Schools, Northland Workforce Training Center. It's important to see 50 people hired all within one timeframe. And then Tesla also paid for the training that they went through as well."
Holley says they were taught various things at the center.
"Filtering a lot of the stuff that Tesla does in there is production work, but high end production work, and so a lot of that is really understanding, like the manufacturing guidelines, and doing things within a skill set of fixing problems that take place within the line," Holley explained. "One was a focus on a lot of the electrical wiring. The other one was a focus on a lot of the mechatronics that the students or trainees went through. The one thing that was super important is that the curriculum that we do is put together by both Tesla and the training center."
She adds the reason is to make sure they're not coming from a training program and not having the skill set to be able to go ahead and do on the job.