New arts workforce program seeks referrals from Poughkeepsie councilors

Trish Santini, co-founder of Empire Training Center for the Arts, described a new nonprofit workforce-development program based at the Chance Theatre that will train residents for technical and administrative jobs in live entertainment.

Santini said the program's first cohort will focus on stagehands, audio and video technicians, and other backstage roles. The technical track runs three days a week for 10 months; the organization said it will help place graduates in paid positions and already has commitments from about 10 arts organizations to interview or hire graduates. The program's full cohort capacity is 14 people.

Santini told the council the application is open but not yet fully diverse and asked council members to refer two or three potential applicants each and to accept printed or digital outreach materials for distribution. She emphasized that applicants must be legal adults with a GED or high-school diploma and said there are no fees or penalties for enrollment or later participation changes.

The council offered to host the group at ward meetings and to share program information via city channels.