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Professions: Anticipating where the jobs will be

Newsday Staff Writer

5:28 PM EDT, March 26, 2008

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Vincent Marzigliano sees a significant need down the road for workers in manufacturing as baby boomers retire. So he's working to help his alma mater, Farmingdale State College, make sure its program is state-of-the-art in its effort to prepare students to fill those jobs.

Marzigliano, 48, president and owner of VM-Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Holbrook, an aircraft parts manufacturing corporation, is an industry adviser for the college's mechanical engineering technology department. As such, he's helped organize a forum to be held tomorrow where manufacturing professionals and academics will discuss the school's programs and applied research.

A 1995 Farmingdale graduate, Marzigliano says one of the aims of the event is hearing from industry professionals about what's needed to help Farmingdale fine-tune its programs.

The 60 or so expected to attend will also get a walk-through tour of the school's labs to view new equipment, including four computerized numerical-control cutting machines installed in the summer of 2006.

With many manufacturing workers in the area approaching retirement, Marzigliano says there will be a need for quality control inspection and quality assurance professionals, design engineers, computerized numerical-control programmers, manufacturing engineers, project engineers and machinists.

Academics attending the conference are also looking for ways to draw students into the manufacturing program, says Serdar Elgun, chairman of the mechanical engineering technology department. That hasn't been easy, he says: "It's an image issue" related to manufacturing, and young people "think it's a blue-collar job."

Indeed, Gary Huth, analyst in the Melville office of the New York State Labor Department, says many parents discourage their kids from pursuing what can be perceived as "dirty, dead-end jobs" -- which in fact now call for sophisticated skills.

Speakers, in addition to Elgun and Marzigliano, include representatives from the Long Island Forum for Technology and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Says Marzigliano, "The more I help the college, the more I see a vision for Long Island to get strong again like it was in the 1980s -- it's helping to make it happen."

Corporate beach dreams

Here's an excuse to daydream ahead to the balmy days of July: Employers can now register for the 2008 Marcum & Kliegman Workplace Challenge to be held July 29 at Jones Beach State Park.

Last year 190 employers, with a total of about 6,800 employees and guests, participated in the run/walk competition -- an event that's also been called the largest company picnic on Long Island.

While participation cuts across all professions, those in the law and in banking have the edge when it comes to the inclination to compete. They have their own contests at the event: a legal challenge and a bank challenge in which top male, female and female student teams from law firms and banks get recognized.

Event planner Mindy Davidson from the Greater Long Island Running Club explains the rationale for registering now: You get a head start on designing your company T-shirt -- yes, there's a competition for T-shirts -- plus almost four months to generate interest and camaraderie.

You also have the chance to schedule a free workplace clinic on challenge fundamentals -- things such as how to prepare for the competition and just what would be suitable to wear in the July heat. Learn more at Mkworkplacechallenge.com.