MVCC WORKS
MVCC works is a set of innovative programs and partnerships to support positive community change. With community in its name, MVCC takes its role as a community hub seriously.
Challenges
Workforce demands are growing more intense and complex as employers in most every sector are challenged to find qualified workers. Oneida County's economic development efforts have changed the local landscape with the addition of the Wynn Hospital, Nexus Center, SkyDome, Innovare, as well as Wolfspeed adding to the expansion of Indium and Danfoss — all with the continued growth of the cybersecurity sector anchored by the Air Force Research Lab. These exciting developments require a workforce pipeline that creates a competitive advantage for employers through programs that align with workforce needs.
Solutions
- P-TECH – Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) is a strategic partnership with OHM-BOCES and local employers that offers an integrated high school and college curriculum.
- Upward Bound – A federally funded educational opportunity outreach program in partnership with Utica City School District and T.R. Proctor High School for students from underrepresented populations in grades 9-12.
- GEAR UP – GEAR UP is a federally funded partnership between MVCC and other local organizations that provides supports for high school students.
- The Science Technology Entry Program (STEP) serves students in grades 7-12 that are underrepresented by encouraging them to consider careers in STEM fields and health and licensed professions.
- Math Corps – Designed to enhance mentorship, enthusiasm for, and understanding of mathematics concepts in youth.
- Middle Settlement Academy – In partnership with OHM-BOCES, nearly 60 alternative education students spend their entire senior year of high school on MVCC's Utica Campus.
- Program for Regional Opportunities & Pathways for Enhanced Learning (PROPEL) – Early College High School (ECHS) program in partnership with MO-BOCES that delivers highly accessible, accelerated college completion pathways generating a consistent regional workforce pipeline to sustain high-growth and industries.
Challenges
The Mohawk Valley Region is home to several underserved populations. Affordable housing and available childcare slots are ongoing challenges; more than 2,000 individuals are released from a correctional facility each year; hundreds of military veterans return to the area; refugee resettlement is returning to previous levels after years of declining numbers; several non-profits provide services to a growing population of individuals with developmental disabilities – all of whom are in need of additional education and training.
Solutions
- College-Community-Connection (C3) – The C3 program is an on-campus access point to community-based services and resources
that helps nearly 500 low-income students in need of wrap-around services and resources
on a weekly basis.
- Fast Track – Designed to move people of the sidelines of no work or low-wage, dead-end jobs into skilled jobs in extended career pathways, Fast Track braids funding from multiple sources to provide free, short-term, and accessible training with holistic supports to move them along a clear pathway that advances economic mobility.
- Adult Literacy Education (ALE) – In partnership with The Center, MVCC provides an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program that focuses on improving the English skills of its participants while also developing employment skills that will benefit students professionally and socially.
- Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) – provides access, academic support, and financial aid to students who need special academic assistance as well as financial need.
Challenges
The Mohawk Valley region ranks in the lowest national tier for the total amount of both venture capital investment and the number of new business startups. There are more than 6,000 small businesses in the Mohawk Valley, covering a vast spectrum of enterprises from neighborhood coffee shops and homegrown construction businesses to specialized tech firms and nonprofit service providers. A startup small business ecosystem requires constant attention with programs and resources to support the tenuous reality of entrepreneurs.
Solutions
- thINC – MVCC's thINCubator is the hub of the new business startup ecosystem in the region. ubator has assisted over 200 entrepreneurs over the past 5 years through mentorship, meetups, programming, and 1-to-1 consulting. We help startups 'start up' by supporting students and community members in developing and launching new ventures to revitalize the local small-business community.
- YEA! – The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) takes local students in grades six through 12 through the process of starting and running real businesses over the course an academic year.
- Small Business Development Center – The Mohawk Valley regional SBDC has served more than 2,200 individuals from 842 business – including helping 137 new business startups – in the past three years from its location at thINCubator.
Challenges
With student debt at an all-time high, everyone is concerned about whether time and money spent on education translates to improved outcomes. Guided Pathways reforms have become a dominant theme in the community college sector. Students don't have time nor resources to not graduate on time while securing the knowledge and skills to improve career trajectories and receive accessible, high-quality educational opportunities for all students
Solutions
Mohawk Valley Community College attracts a very diverse range of students in terms of age, race and ethnicity, ability, and career aspirations, preparing them to further their education and achieve their professional dreams.
MVCC offers degrees, certificates, microcredentials, and non-credit training in a variety of fields that cover high-demand and emerging workforce sectors like healthcare, nano/mechatronics, unoccupied aerial systems (UAS-drones), cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, as well as the skilled trades that support our community infrastructure.
The College spans two campuses – one in Utica and one in Rome – offers 90 academic program options for its enrollment of more than 13,000 individual students in credit programs (8,400) and non-credit and support programs (5,000).
Challenges
According to Census figures, the number of people who identify themselves as Asian, Black, mixed race, and Native American all increased between 2010 and 2020. Additionally, the arrival of thousands of refugees and immigrants since the 1990s has shifted the region’s demographics. According to The Center, one quarter of Utica's population is represented by refugee families, with over 20% of the population over the age of 5 speaking a native language other than English, and 32% of Utica households have a primary language other than English spoken at home.
Solutions
- Center for Leadership Excellence – The Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE) is a collaboration between MVCC and Leadership Mohawk Valley that addresses the region’s need for effective, equipped, and engaged community leaders. In addition to LMV, CLE provides robust and relevant training through a Leadership Academy, Supervisor’s Institute, Board Leadership series, as well as Neighborhoods Rising to support community leaders in the Cornhill neighborhood of Utica.
- Momentum – A community-wide shared experience that engages scores of employers and roughly 1,000 individuals in learning more about diversity, equity, and inclusion to strengthen our community.
- Community Meetings and Events – MVCC hosts and coordinates meetings and events for more than 60 different community groups and thousands of individuals every year.