Graduation for Inaugural Welding Pre-Apprenticeship Boot Camp

Batavia – The Rochester Technology and Manufacturing Association and workforce development partners from the GLOW Region (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans & Wyoming counties) Thursday celebrated graduates from the first-ever Genesee Valley Welding Pre-Apprenticeship Boot Camp.

Participants received six weeks of free classroom instruction at the Genesee Valley BOCES in Batavia, paired with paid on-the-job experience at a local advanced manufacturing company. Oxbo, Graham and Gorbel offered paid co-ops to this year’s participants. The program is an earn-while-you-learn model that has placed nearly four dozen participants into full-time employment and several in registered apprenticeship programs.

“Innovative training programs like the Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Welding Boot Camp are the best way for students to earn while they learn,” said Rich Turner, RTMA Director of Workforce Development. “The hands-on classroom instruction combined with paid on-the-job training sets up each one of these participants for great careers in one of the region’s largest industries.”

The RTMA and its partners created the Genesee Valley Pre-Apprenticeship Program in 2021 to assist companies in the region with recruitment and training for high-demand careers in advanced manufacturing. Industry demands lead to the partners adding a Welding Boot Camp this summer. Participants receive 96 hours of state-of-the-art classroom training and more than 100 hours of paid on-the-job experience. The program has also been replicated in Monroe County for the past two years.

Classroom instruction was provided at no cost due to a SUNY Pre-Apprenticeship Grant secured by Genesee Community College and its BEST Center and the RTMA. The Genesee County Economic Development Center, Genesee Valley Educational Partnership and GLOW Works also support the annual training program.

Pictured (left to right): Andrew Geyer, Class Instructor with participants Tylor Taylor, Jeremiah Mallon, Luke Lathan, Bailey Gardner and Thomas Canfield.