Long Island, NY - June 2, 2017 - On Thursday, Congressman Tom Suozzi (D – Long Island, Queens) met with a cross section of Long Island companies in the aerospace and defense industries as well as representatives from BOCES, the Workforce Development Institute, local universities, community colleges, local school districts and unions to work on creating a pipeline of talent to fulfill jobs in the local economy.
This was a follow-up discussion to an April roundtable Congressman Suozzi had with the aerospace and defense industries. Topics included the kinds of programs and training that are needed so companies in these industries can hire more people right away.
"Long Island educators have tremendous programs in place. We need to encourage students to consider skills and trade educations at BOCES, Community Colleges and union apprenticeship programs. We have a massive aeronautics and defense industry cluster of companies that need skilled workers to fill high-paying jobs as machinists, welders, radio frequency experts, quality control monitors and more that can be filled with or without a college degree. Our job is to promote Long Island as a high technology cluster and match skilled workers with the high paying jobs that are available,” said Congressman Suozzi.
“I’m very impressed and enthused with the attention Congressman Suozzi has brought to many of the issues facing the aerospace and defense industry on Long Island. Working cooperatively with other companies and educational institutions, we hope to fight the perception that the industry here is dying and attract a new generation of talent to fill our growing needs,” said Kevin McSweeney, President of Telephonics based in Huntington.
“I applaud the effort Congressman Suozzi has led to bring together all stakeholders and promote and enhance manufacturing opportunities here on Long Island. We look forward to continuing to work with him on this initiative,” said Patricia Malone, Executive Director of the Center for Corporate Education at Stony Brook University.
The event took place at Composite Prototyping Center in Plainview. Companies in attendance included Telephonics, Hicksville Machine Works, BAE Systems, East/West Industries, Jamco, Sag Tool & Machinery, Die-Matic Products, LLC and Alken Industries.
The Wall Street Journal recently published an op-ed by Congressman Suozzi advocating the need for the U.S. to create five million new jobs that pay at least $80,000 per year by 2020.