onforce solar ceo charles feit moved his rapidly growing company to a then unoccupied building in the port morris area of the bronx. after struggling to find skilled workers, onforce solar partnered with bronx community college to create a $ 7 million technology hub which will be paid for by the company. the partnership was made possible by the governor ’ s start - up ny program, which was launched in 2013 to spur job growth in distressed areas by designating tax - free zones at various colleges and universities. onforce solar also developed and taught a newly designed technology course at bronx community college. another example is stevens institute of technology in hoboken, new jersey. when i visited stevens in april, i learned how they are preparing their students to meet local workforce needs. during discussions with university leaders, i heard about their exciting new partnership with nbc universal. by working together, a new media / broadcast minor was created to provide the necessary coursework to prepare students for employment at nbc universal and similar companies. to better understand the extent to which local workforce development programs are addressing skills gaps throughout upstate new york, the new york fed has engaged with community leaders from across the region. our first meeting took place here in rochester in march 2014. an important issue raised by many participants was the lack of information about available well - paying middle - skills career opportunities. to help address this concern, the new york fed partnered with the rochester community foundation, mcc, finger lakes community college and genesee community college to launch a pilot video contest. the purpose of the contest was to increase awareness about specific middle - skill occupations identified as in demand by analysis conducted by the finger lakes economic regional council. the contest challenged college students to create a 30 - second video that identifies the skills required, expected wages and job demands for an occupational group within a targeted set of industries. at an awards ceremony held in the little theatre here in downtown rochester a panel of judges selected the winning video “ not just a geek, ” submitted by students from finger lakes community college. the video focuses on the field of computer science. local rochester movie theaters will air the winning video for two weeks in september, and we will explore additional outlets for this video throughout the region as a public service announcement. these success stories that i ’ ve highlighted today illustrate the potential for workforce development to help cities such as rochester continue to reinvent themselves for today ’ s economy. we need to be vigilant in our focus on those in danger of being left behind

. too many individuals, especially in our urban centers, lack a high school diploma. for example, the rochester city school district has a dropout rate of 25 percent, and an alarmingly low graduation rate of just 50 percent. without a high school diploma, people are in danger of being left behind without the skills they will need to truly participate in the economy. bis central bankers ’ speeches succeeding in the international competition for jobs with a 50 percent graduation rate is like trying to win a boxing match with one hand tied behind your back. we must do better. while there are no easy answers, for the regional economy to thrive everyone needs to be an active participant. we need to figure out ways to re - engage those who have become detached from the workforce, or who feel like they don ’ t have the skills to compete in today ’ s challenging economic environment. in closing, rochester is a metropolitan area in the midst of a process of transformation and reinvention. while this process is not easy, rochester possesses a unique set of assets that will help it succeed, and in many ways is on the cutting edge of adapting to these changes. rochester is, in fact, becoming a leader in workforce development. reinvention like reform can be difficult, and requires a degree of boldness. this sentiment was expressed by rochester ’ s social reformer, susan b. anthony, who said that “ cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, can never bring about a reform. ” rochester is doing susan b. anthony proud, showing spirit and determination. thank you for your attention, i would be happy to take a few questions. bis central bankers ’ speeches