sorry about that whenever you're ready to get started we want to welcome everyone here to schenectady city hall a few seats here people should come up and relax and first i want to thank chad putnam who has really been the driving force in putting this all together and really it's reinforcing how important manufacturing is you look at the history of this city you look at the history of the region many times we were setting the agenda we schenectady albany and other places and so there's that crowd foundation that exists within the region and sometimes we take those things for granted and to have a day like today which is national manufacturing day but also we've expanded it to a week because of chad's perseverance to give it a little bit more recognition and to remind people of just how influential manufacturing is and the difference that it makes in our communities and so i'd like to now introduce our great congressman paul tonko who is a driving force on so many levels making a difference in the lives of so many people and representing us in congress with the station and the level of pride that we're so proud of thank you mayor mccarthy and thank you for leading the city so very well leading the cities in this country today it's not an easy task and mayor mccarthy awesome job great focus and great structure to the efforts that he makes with the city council and that i see our members of the city council out there too so thank you for all the great work manufacturing week is a great way to focus on the strength of our manufacturing sector of the american economy there are those who would love to suggest that manufacturing is hit its heyday and it's over and the message is very straightforward it's not dirty dumb disappearing but strong and sturdy and providing a shot in the arm as we go forward i serve on the energy and commerce committee in the house and it is there that we have a lot of hearings concerning the innovation economy and the retrofitting of our manufacturing sector so as to be of most competitive standing on the international scene and i'm part of an effort in the house that has been introduced as a programmatic concept called make it in america it's a collection of several bills that includes an emphasis on exporting it includes an emphasis on retrofitting our traditional manufacturing to carry it into an advanced mode it talks about training retraining dollars education higher ed and certainly in the investment in the clean energy hightech innovation economy we are gifted in this area to be recognized as one of those powerful regions in the country we're just visited for a repeat visit i would add by assistant secretary of the department of energy david danielson and in his visit he touted the fact that we are one of the five hottest areas in the country for innovation clean energy job growth that's manufacturing that's manufacturing many of us were at one of the local ribbon cuttings when they introduced ges new manufacturing center in the step park which is a strong bit of encouragement but being one of those hottest beds of innovation job growth is also sparked by the news that the secretary shared that of those five regions we are one of the two most exponentially fast growing regions of those five so there are underpinnings of support that we need to provide research research equals jobs make no mistake about it research developing the prototypes that when tested and proven true then provide for new product lines there are jobs not yet on the radar spring that will be accompanying the manufacturing growth in this country and there are certainly all this clean room science now to accompany the theme of this region it's being offered at our community colleges and the like so it's a great feeling for manufacturer and we celebrate great growth in this region for manufacturing sake when i'm asked on the house floor to pinpoint the district that i represent on the map of the us i say first it's the confluence of the hudson and beau hawk rivers but then also my proud selling point we are the donor district to the erie canal which sparked an industrial revolution which gave birth to a westward movement and that was all driven by the development of mill towns that became the epicenters of invention and innovation that pioneer snip spirits still exists in our region and it's part of our dna and it's that spirit that will feed this resurgence of manufacturing and that will enable us to compete robustly on the international scene because we have the knowhow we have the intellect we have the research capacity we need to invest and i encourage my colleagues to support the make it in america america agenda and i'm just proud to stand here with colleagues from the elected ranks but those who serve our business community those who are involved with the chamber as to check over there all who support the manufacturing resurgence which is a powerful thing on our many many tours that we do routinely as representative for the district we're sharing best kept secrets about what's happening in manufacturing and our given area and it's always great to unveil some wonderful empowerment that's going on providing meaningful jobs with great backgrounds and great benefits so it's just great to join in this celebration i now have the distinct pleasure of introducing michael tucker who leads ceg our center for economic growth who does a great job in coordinating collaborating the efforts of the business community to communicate with the forces of government and their partners and private sector and academia to make certain that we have all the cylinders working to make certain that all the parts of the puzzle are there that all the pieces that spell success are advanced either in government as programs and budgeted areas or in partnership with exchange with our business community so please welcome our chief from the ceg michael tucker thank you congressman and thank you for your leadership in this resurgence of manufacturing in our industry clusters in our innovation economy here in the capital region we're certainly focused on the semiconductor industry nanotechnology clean energy biotechnology and information technology and if we are truly to have the opportunity to leverage the tremendous public private investment that's been made in our region over the last fifteen years we need to ensure that not only do we have manufacturing technology and advanced manufacturing jobs but that we have the full economy to support that aspect of our region's economy the center for economic growth is the region's eleven county economic development organization also serves as one of ten nice star designated regional technology development centers providing technical services to manufacturers and advanced technology companies in the region and we are part of a program run by nist at manufacturers extension partnership there are three hundred and twenty centers around the country to promote manufacturing and we serve in this region to be sure that the opportunities for companies at every level from the smallest two person manufacturer to general electric and global foundries and regeneron have the employees that they need today is part of a national effort national manufacturing day national manufacturing week and when you look at the programs that have been put together by the group organized by mayor mccarthy and our state elected representatives and all of you from business academia our science museum it's been a terrific opportunity to bring people together for a important project we focus at ceg on manufacturing by also serving as the facilitator for the chief executives network of manufacturers which is a seventy five member company or organization representing large and small manufacturers throughout the region we work closely with our economic development and chamber of commerce partners and we're very pleased to have chuck steiner here from the county of schenectady chamber but more importantly we're creating that pipeline from the k through twelve system through our community colleges and four year schools through our technology and advanced manufacturing companies and it is a great day in the capital region as the congressman said there's been a tremendous resurgence our employment numbers reflect the strong manufacturing base that has been rebuilt in the capital region so thank you all for your participation and this is a great day for manufacturing in america good afternoon i'm glenn tabolt president of sts steel and represent the manufacturing component of this committee i want to thank mayor mccarthy and the city council for spearheading this effort to promote a better understanding of the economic and social benefits of manufacturing when chad putman and the city the city of schenectady contacted me to sponsor a showing of the american made movie and then to become a member of the committee to build on the message of the movie i was honored to get involved the message of that movie and manufacturing day is not only important to me as a manufacturer but i believe it's also important to our country and local community there are many statistics as the congressman said showing the economic importance of manufacturing as a spurt of job growth and innovation manufacturing is a jobs multiplier every new manufacturing job creates at least forty six new jobs to support it and the manufacturing sector accounts for eighty of our country's exports and ninety of our patents in r and d spending but there's also another side to manufacturing there's an emotional side and that's important it's pride working as a team to solve the many challenges required to build complex products is rewarded when a completed sixty two ton lock gate for the erie canal or one hundred and forty foot plate girder bridge leaves our facility i see that pride in our employees whether it's a welder or cad technician engineer accountant everyone feels part of the team that contributed to that final product and when they drive around the area and they show their friends or families these structures they say i helped build that this concept of dream building manufacturing day supports is really meaningful seeing a product take shape as rewarding and the effort of this committee to bring that message to others in the community is also building something bridges connecting academic government and manufacturing sectors we at sts are particularly interested in sharing our experiences with the academic community to help them share with their students not only the economic opportunities offered by careers in manufacturing but this true satisfaction that comes from making something as part of manufacturing week we will open our doors on monday to the students of mohonasen school to show them what we built we have also purchased the american made movie curriculum for mohonasen school so they have a new tool to use in helping their students gain a better understanding of manufacturing we are pleased with this new relationship and we look forward to continued success and building a future in our community where young people find rewarding careers in manufacturing while fostering a vibrant and growing local and national economy and now to talk more about the exciting activities taking place upon us i would like to introduce mohonasen board of education president dominick cafarelli thank you good afternoon i'm very pleased to be here today to speak briefly about some exciting new programs at mohonasen high school recently we've experienced devastating budget cuts and we are facing increasing costs from our elected officials to find ways to become more efficient and all the while our education standards are rising skilled labor jobs are going unfilled and college remediation rates are very high thinking outside the box we've used our imagination to develop new programs that will give our students real world training that will prepare them for today's and tomorrow's jobs we've partnered with schenectady county community college capitol region both cities to bring to life the center for advanced technology at mohonasen to our community through this new and exciting academic collaboration high school college and adult students will be able to take advantage of worldclass high tech programs and environments that mirror the real world we are focused on 21st century skills like interviewing ethics and communications to make our students more marketable and we are researching equipment to make sure we have the tools that we need so that our students are learning the skills that they need the programs we will offer in the new center will include modern machining and welding alternative energy nanotechnology health science and athletic training gaming computer programming media arts and production another positive through our partnerships is that the cost of these programs will be shared and the support of these programs will be greater than otherwise would have been our main goal is to expose our students to a variety of college and career paths we believe the more opportunities the students have the better chance that they will have to be successful we are looking forward to working with our elected officials as we continue down this path make no mistake what we are doing is new and exciting and we are very excited about this i would like to thank my colleagues on the board of education our schools administration especially dr catherine spring our superintendent who is here today and all of our schools employees for their input and helping us develop this vision also our outside partners schenectady community college capitol region posties and our architectural firms csr but most important our mohonasen community we are very lucky to have community residents that see the value of this project in our region and what good it will do for years to come for our students thank you very much i would like to introduce from schenectady county community college mr matt grattan good afternoon everyone i'm pensioning for dr asalyn so she sends her condolences got torn into one of those last minute urgent meetings but schenectady county community colleges is really thrilled to be part of this week and i want to thank mayor mccarthy on behalf of the city and the community college is is immensely thrilled to be engaged in the education of our future workforce specifically in the area of manufacturing i've been at the community college now for about three years as the executive director of workforce development and prior to that i had a nineteen year career at the state department of labor i used to do a lot of occupational and industry analysis and you do not find any vibrant regional economy without a strong manufacturing base so this this day this week is so critical to be able to continue to educate young people and attract more youngsters into the world of manufacturing and into the career choices that are available in manufacturing and many know at the community college for years we were really known as a culinary and music school over the last few years some of the new programs that we've developed in alternative energy technology and nanoscale materials and storage battery and we're currently in development of a new a new program in mechatronics we're really at the cutting edge of some of the most involved in in demand occupational skills training that is necessary and with our partnership with mohonasen that dominic mentioned and superintendent spring we're very excited to be able to look at the facility that is and there's a rendering over there the facility that will be built at mohonasen and it's really just an exciting time to be engaged and continue to advance the the need for manufacturing workers and i want to put a quick plug in for the actual screening of the movie and i got a chance to see the initial screening that chad organized back in the spring at the ge theater the american made movie if you haven't seen it please come out and see it it is it really is a phenomenal piece and we're going to be showing that on thursday of next week october 9th at the community college in our soc eight one zero one lecture hall it's at six hundred and thirty pm and again in soc eight one zero one please come out and see it it really is a well done piece and i think you'll thoroughly thoroughly enjoy it so on behalf of the community college we are very happy to be a part of manufacturing week and it is now my distinct pleasure to introduce the senator over forty six district cecilia tkaczyk well it's great to be here thank you mayor mccarthy and chad for organizing today's event and we've heard a lot of really positive comments about manufacturing there right it's coming back but the jobs that people need to be prepared for are high skilled jobs so the manufacturing jobs we need people who can run million dollar machines so we're looking at a different type of person to be in those manufacturing jobs and education is key we need to make sure our kids are being given the opportunity and the skills to be able to get those new jobs that are being created through our investment in nanotechnology and through our investment in local manufacturing that we've heard about so engaging our businesses with the schools and with the community colleges is the cutting edge of the future and we're doing it right here in schenectady county so you guys are looking at the future and when you were faced with cuts in education you didn't just say you know we're going to cut back our educational program we're going to rethink it we're going to rethink how we're educating our kids and make sure that we're giving them the best opportunities so it is our our goal as your representatives in albany to make sure we're reducing the costs for manufacturing so we're supporting that infrastructure this year we reduced income taxes and energy use taxes for manufacturers we're doing what we can we need to do more but clearly we've got to support our economy and our schools and our local manufacturers so i'm really thrilled to hear about the synergy going on right here in schenectady county and i have one last thing to point out i mean there's there's many events to go to this week but one of the other things that it's important for us to understand is we all have choices people have choices when they purchase products even the state has choices of where to buy products from we should be doing more local purchasing and as consumers you know maybe we need to go out of our way to buy a local product we need to help buy and seek out those components and that's why manufacturing week is so important because you're letting us know tough travelers here and have great bags you know the gatherers makes great granola things like that so it's important to get the word out and i have i have a little announcement that i'm starting a new manufacturing process this is wool from my sheep that got processed at a local mill and batten kill fiber they turned it into yarn for me and they made it to the specs that newberry knitting company needs so that they can make mittens they're going to be making mittens from local wool processed at a local mill manufactured at a local company right here in your own backyard so yes we've lost manufacturing jobs but we need to make new connections and make sure that we're starting new ways of building up our economies and supporting each other so these mittens will be made locally hopefully they'll be a time for christmas all the all the proceeds are going to programs that assist victims of domestic violence because it's also domestic violence awareness month but it's i'm trying to tell a story we have resources here and connections that have been lost that we need to remake and support each other so when you're going out over the holidays buy something local and when you're go visit these businesses understand their challenges what they're working on and support them so i'm really happy to be here and to support all of you and this is an awesome week and thank you chad for giving us the opportunity to celebrate it and now we have a reception in the room one ten which is just down the hall and hopefully everyone will join us there again to have a round of applause for chad i'll just remind me too that the movie was shown in dc and if you haven't seen it it's really a great thing what time is that next thursday six thirty so if you will mark that on your calendar indistinct conversation by audience member it was a joy to welcome chad and others who produced the film into dc it was introduced that evening by minority web standing hoyer of maryland who is one of the chief architects of the make it in america agenda and it just great to be able to site again this district with all of its manufacturing history as the agent that really produced that film so i'm sure that you know so many took great pride and marion and peggy obviously sitting in that front row there are smiling and nodding approvingly it's it's great to know that we're producing great things here even films so good going