Buffalo Next Features Goodskills Expansion

Buffalo News / Buffalo Next

Originally Published June 30th, 2025

A graduate of Goodskills Career Builder recently returned to talk to members of a new class of the free job training program. What she told them got their attention.

She recounted how Goodskills taught her the fundamentals of getting and keeping a job: good communication with managers and colleagues, showing up on time for work every day, and working hard.

After getting a job, she applied those lessons. Within several months, she got promoted.

"They said to her, 'This is really differentiator for you, not only for why we hired you, but for why you rose to the top in terms of promotion,' " said Randi Murphy, Goodwill of Western New York's vice president of workforce development and human resources.

Murphy said the story reflects three things employers want in new hires: the right attitude, the aptitude to learn, and commitment to the job.

"She had everyone leaning in, and she said, 'This is it, this is what this looks like,' " Murphy said.

Over 480 people have graduated from Goodskills' Buffalo-based program, putting them on a path to get hired for manufacturing and technology-enabled jobs. Now, Goodskills has branched out.

The four-week program was recently offered in Lockport and Dunkirk, and has just expanded to Salamanca. The three communities' classes are smaller than Buffalo's, and not offered as frequently, but they have enabled Goodskills to reach a wider geographic area.

"The expansion in different areas is based really on the needs of employers asking us for employees in in those specific areas," said Thomas Ulbrich, president and CEO of Goodwill of Western New York. At the three new locations, the training is only for manufacturing jobs.

Goodskills' current placement rate is 63%. Some graduates opt to continue their training, at places like the Northland Workforce Training Center or Per Scholas, which teaches tech skills. For those who aren't ready to be placed in a job, Goodskills refers them to other services, Ulbrich said.

Seventy percent of Goodskills class members are either unemployed or underemployed, Murphy said.

Goodskills teaches its class members about basics like resume writing and dressing for success, and they go through mock job interviews. Class members also go on plant tours, earn OSHA certification and learn to operate forktrucks. At the end of the program, there is a job fair.

The class is rigorous, intended to simulate the expectations of a workplace, Ulbrich said.

"The concept is that it's like coming to work every day – like if you're late, you get coached," Ulbrich said. "If you're late two or three times, you may be asked to come back to the next class."

Not everyone graduates, but those who don't are referred to other resources, Ulbrich said.

Goodskills' content is refined based on feedback from employers, like the need to add math to training for manufacturing jobs. For the class members, the four weeks is only the beginning, Ulbrich said.

"We've started to say it's a three-year program with a four-week onboarding, because they have consistent coaching from us for up to three years after they leave," he said.

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