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Tompkins workforce director details Micron regional role, Tompkins Build pre-apprenticeship and youth-employment risks
Summary
Workforce Director Chris Spawn told the Housing and Economic Development Committee Tompkins County is a founding member of the Micron regional workforce consortium; he cited estimates of thousands of construction positions and about 9,000 direct Micron jobs, outlined Tompkins Build pre‑apprenticeships and warned that youth-employment funding via the GIVE initiative depends on continued partner participation.
Tompkins County’s workforce director briefed the Housing and Economic Development Committee on March 4 about the county’s role in a regional Micron workforce consortium, expansion of construction pre‑apprenticeship training and a year‑round youth employment program funded through the G.I.V.E. initiative.
Director Chris Spawn said Tompkins County joined the Micron future-ready workforce consortium in 2022 and is participating in regional planning and training partnerships. He described Micron as a large semiconductor facility being built north of Syracuse and said staff estimates for the regional effort include roughly 40,000 construction jobs during build-out and about 9,000 direct jobs at the facility. Spawn said Tompkins’ interest is twofold: prepare a local skilled workforce for higher-paying jobs and position residents to access opportunities created regionally.
On local training, staff highlighted Tompkins Build, an 11-week pre‑apprenticeship modeled after Syracuse Build. The program has run two cohorts with roughly 15 graduates each and a third cohort under way. Committee members pressed whether the program could scale to meet competing construction demand from Micron and other regional projects. Spawn said the current pre‑apprenticeship is funded in part by a roughly $1.22 million Appalachian Regional Commission ‘work grant’ that supports the program and that grant funding is scheduled to run out by the end of the summer; staff are exploring sustainability options and potential partner contributions.
On youth employment, Spawn described the Youth Employment Program (YAP), which targets 14–20-year-olds and is funded through the G.I.V.E. (Gun Violence Elimination) initiative. YAP provides wages, fringe, mentoring, financial-literacy training and supportive services and places youth at local worksites. Spawn warned that continuation of YAP depends on remaining a G.I.V.E. recipient and on partner participation at the state level; loss of partner participation could jeopardize the program and its administrative funding.
Members asked for follow-up detail on two items: whether Micron or consortium partners have set local-hire percentage goals, and whether there is an opportunity to expand Tompkins Build cohorts ahead of competing regional demand. Spawn said he would seek updated hiring-target figures from consortium partners and continue to explore funding options to expand training capacity.
The workforce director also introduced a nascent college-grad retention effort, “Tompkins Forward,” aimed at keeping more of the county’s roughly 30,000 students and recent graduates in the region through coordinated housing, career and connectivity initiatives; staff will return with more details at the April meeting.
Committee members praised the programs and requested more data on local-hire targets and sustainable funding pathways before larger expansion decisions.
The committee adjourned after routine votes and scheduled follow-ups.
