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A major $3.2 million upgrade to a Westfield manufacturer is worthy of plenty of praise. Besides the company investment with state assistance, there also is an effort to maintain a younger generation within the region.
According to an article in last weekend's edition, Renold Westfield at 100 Bourne St. is actively marketing itself to prospective hires. The company has hosted factory tours for students enrolled in P-TECH, an Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES program for high school students that offers career and technical education and certifications in skilled trades, engineering and other areas.
“We have two or three guys on the floor (now) who are P-TECH graduates,” said Shane Marcheson, group manager of Renold Westfield.
That's encouraging not only for residents, but also for those who have talked about the benefits of P-TECH for more than a decade. One of the plusses of the program is it allows students the opportunity to get into manufacturing through hand-on experiences.
We hope the successes at Renold continue to pay off for other employers. Even in this world of AI, manufacturing remains a key component to Chatuauqua County.