Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In regards to Lockheed Martin's Vocational Trade programs...
Lockheed Martin to spend $5 million on vocational trade programs
Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) has announced plans to spend $5 million on vocational and trade programs and create 8,000 new apprenticeship opportunities over the next five years.
Marillyn Hewson, the defense contractor’s chairman, president, and CEO, made that pledge, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order establishing the President’s National Council for the American Worker.
The $5 million investment in vocational and trade programs is part of Lockheed Martin’s previously announced tax-reform savings plan. It includes a $50 million investment in support of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) scholarships and a $100 million investment to expand employee training and educational opportunities over the next five years.
“The U.S. aerospace and defense industry relies predominantly on an American workforce and is disproportionally impacted by the shortage of skilled manufacturing workers to fill critical jobs,” Hewson said in a news release. “The president has raised this issue to a level of national urgency and we are ready to do our part. Lockheed Martin’s pledge demonstrates our commitment to enacting workforce solutions that keep pace with technological innovation, preparing workers for the challenges of the 21st century and helping to secure American prosperity and national security.”
Any local impact?
As of now, “it is too early to say definitively the specific locations” that will see the impact of the corporation’s investment, Thomas Kogut, communications and public-affairs manager at Lockheed Martin, said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry about the effect on the firm’s Syracuse–area plant and Owego facility.
With “roughly 100” open positions in Salina and more in Owego, “there is always the need” for qualified employees, Kogut added. The Bethesda, Maryland–based company hopes that these types of programs will help to fill “our job pipeline in the future.”
Program’s purpose
The president’s newly formed council will “develop and implement a national workforce strategy to address the growing skills gap in vocational workers’ readiness for current jobs and careers of the future,” according to the Lockheed release.
“Consistent with the administration’s goals” and Lockheed Martin’s workforce-development priorities, the 8,000 “new opportunities to upskill” current and future employees will cover four areas.
They’ll include internships which will be available to high-school students for non-full-time aerospace and defense positions to “learn and develop” job-specific knowledge.
In addition, rotation programs will be available to newly hired employees that provide opportunities for rotational job “experiences” and leadership training.
They’ll also include mid-career development programs that offer “continuous” learning for mid-career employees to “ensure their skills remain current with evolving job requirements and emerging technologies.”
The firm’s initiative will include technical apprentice programs that focus on a specific trade or skill and offer credentials along with the opportunity for employment post program completion.
These initiatives will impact college-bound students, along with people interested in entering vocational trades; unemployed or displaced workers; and veterans, which make up 25 percent of Lockheed Martin’s workforce, the defense contractor said.
Booming: Ithaca leads state in job growth with 3% increase from June 2017 to June 2018
Nowhere in the state is job growth more robust than in the Ithaca labor area (Tompkins County), not even in the state's economic engine — New York City.
Tompkins County's 3.7 percent private sector job increase from June 2017 to June 2018 leads the state, far outdistancing New York City, which recorded 2 percent year-over-year increase.
From June 2017 to June 2018, Tompkins — driven largely by Ithaca — gained 2,000 jobs. The Tompkins' private sector job count increased by 4,200 since 2014 to 56,400 in June, according the labor department report.
Much of the increase in Tompkins' employment numbers is due to the expansion of the education and health services sector, up 2,500 in the past four years and 1,200 from last June alone.
Following Tompkins and New York City in job growth were the labor areas of Rochester, Kingston and Dutchess-Putnam at 1.8 percent.
For the fourth consecutive year, Chemung County's June private sector job count declined.
A Thursday New York Department of Labor press release notes the Chemung County area was the only one of the state's 15 metropolitan regions to record a year-over-year loss.
Not since 2014, has the comparable June private sector job total increased in the county, a struggling Southern Tier area now trying to rejuvenate its beleaguered economy with the assistance of a $10 million state provided Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant and other assistance for Elmira.
Chemung County's private-sector job count stands at 30,600 as of June 2018, down from 32,200 in June 2014, and 30,900 one year ago.
Across New York, private sector jobs in June increased by 15,000, 0.2 percent, from June of last year, matching national job growth numbers.
Also, here is an article about population loss in "Upstate" based upon population estimates: https://www.ithacajournal.com/story/...sus/721456002/ (a correction, Onondaga County peaked in 1970 not 1950 and is about 3-5k under that peak now.)
NEW YORK HOME SALES DECLINE IN JUNE, CNY NUMBERS MIXED
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York realtors sold more than 12,200 previously-owned homes in June, a decrease of 10 percent compared to the nearly 13,600 homes sold in June 2017, as a lack of homes available for sale crimped sales totals.
The New York State housing market posted a “solid” first half of the year with 60,043 closed sales, falling “only 3.8 percent behind the 2017 record sales pace,” according to the latest housing-market report from the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR).
“The story line at the midpoint of this year is sellers doing well in a tight inventory market that also has eager buyers ready to close,” Duncan MacKenzie, CEO of NYSAR, contended in the organization’s report. “With the ongoing growth in selling prices, it is a great time for wavering sellers to come off the sidelines. If we see an uptick in seller activity and any meaningful growth in new residential construction, the housing market could make a run at last year’s sales record.”
Sales data
The June 2018 statewide median sales price was $280,000, an increase of nearly 10 percent from the June 2017 median of $255,000, according to the NYSAR data.
Pending sales totaled more than 13,400 in June, a decrease of 3.5 percent compared to the same month in 2017.
The months’ supply of homes for sale fell to a 6.2 months’ supply at the end of June. It stood at 6.6 months at the end of June 2017. A 6 month to 6.5 month supply is considered to be a balanced market.
The number of homes for sale totaled 70,038 in June, a decrease of 5.3 percent compared to June 2017.
Central New York data
Realtors in Broome County sold 174 existing homes in June, down more than 10 percent from 194 a year ago, according to the NYSAR report. The median sales price increased more than 17 percent to nearly $130,000 from over $110,000 a year ago.
In Jefferson County, realtors closed on 103 homes in June, down more than 6 percent from 110 a year before, and the median sales price increased 4 percent to $150,000 from more than $144,000 in June 2017, according to the NYSAR data.
NYSAR also reports that realtors sold 192 homes in Oneida County last month, up about 7 percent compared to the 180 sold during June 2017. The median sales price rose about 2 percent to nearly $124,000 from $122,000 a year ago.
Realtors in Onondaga County sold 485 previously owned homes in June, down about 18 percent from the June 2017 total of 591. The median sales price rose 8 percent to $158,000, up from more than $146,000 a year ago, according to the NYSAR report.
All home-sales data is compiled from multiple-listing services in New York state and it includes townhomes and condominiums in addition to existing single-family homes, according to NYSAR.
SYRACUSE BUSINESS OWNER SHAPIRO TO HANDLE RETAIL EXPANSION AT TURNING STONE RESORT CASINO
VERONA, N.Y. — Turning Stone Resort Casino on Thursday announced a retail expansion in partnership with Syracuse fashion retailer Joel Shapiro.
Four new independent boutiques will be coming to Turning Stone this fall, the organization said in a news release. They include a jewelry and accessory store; a men and women’s active-wear shop; and two stores featuring women’s fashion.
The new stores will be located in the resort’s Winter Garden, near the entrance to The Tower hotel, in an area that Turning Stone considers a “prime location.”
The new boutiques will replace two existing retail stores, in addition to occupying new space that crews will build for the expansion.
The new stores will carry both national brands and original lines.
“These new stores will offer an innovative, personalized shopping experience and will be a great addition to the array of world-class amenities already available at Turning Stone,” Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation representative and Nation Enterprises CEO, said in the news release. “Since we are always looking to reinvest in Central New York, it was a natural fit to work with the Shapiro family and their Syracuse company to bring this vision to life.”
Shapiro will operate the retail shops. He also operates Syracuse’s Mr. Shop, a menswear store, which his family has owned since the 1960s.
“The new stores will add to the vibrant energy of Turning Stone,” Shapiro said in the Turning Stone news release. “Shoppers will love the choice of colors, fabrics and styles. These shops will offer a friendly atmosphere that’s full of excitement, while maintaining the premium service which guests are already accustomed to at Turning Stone.”
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
