New York state residents who have been unemployed long-term may have the opportunity to participate in a new advanced manufacturing training program.

Information sessions for a machinist training program will be held at Jamestown Community College’s North County Center in Dunkirk on April 29 and Jamestown Campus on May 6. Both sessions begin at 10 a.m. To reserve a seat, call 363-6500 for the Dunkirk session and 338-1005 for the Jamestown session.

The majority of the program will be conducted at the Manufacturing Technology Institute at JCC’s Jamestown Campus. The program provides training that is immediately applicable in a machining environment and helpful in other areas such as drafting and mechanical engineering.

Individuals who have been unemployed for 20 weeks or more may be eligible to participate in the program at no cost. The program covers all classroom tuition and material costs and focuses on knowledge and hands-on training that prepares participants for employment as entry level machinists.

The program includes classroom and hands-on training and consists of a mixture of college credit (15 hours) and non-credit classes spread over 12 months. Training for the manufacturing environment including drafting, shop math, CNC machining, teamwork and lean manufacturing processes.

JCC is partnering with Chautauqua Works and the Workforce Investment Board for the program, which is funded through the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council’s Consolidated Funding Application.

Various manufacturers provided input into creating the program by identifying a need for skilled, qualified machinists to fill vacancies in their organizations. Certain manufacturers in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties have agreed to consider machinist training program graduates for possible employment.