Stephen Tucker chosen to lead center
Empire State Development and the Economic Development Group (EDG) Inc., the operator of the Western New York Workforce Training Center (WTC) announced Friday that Stephen Tucker was appointed the WTC president and CEO.
ESD President, CEO and Commissioner Howard Zemsky said, "After an extensive national search to find the most qualified candidate, Stephen Tucker stood out as a leader with a strong record of workforce training accomplishments and is a great fit to become the president and CEO of the WNY WTC. Buffalo is fortunate to have someone with Stephen's skill set managing such a critically important initiative."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled plans for the Western New York WTC, a new hub that will focus primarily on training for careers in the advanced manufacturing and energy sectors in July 2015. The WTC will house administrative, classroom and shop facilities designed to train and turnout highly skilled members of the local workforce to meet the requirements of the 21st century electric utility and advanced manufacturing industries. It will also serve some of the most underrepresented populations in the region's workforce. It is being developed as an adaptive reuse of roughly 100,000 square feet of space in the former Clearing Niagara factory at 683 Northland Ave., on Buffalo's East Side. The center will anchor a 35-acre business park as part of the Northland Avenue Redevelopment Area (a brownfield reclamation project) and will train 350 people each year. Rehabilitation and construction of the WTC began last month and it's set to open by the fall of 2018. The project is a partnership between ESD, the Buffalo Urban Development Corp., the City of Buffalo and the New York Power Authority. It is being funded by the governor's Buffalo Billion revitalization initiative.
Tucker was recruited to his new position in Buffalo through Performance Managing Partners.
Thomas Lynch, treasurer of the Economic Development Group, said, "The Economic Development Group partners are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to bring Stephen to Buffalo to lead the Workforce Training Center at Northland. Stephen's experience with the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati along with Partners for a Competitive Workforce make him an ideal candidate to fill this critical role and we look forward to his contributions to the center as well as to the WNY community."
Tucker said, "I am both humbled and excited to be selected as the inaugural president and CEO of the Western New York Workforce Training Center. I look forward to collaborating with business and industry, economic development, education and workforce stakeholders to ensure Western New York has the highest caliber workforce which is critical to our region's future success."
"The addition of Stephen Tucker as the president and CEO of the Western New York Workforce Training Center is a great step forward for this important initiative," said Gil C. Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO. "New York state needs a motivated and skilled utility and clean energy workforce to secure its energy future, and this center is an essential component of Gov. Cuomo's long-term energy vision for the state."
Born and raised in Ohio, Tucker served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an electronic technician before returning to Cincinnati and attending college through the GI Bill. He has served as the assistant executive director at the Partners for a Competitive Workforce in Cincinnati. Previous to that position, Tucker served as vice president for workforce development at Urban League of Greater Cincinnati. His academic achievements include: an A.S. in business administration from University of Cincinnati, a B.S. in criminal justice from Wilberforce University, and an M.B.A. from Indiana Wesleyan University.
