Westchester, Explained 17: Building Westchester's Future Today - Inside the RPI + Westchester Partnership

As an extension of our weekly "This Week in Westchester - The Podcast" we welcome you to Westchester, Explained. In this special long-form series we take you deeper into the headlines, decisions and policies shaping Westchester County and their impact on your family, your neighborhood and your future. Here we slow it down, dig in and bring in the people doing the work, and we explain not just what the County is doing, but why it matters.

Because government should be clear. This is your County. 

And this is Westchester, Explained. 

In this episode, we explore Westchester County's innovative partnership with the globally renowned Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) -- and how this first-of-its-kind collaboartion is strengthening our local workforce and creating new opportunities for residents and businesses alike. Listen now as we sit down with Westchester County Director of Economic Development Bridget Gibbons and the Westchester County RPI Partnership Director Bonnie Bloomer to discuss how this program is helping develop the next generation of engineers, technology professionals and industry leaders right here in Westchester. 

From degree completion pathways and workforce training to artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies -- we examine how this partnership is helping prepare residents for the jobs of tomorrow.

Join us as we look at how education, innovation and strategic economic development planning are coming together to build Westchester's future, today -- and why it matters to Westchester residents and employers.

---

Do you have feedback or a suggestion for a future podcast topic? Please let us know by emailing communications@westchestercountyny.gov and include Podcast in the subject line.

For the latest news & updates visit the Westchester County Newsroom or follow us on social:  Instagram  |  Facebook  |  X (Twitter)  |  LinkedIn  |  YouTube

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hi Westchester. I'm Westchester County Government Communications Director Katherine Chaffee. And as an extension of This Week in Westchester, the podcast, we welcome you to Westchester Explained. In this episode, we explore Westchester County's innovative partnership with the globally renowned Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI. And this first of its kind collaboration is designed to strengthen the local workforce and create new opportunities for residents and businesses alike. Today we sit down with Westchester County Director of Economic Development, Bridget Gibbons, and the Westchester County RPI Partnership Director, Bonnie Bloomer, to discuss how the program is helping develop the next generation of engineers, technology professionals, and industry leaders right here in Westchester. From degree completion pathways and workforce training to artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and emerging technologies, we examine how this partnership is helping prepare residents for the jobs of tomorrow. Join us as we look at how education, innovation, and strategic economic development planning are coming together to build Westchester's future today and why it matters to Westchester residents and employers. Because this is Westchester Explained. So let's begin. So we're very excited to have two very important people in the podcast studio today. So we have Bertie Gibbons, who's the Director of Economic Development for Westchester County, and we have Bonnie Bloomer, who is the RPI Westchester County Partnership Director. So we are here today to talk about the RPI partnership, which is a really exciting partnership and an incredible opportunity for people in Westchester County. But before we get to that, I want to start with economic development. So what is economic development? For people who are thinking, I kind of know what those words mean, but what does it mean to be the Westchester County Department of Economic Development?

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Really, the goal of the department, everything we do is to help the economy grow in Westchester County. And that involves a number of programs, but really we try to attract and retain businesses and talent, grow talent, and anything we can do to help businesses grow really is a priority for us. So we have programs where we help uh businesses hire additional people. We have job fairs to get more people, um, more people hired. We have the RPI partnership is an example of something we're doing to help the economy grow.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

And when we say businesses, we're not just talking about the large corporations, although we love them as well. We're talking all businesses.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

Right. We have about 35,000 businesses in Westchester. And that's why when County Executive Latimer took office, his strategy, and we've continued it on through County Executive Jenkins, is uh to really focus on the businesses that are here and help them grow. 35,000 businesses. If if each business added one employee, that's in tremendous, tremendous impact on the economy. So, but we have businesses everything from solopreneurs, so that's like one person with no employees, all the way up to the regenerons of the world with, you know, many, many thousands of employees, all based here in Westchester.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

It's really unbelievable what we have here in the county. And it's and it's exciting that your your whole job is to help support these businesses, small, solo, big, medium, all of them. Right. It's very exciting. So RPI. So what is the Westchester County RPI partnership that Bonnie is the director of?

SPEAKER_03 3:41

So I I guess it would be probably helpful if I give a little bit of history. So when um when I started this position, um, one of the things I did is go out and talk to lots and lots of employers. And as I said, I asked them, how can the county help you grow? And every key sector that we identified, uh, every kind of, you know, uh life sciences, technology, um, financial services, uh, clean energy, uh, they all said they needed engineers and we're having trouble hiring engineers here in Westchester. And there's a it's a complicated reasoning for that. But the the the fact of the matter is uh we just didn't have enough engineers in this county. So any specific engineers or all engineers? All engineers. All engineers, everything chemical, civic, um, you civil, um, you know, the the whole gamut. Um and so um, and prior to me taking this position, there had been initiative in the county for something like 20 years to try and get a partnership with a with an engineering uh school here in Westchester. So I set about looking for um, you know, kind of doing the research and coming up with the kind of why Westchester, why would Westchester uh want to partner with an engineering firm? What's the validation from the what we're hearing from employers? Um, and then also why would it make sense from an engineering school's perspective? You know, why would they want to be, why do we think that they should be here in Westchester? Um and that's a pretty interesting and really um, I think fundamental part of this partnership is Westchester is an incredibly attractive place to for an engineering school to be because we have very highly educated people and we have employers that are ready to hire them. So it's kind of ready out of the box, ready to go. So um we spent about a year putting together this kind of uh, you know, a why Westchester document. And just as we were kind of getting ready to roll it out, um, we were introduced to RPI and it was just uh instant connection. They were also had just developed their strategy and wanted to have a downstate presence um to get more involved with with employers and be in community um such as like like Westchester is. So we talked, and within about a year, we had an MO memorandum of understanding and uh you know a really a framework to move forward on the partnership.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

So RPI, tell me about RPI.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Well, so RPI is the first technological research university in the country. It just celebrated its bicentennial several years ago, and it has a foundation of technical education as it is applied to everyday life. So there are engineering programs, but there are also programs that are suitable for individuals that work in highly technical organizations. Um RPI is the first of many things, so the first um technological research university in the country. It's also the first university to house a quantum computer on its campus in partnership with IBM. Um, and it has a uh a distinction of working with industry very closely to understand what are the things that you want to develop in order to advance your company and your people. Um, so there's a lot of investment in research, uh, but there's also a lot of investment in how do we educate people to move them from a current state of understanding their work to a more desired state of understanding their work. And as you've you've discussed, there's a lot happening in Westchester County as far as industry and investing in people. So when this opportunity presented itself to RPI, like Bridget described, it was a natural partnership. We were ready and we hit the ground running immediately.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

And so what's the goal of this program?

SPEAKER_03 7:56

So it there are many goals. Um, but you know, kind of first and foremost is to have more engineers in Westchester. And we go there. That's the main goal. That's the main goal. And they're and you want them here because the companies that are here need them. Right. And based on the research that we did and and speaking with employers, we we learned that it's easier for companies based in Westchester to hire people that already live in Westchester. So it's very difficult to recruit people in from Cleveland to move to Westchester because their head explodes when they see the price of a starter home is $900,000. And we're used to that here. Right, right. And if you already live here, you figured it out. You have probably have a job, you have a house, you have a family. Um, you that you are a much much easier hire for our employer. So our goal was to focus on how do we get the people that live here in Westchester to upskill, to have those engineering skills that our uh our employers need. And so that's kind of one of the pathways. The other pathway is we just announced um the degree completion program. So people who have an associate's degree in engineering can transfer to the online bachelor's program at RPI and get their bachelor's of technology without ever having to leave uh Westchester County. And their bachelor's is from RPI. So it's a really fantastic thing. So that keeps people here, gives them opportunities to upskill and grow their careers and earn, you know, their earnings will increase. And it's it's just a it's a win-win. And as those students start to to work on their bachelor's degree, our companies have already said once they're in that that degree program, let us know because we want to bring them on as interns. Um, we want to start having them learn our business. So it's gonna be a direct workforce pipeline for people that live here already. What are some of those companies that are reaching out to you? Um, there are many. Regeneron is one of them that we've spoken to about that pipeline approach. There's uh an engineering company called Arcadus. Um, you know, they have they've already hired six people through this through this initiative. Um, and yeah, it's we're really excited. The other way that we are leveraging the partnership is through there's about 150 uh students that are on campus in Troy in engineering uh uh degree programs that live in Westchester County. So they live with their parents. And so what we've done is kind of had we had an event to bring those students together with the employers in Westchester. So they learned about all of these career opportunities right here in the county. They didn't know about them. They really didn't realize that there were opportunities to get hired as an engineer here in Westchester. So now they're aware of it, and it's and the parents were excited because the kids can live at home and start their careers, and it's a real win-win. We're also connecting the the employers with the RPI alumni that live in Westchester. So there's, you know, 500 or more um alumni uh from Westchester that from RPI that live in Westchester. They participated in that event, they met with the employer. So now there's that kind of that flow. So we're really excited about um kind of creating instant engineers in Westchester without having um to recruit people in, but we're just training our people, we're matchmaking with um, you know, the the students, alumni, um, with our employers, and it's been going really, really well. That's amazing. I want to be really clear.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

So this program, who is eligible for this program?

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Well, any employer that has a presence in Westchester, uh, they don't have to be headquartered in Westchester, but if they have a business, they have an office here, they're eligible to participate. Um, any Westchester County resident is eligible to part participate. Uh, we have a we have a partnership or we have a we have an agreement with um uh SUNY Westchester. So that's will be probably our first line of better known as WCC soon. Rebranded. Yes, rebranded. But they they will be, we will be hopefully working very closely with them on the degree completion program. So having their students, but anyone with an associate's degree can transfer into the RPI program.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Okay, so you have to have an associate's degree to be in this program. Um, do you have to have the associate's degree in a STEM-related field?

SPEAKER_03 12:23

You uh yeah, I'll let Bonnie answer that question. No.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Okay. That's the beauty of that. And I'd like to I'd like to explore a little bit the um the targeted um um pipeline of engineering talent, but we also mean technical talent. Not everybody has to be or can be an engineer. You don't have to be. We give you the opportunity to come in and receive the technical training and technical education so that you can work within an engineering environment and be a full contributor to the organization and understand the organization by completing this bachelor's of technology in production and operations management.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

So it does not have to be civ uh electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, it can be this.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Correct. It's an associate's degree.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Oh, so if you if you don't have the associates already, you can come in and receive that. You well, you would complete the associates at a school like WC. Okay, got it, got it. And then you're coming and finishing with you guys. Got it. Just wants to make sure we understood that. It's interesting because we hear, you know, as as a mom of three boys that are two were in high school, one is in middle school. We have heard about STEM forever. And the emphasis is on STEM in such a massive way. And now it seems like this is really STEM that you hear about when you have little kids in action. This is STEM in action. Um, why do you think that companies, you know, and companies in Westchester in particular really need to focus on engineering in a way that they maybe haven't in the past?

SPEAKER_03 14:09

Well, um technology is just expanding and becoming ubiquitous in kind of everything that everybody does. You know, if you look at manufacturing, for example, um, that has shifted from kind of smokestacks and conveyor belts, at least in Westchester, to advanced manufacturing that uses robotics and AI and other advanced technologies. That's why it's called advanced manufacturing. So everyone, um so many careers, even nursing and other uh things that you might not think of, they use technology as a big part of their job. Um, so it's it's it's just because the ubiquitous nature of technology and kind of everything we do from our phones to our computers to everything else. And now with AI and with quantum coming, um, you really have to have a strength in technology, I think, to succeed. And our goal is to help all of the residents in Westchester gain those skills and so they can stay competitive and stay, you know, really in in the market.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Well, I was gonna ask specifically about AI, being how that has changed this conversation, changed this industry. Have you seen that at RPI? Most definitely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Because it's it's the it's a new tool. And um uh like most everything that shows up in our lives, a new tool becomes suspect to what what is it going to do to take from our lives. Right. Um, I mean, that happened when electricity was first introduced, if you think about it, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:44

I mean, I remember the when the internet came. Right. The chaos that caused, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Exactly. So we're embracing AI as a tool. Um, and from a student learning um perspective, it's how does it complement a student's ability to learn? And within an organization, how does AI complement an organization's ability to do the important work that it's looking to accomplish? Um, and so, you know, the we've been talking a lot about AI in Westchester County, and particularly in the partnership with RPI, because it's happening. Yeah, can't stop it. Yeah, it's happened. And so we want to be sure that we have organizations and their employees and residents of Westchester County dialed into understanding what AI is and how it can complement their lives so that they understand that it's it's a tool. Yeah. Um, and for organizations, how do they then think about governance and you know ethics and you know how to how to implement the operationalization of of AI throughout their organization? And we're doing that now in Westchester County, which is very exciting.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Yeah. And the other thing we haven't touched on is the RPI at work aspect of this partnership. So um there RPI offers a whole suite of kind of one-off, uh, I'll let Bunny explain how they describe it better than than I can do, but the goal is to have uh learning opportunities that employer that are important for employers. So they have an AI for leaders class, introduction to quantum computing. Um, and these are really designed to be completed by, you know, have employers identify gaps in skills and capabilities that their employees have, and then they can take those classes, online classes through RPI at work, uh, fully online, um, and get a certificate or a completion uh uh notice. I forget exactly what it's called, but Bonnie will explain it better. But anyhow, it's an important part of the partnership because it is something that employers can see and can offer to their employees as a like an employee retention uh type of uh, you know, bonus to people. Uh, those folks that they want to keep, retain, they can send them to these training classes and it really it's a benefit to the employee because they get really important skills that allow them to further their career. Um, and it's a benefit to the employer because retaining an employee that is, you know, is highly skilled is much better for the business than turn turnover is very, very expensive. So to keep employees uh happy and keep upskilling them based on the need of the organization is part of the goal of this partnership through through RPI at work. I'll let Bonnie uh add more detail and accuracy to the way we describe it.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Yeah, I have almost 30 years in higher education, and I've never seen anything like this RPI at work portfolio. I am a member of the leadership team that did the discovery of what organizations needed their people to know and do that weren't being satisfied with, you know, uh uh uh internal training program, or maybe they didn't have the um the capabilities for internal training in the areas of systems engineering, for example, or mechanical engineering, or um change management, you know, which is hard to do internally. So we have with leadership um uh an economist led the um the design and delivery of these programs while I have the benefit of doing interviews with organization leaders asking them what keeps you up at night? What do you need your people to know and do that they just aren't able to do now? Um and we have this full suite of graduate certificates and degrees that answer the challenges that organizations are faced with solutions that their employees learn to solve through project-based coursework. There are no tests, there are no quizzes, they're led through a scenario of figuring out how to solution a challenge that one is likely to face in their work today. So the the benefit of the work that I've done is participating in the development of these programs, but also talking to the individuals who go through the programs. And it has been transformational in what they are able to know and do and in their careers, but also within the departments and the organizations that they serve. Um so we continue to listen. So the development of this degree completion bachelors of technology is also built in that same way. So those who are participating in these programs are really learning how to solve challenges that they and their organizations face day to day. Um, and then we have the, you know, not everybody needs a degree, right? So we have the quick hit coursework that an individual or a team can take together as a cohort to solve challenges around process improvement or performance coaching or back to the change management, which you know is a lot of organizations are facing today.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

And so, you know, overall that this is this is one program, this is you know has targeted audiences, but how does this over Overall help economic development in the county?

SPEAKER_03 22:03

Well, you know, as I said, you know, our goal is to help businesses grow. And if they can hire one or two or six employees to fill these openings that they have, you know, what's what's happening is they have these our employers have positions that are unfilled, which allow does not allow them to take on new clients of their own. So if we can help them fill those positions and then do more work, it's a it's economic growth. And it's really, and on the other side, if our if our residents can upskill and then get hired with a high level of a technical uh uh job, that's you know, new earnings for them.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:43

So they that's gonna transform their life and they're on a path to growth. So, you know, it's kind of a such a win-win on on both sides of the equation, the hiring equation. And and it's just really, I think it's put Westchester on the map in the state because people are looking to this partnership as an as a role model, as an example of how economic development businesses can work with higher education and really impact the economy. Um, and it's much more streamlined than you know, many of um, you know, not to put down other colleges, but you know, having you know, graduating students is very important. But we are very intentional about how we're gonna help those students stay in Westchester and get on, get into the workforce pipeline and grow. Yeah, you've got a goal. We've got a goal. It's very, very specific.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

And what does suc in five years, we're gonna sit here in five years, what does success look like?

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Well, I'd say um I hope and dream that we will have a physical presence for RPI here and have uh a learning facility uh where students can have hands-on training in one or more engineering degrees, whether it's electrical. We're doing a survey right now to find out what the most in-demand uh uh engineering programs are and with a goal of implementing, because you know, you can get you can get degrees, but in some instances you need hands-on learning with equipment. Yes. And so we know that, you know, online learning can only take us so far. So we're going to uh I would say I'd hope that we would have a facility, RPI, in Westchester, um, and that we would have thousands of of graduates that are working for the companies here in Westchester. And um really it's just humming along, and we're maybe, maybe it's even expanding to beyond Westchester and into more into the Hudson Valley. I could see something like that. Terrific.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

I'd love to add to that. Please, yeah. In the conversations that we're having with organizations and and with residents in Westchester County, we're all so busy. Adulting is hard, right? And so we have to sit back and think about what learning does to us and for us. And so I want to encourage people to think about what can happen if they spend time or take some time to learn, make space to learn. And not only for the individuals, but for the organizations too. It's sometimes hard for organizations to think we want our people who have a lot to do to take some time and make some space for learning. It's an advancement for the individual and for the organization. And I often say to the individual that learning is the new job security.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

You're absolutely right. And to the organizations, learning is the new competitive advantage. And that will happen here in Westchester County. Terrific.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Anything else that we missed?

SPEAKER_03 25:59

Anything else you want to talk about? I think it's, you know, we we are gonna be having an event, uh, a hiring event in November. I think the date is that it's the first Monday of Thanksgiving week. I think it's the 23rd. So we're gonna encourage employers and and folks that are interested in uh a career kind of conversation and uh event, we would love for them to attend, but we'll be um, you know, advertising that and getting the word out.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Terrific. And if people want to reach you, B. Gibbons at Westchestercounty.gov. Okay, and what's the website for this program? Uh WestchesterCablist.com slash RPI. Terrific.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

So we do have to just, you know, I do have to just say, as somebody who has worked in higher education, I worked at Mersey University. I'm product of Fordham and PACE. Uh, we have terrific educational facilities, educational institutions in the county. And I'm so happy that RPI is now one of them as well. And the rising tide lifts all boats. So thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you.