FULTON – Yesterday, October 1, the City of Fulton celebrated manufacturers and those working to educate and train the future manufacturing workforce.
Au audio file of the event can be found below.
At City Hall with several local officials and community members in attendance, Mayor Deana Michaels announced October will be recognized as Manufacturers Month in the city and that there will be initiatives throughout the month to show the city’s support. The first show of support was presented in the form of a video, which can be viewed below.
Michaels thanked Steve Chirello and 325 Productions for their contribution to the video.
Throughout the event the following people spoke and shared their stories: Mayor Deana Michaels, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, Oswego County District 25 Legislator Ralph Stacy Jr., Cayuga Community College Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Fulton Campus Kieko Kimura, G. Ray Bodley students enrolled in the Early College High School program Reese Pierce and Matthew Firenze, P-Tech student Noah Walter, Tiffany Latino-Gerlock representing MACNY, Austin Wheelock representing Operation Oswego County IDA, Katie Toomey representing GOFCC CenterState CEO, and Community Development Agency Director Brad Broadwell.
Barclay said it has been difficult since the beginning of the pandemic and thanked the manufacturers who persevered throughout. He then discussed statistics of the impact the manufacturing industry has on New York state, such as “for every dollar spent on manufacturing in 2019, another $2.79 was added to the economy.”
He also said from August 2020 to August 2021 manufacturing in New York was a $70 billion industry.
Stacy spoke largely of the manufacturing history in Oswego County from its earliest days when its settlers manufactured potash, which is primarily used in fertilizers, but can also be used to produce soap, glass and some bleaching compounds. The manufacturing industry vastly expanded from starch production in the mid-1800s to the products made today, including food packaging at Huhtamaki.
“Oswego County’s rich history of manufacturing continues,” Stacy said. “Many of you, your parents, grandparents, even your great-grandparents have made comfortable livings as employees to these companies and opportunities for our residents are still here today as well.”
Looking to the future of the manufacturing workforce, Kimura, Pierce, Firenze and Walter spoke of the city’s education opportunities.
Kimura said CCC is shifting to focus on meeting the needs of its students with shorter programs and flexible schedules. Construction of a “state of the art” advanced manufacturing institute is now taking place at CCC’s Fulton campus with the intention of training industrial technologists to contribute to the economic wellbeing of the county.
The students then shared their education and effort to get a degree earlier in life in the free programs available to them while in high school.
Latino-Gerlock, Wheelock and Toomey each talked about their experiences in their respective roles at MACNY, Operation Oswego County IDA and GOFCC CenterState CEO, and their excitement of promoting the manufacturing industry.
Mayor Michaels then read aloud the city’s proclamation of October 2021 being recognized as Manufacturers Month in the city of Fulton. She urged the city’s schools to support local manufacturers by educating the next generation of students to keep families at home in Fulton.
Broadwell discussed Fulton’s potential growth and its past. He talked about his personal connection to this history as a direct product of its impact. His mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all worked for Sealright.
“I’ve never not utilized all the facts that I have in my head about our manufacturing,” Broadwell said. “When I came back [to Fulton after 37 years], I was so happy to hear this leadership of this council and this mayor wanted to celebrate what we were and wanted to go back and maintain that success and take that step up further.”
They then showed the video provided above as a snapshot of who Fulton is, was, and will be.
“That’s the future of Fulton and that’s our commitment to you, our manufacturers, to our workforce development program and to all of our stakeholders and our partners,” Michaels said.
Michaels said the city has worked on the following:
- Pedestrian safety
- Shoreline stabilization
- Included manufacturers in the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and the city’s comprehensive plan scheduled to be voted on this month
- Support for small businesses through grants
What is next:
- Develop a master plan for the former Nestles site
- Complete DRI projects
- Continue to redevelop economic and community development agency program
- Continue to regularly meet with developers
- Infrastructure improvements
- Continue to collaborate with Fulton Block Builders and Oswego County Land Bank
The city’s celebration of its manufacturers will continue this month with different initiatives, such as the first annual Fulton Fall Festival, which will highlight local manufacturers, on Saturday, October 9, and social media and billboard promotion of manufacturers.
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