More than 200 additional students will be able to build their professional skills and connections thanks to the opening next month of the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education(CTE) Extension Center.
Located at 886 Watervliet-Shaker Road in Albany—across from the Albany Career and Technical Education Center—the CTE Extension Center will serve more than 200 students in eight different programs when the school year starts on Sept. 4.
“We are thrilled with the reaction of students and their families to the opportunity and we are very happy to have worked with our partners in the skilled trades and technology sectors to be able to launch new programs and increase opportunities for high school juniors and seniors,” said Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education Director Jeff Palmer.
The 46,377-square-foot CTE Extension Center will be home to two new programs—New Visions: Emerging Technologies and Plumbing Technology—and six expanded ones. Those include the Heavy Equipment Repair and Operation (HERO) program which previously had only been offered at the Schoharie Career and Technical Education Center. Also included in the Extension Center is increased classroom space for the Electrical Trades, Building Trades, Cosmetology, Manufacturing and Machining Technology and Digital Media Design programs.
Enrollment for nearly all of the programs is full, Palmer said. Overall, more than 1,740 students are currently enrolled for CTE programs across all of its campuses, an increase from about 1,400 students during the 2024-25 school year.
Business and labor officials said the increased enrollment in CTE programs is needed.
“Every contractor that I talk to has a need for younger workers. The demand is from the residential to the industrial level,” said Tom Carrigan, President and Marketing Director for UA Local 7, Plumbers and Steamfitters.
Officials with NY CREATES, which partnered with BOCES and Plug Power to help launch the Emerging Technologies program, concurred, saying the program will ensure the region’s workforce can meet the growing demands of the technology industry.
“This partnership will offer students advanced training in chips R&D and trailblazing technologies, establishing a direct pathway to in-demand engineering careers,” said Dr. Robert Geer, NY CREATES Vice President for Education and Workforce Development.
For more information on career and technical education programs offered by BOCES, visit the website at https://www.capitalregionboces.org/career-technical-education/courses-programs/.