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We are the voice of trucking.
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Welcome to Key Up New York, the Trucking Association of New York's podcast.
I am Kendra Hems, the President with the Trucking Association of New York,
and I'm joined today by...
Barry Panicola.
And Barry, who are you with?
I'm with Sprague Operating Resources and former Chairman of TANI.
Great. And we are here today to talk about workforce development,
but more specifically, the Shea Legacy Foundation,
which was the foundation created by TANI recently,
and Barry is actually chairing that foundation currently.
So thank you for joining us.
We always start off with a kind of icebreaker question,
so I'm just going to throw one out at you.
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
That's an interesting one.
I should have been prepared for this.
That's why it's an icebreaker. We don't want you prepared for it.
Unfortunately, there's no superheroes with healing powers.
I would like that, but I'd have to say to help other people, Superman,
to have the ability to fly and super strength and use telepathy and things like that.
Very fitting, given what we're talking about today
with the foundation and the work that we hope to accomplish through that foundation.
So why don't we just kick it off?
You were a member of the TANI board of directors
when the decision was made to move forward with the foundation.
So can you talk a little bit about why the board wanted to basically form this foundation
and kind of how it came to be?
Well, for years, the association has talked about forming a foundation.
And with workforce development being one of the pillars of the TANI strategic plan,
we felt at this point was the perfect opportunity to take the work that we had been doing
in workforce development and create the foundation,
which really can complement all of the programs we currently have,
as well as open up new opportunities,
whether it's relationships with educational institutions
or grant opportunities or additional fundraising opportunities,
which is going to be very important through foundation.
Great. So I guess as a follow-up to that,
we've talked about this foundation for years.
You've been part of the association for many years, as have I.
And it seems like we've always kind of talked around the edges of like,
maybe we should have a foundation.
Would it make sense to have a foundation?
So why do you think now?
Why is now the appropriate time for us to move forward with that?
Well, coming out of the pandemic,
it really raised awareness to the shortage of workers.
And in the industry, we've always struggled with shortage of drivers and technicians.
And I think the opportunity, besides the work that the industry had done
to bring drivers and technicians into our industry,
this opened up a greater opportunity
because there's so many great-paying jobs in the transportation industry.
One out of every 29 workers in the state work in transportation.
And 90% of the goods that come to the citizens and businesses of the state of New York come on a truck.
So we saw this as a great opportunity to elevate the ability to attract younger people,
more diverse people, and really increase the workforce for our member companies and the industry.
Right. Which, as you pointed out, is a key component of our strategic plan as well,
which we just updated in February of this year.
So a lot of initiatives going along with workforce development that we're working on through TANI,
but now we now have the support of the foundation and access to grant funds that we didn't have previously as well.
So I think the timing of it made a lot of sense in terms of moving that forward.
So what do you think in the short term? What are the priorities of the foundation that we'll be focusing on initially?
Well, you know, the foundation is going to help promote an advanced TANI's training,
education, and workforce development initiatives.
The foundation is going to provide scholarships.
This past June, we just awarded our first five scholarships, which was a great process.
And it really is part of what we want to do is to give opportunities to people that might not have them previously.
And those scholarships are the Shea Legacy Foundation scholarship, which was awarded to two driving school candidates.
We had two scholarships awarded to for the Mike Endree's Memorial Scholarship with two technicians.
And then we have the Alderuz scholarship, which is awarded to a person entering a accredited university or college.
And I have to say each of those scholarships are named after inspirational people with the Shea Legacy Foundation.
It's named after the members of the Shea family that have been so inspirational to the industry.
The Alderuz scholarship is named after somebody that increased awareness to safety in this industry.
He was appointed to the first governor's safety traffic committee.
And the Mike Endree scholarship is named after a person that was very supportive of the SuperTech competition.
Not only just winning the SuperTech competition, but also teaching the techs and advancing their training and their knowledge.
So I mean, I think we take a lot of pride in what people have done and we're thrilled to be able to name the foundation and those scholarships after those people.
Yeah, absolutely. All of them brought a passion to the industry that just was so well suited to the foundation and what we're doing.
And to go back to that a little bit in terms of the name of the Shea Legacy Foundation.
So for those that may not know the Shea family, this is a family that goes back to really the inception of the association as we know it today.
So Harold Shea was the father and then Tim Shea and John Shea were brothers, Harold's sons.
And Harold was part of the group that worked on kind of bringing four different associations that were across the state back in the 1930s and 40s into a single association.
Understanding that, like we always say, there's strength in numbers.
And there was that same thought process with these four associations that we would be stronger together.
And so there was a group of individuals that came together and brought the four into the association as we know it today.
And Harold was a key member of that.
And then Tim and John had both served in different capacities within the association, both of them serving as chairman at one time.
And unfortunately in 2021, John had passed away and he was the last surviving member of the Shea in terms of the legacy here within the association.
And it was around that same time we were talking about, you know, now's the time.
Let's go forward as you noted coming out of the pandemic. And so it just seems so appropriate to name it the Shea Legacy Foundation to basically keep what they brought to this industry and this association specifically kind of going forward.
So it was, it just timing wise, it made a lot of sense and what a great way to honor, you know, them and then at the same time we were developing the scholarship for the technicians and unfortunately Michael and Andries had also passed away.
In 2021, and we just felt it was really appropriate given the passion that he had in terms of advancing texts in this industry, training, education, the super tech competition.
It just made a lot of sense to honor his, his legacy and what he brought with that scholarship as well.
So super excited about just getting the foundation up and running the scholarship program so that we can support those that are coming into the industry.
But we've got some other programs, right that we're working on that I would let you speak to in terms of both the charter school program and also our program with Department of Corrections.
Yeah, and, you know, as you stated in 2021, the board approved a workforce development committee.
And, you know, Rusty Stetzel had begun a lot of that work and the foundation is continuing and taking over a lot of these programs.
You know, as you mentioned, we've worked with the Charter School of Applied Technologies for several years now.
They had a logistics club, which became very popular, very successful, and now has grown to a credited curriculum for juniors and seniors.
And it also happens that Chris Bajouet, who is a teacher at this school, is a Shea Legacy Foundation board member that can help us guide other programs in the state.
And we hope to advance this through the BOSIS programs and other, you know, I know we're talking to two community colleges about having programs in there in the colleges.
So, you know, Rusty is doing a great job with that.
And, you know, we look forward to that moving together.
And the focus to the job program is also very important as well.
You know, a lot of work has been done on that.
We have several incarcerated people going through the program now.
It was originally thought to be a good opportunity to get people into driving jobs.
But the first person that was released in October is actually being placed as a technician, a diesel technician.
So we're now talking to the people in the program and the people for the department, people at the Department of Corrections about widening that and finding warehouse workers, potentially dispatchers and other, you know, taking the skill that they can be taught or already have and bringing other people into the industry.
Right.
And I think one of the reasons why starting the foundation was so important in terms of supporting those programs is the way that we're structured as a nonprofit.
So TANI is a nonprofit, but we lobby.
And because we lobby, we're often not eligible for grant funds.
So we set the foundation up as a C3, which is a charitable organization and that provides them the ability to apply for grants, which is something we're actively working on.
The idea would be to help support the scholarship programs, of course.
But with the Jail to Jobs program, you know, there's resources there that these individuals are going to need.
They're coming out of a situation where they don't currently have employment.
So for them to continue their training through the driving school or going into, you know, whatever program it may be for diesel tech, the ability that we may have to provide some funding to help that, I think, is critically important to the success of that program.
So we're actively working on the funding through those grant applications and really hoping to see those programs continue to grow.
But I think one of the other neat things about the foundation is that we are looking at demographics where it's kind of a win-win, right?
So individuals coming out of our prison system in New York, we've got six facilities across the state now that have driving simulators right within the facility.
They're starting the CDL training while they're in there.
There's facilities that we're actively working with that even though they don't have the CDL training or, to your point, trying to get the warehouse workers, the technicians, the forklift drivers, you know, all those other necessary jobs.
But really trying to give them a chance and an opportunity.
It's a win-win for them and for the industry in terms of employment.
And same thing with the charter school, which we know oftentimes are in, you know, areas of need.
And trying to give those students opportunities that maybe they wouldn't have had otherwise as well.
So I think there's some really great ways that we can work together and with those groups and help them and obviously work on addressing the employment issues within the industry.
So I think to that end, we also have a simulator.
We do.
It's currently in Tanny's headquarters.
It is.
We're waiting a trailer that we hope will be here soon.
And we're already, you know, the department label labor has distributed flyers to all the Boasey schools.
So we've fielded a number of phone calls.
Steve Babarak is who is, you know, works for the foundation of former Tanny employee now works directly for foundations going to be working a lot of the coordination starting in Q1 of 2024.
So we're pretty excited about that. That allows to get the simulator out to the Boasey schools, job fairs, member companies can utilize it.
So, you know, I think that's going to bring great exposure to the, to the foundation and the work the foundation is doing and really just open up people's eyes to what the foundation is also doing besides just the driver simulator.
Right. Yeah, absolutely.
It's been a long time coming to we have not been immune to the supply chain challenges that everybody's been hit with and waiting on that trailer's been a long time, but we're excited.
It's being built as we speak.
So we'll be out there on the road come January 2024 and really looking forward to that simulator supporting a lot of these initiatives.
So we talked about Jailster jobs, we talked about the charter school or scholarships, the site, the simulator.
Can you speak to a little bit, you know, this is kind of a new role.
We're really trying to think strategically in terms of how we're going to utilize the foundation. You're the first chairman of the foundation.
So can you speak a little bit maybe to some of your goals, whether it's short term or or long term in terms of what you want to see the foundation accomplish.
So the TANIs worked on a number of these initiatives for several years and I mentioned Rusty before and I mentioned Steve and Rusty's done great work.
And now we can focus, you know, have focused employees to start finding out what grants are available.
We need to advance the fundraising opportunities.
And we really have the foundation set literally with these programs that we discussed, no fun intended.
But I am very proud, you know, being a board member to the support that we're getting.
I mean, we need to have the support of the board.
We need the resources to move the foundation forward.
But ultimately, that's the foundation's goal is to provide resources and, you know, funding opportunities to young men and women or men and women of all ages to find an opportunity to get into the industry.
Yeah, that's great. I think we're all really excited to see this grow.
And I think there's going to be opportunities that continue to present themselves as we move forward.
All right, so we're talking about the simulator and how it's going to support workforce development in terms of kind of recruitment, right, encouraging folks to get into the industry.
But one of the other things that is important to both the foundation and to TANI is safety.
So when we talk about workforce development, it's not always just about how do we get new people in.
It's also about developing those that are already in the workforce, including our drivers.
So maybe speak a little bit to how we're looking to utilize the simulator as it relates to supporting our own members with their training needs.
I had mentioned that the simulator will be available to members.
So it's great opportunities.
I know years ago in my own company, we had our insurance company provide a simulator.
And it was great to bring in the equipment, have focused training prior to have them drivers go into the simulator, put them in different situations,
whether it was adverse weather or different type of driving that maybe they haven't done prior.
So it's a great way to give them experience that can be very focused.
And we see this also as an opportunity. We keep talking about working with the city of New York, whether it's urban driver training or creating a certification program for carriers to go in and around New York City.
So this will be able to add value to any program we create. It's only one simulator, but I can see other organizations or the city maybe themselves investing in that.
And it's great opportunities to also utilize with our, whether it's our, not so much our touch of truck programs,
but we do a lot of community service where we bring trucks to high schools or other organizations to show people what it's like to operate a motor vehicle,
excuse me, a commercial motor vehicle. And, you know, there may be opportunities to advance that as well.
Yeah, I think that is a great idea. So we do the share the road program upstate, downstate.
It's called truck side view, but kind of similar in terms of we let people get up in the cab of the truck and they can see what the driver sees.
This like takes it to the next level, right? So now it's not just about you're in the cab of the truck and you can see, you know, the blind spots, blind spots.
I'm not sure how that works, but you can tell where the blind spots are.
But now they actually have the ability to test drive, right? So even if it's not somebody that is potentially going to get into truck driving,
if even from an education standpoint, we're making that person a safer, safer driver because now they understand like, oh, wow, I couldn't see or now I've got a new perspective of what a driver has to deal with.
I think that's another great tool that the simulator can provide that we didn't have previously. So that that's just another element in terms of how we utilize that.
It definitely translates on a personal level. My son just started driving and I put him through similar training in the car while we were driving that we give to our drivers on building space and visibility around the vehicle.
And now watching him as he does drive, you know, it really, you know, it really, you know, worked.
And so I think as we go out and show the general public, we're out here doing hard jobs, we're doing important jobs, we're bringing you all of the goods that you're ordering, you know, we're bringing fruit and vegetables and food and medicine and things like that that are vital to our economy
and vital to living that, you know, these guys as they are working, this is the this is their office, but these are the conditions they're dealing with and it'll really, I think, transcend and open people's eyes to how important and how hard the jobs are, which, you know, is important to the image of the industry.
Yeah, absolutely. So often we talk about one specific issue or topic, and then it leads into so many different things and this happens like all the time. So even with this, you know, the intent was to talk about the foundation and what we're doing, but it leads into our previous podcast, which talked about the study that
actually had done indicating that if you're a member of a trucking association, you're going to be safer. Well, here's just another example as to why utilizing the simulator or members can help with their training needs.
It ties into that. You mentioned the Urban Driver Training Program, you know, and from kind of an advocacy standpoint, we're always battling New York City, I mean other areas of the state of course, but New York City in particular.
This is an initiative that we're doing for two reasons, right? One, absolutely a safety, but the other reason is it's a great way for us to show to the policymakers in the city that we are being very proactive when it comes to improving safety on City Street.
So, just always strikes me, we've got our four pillars of our STRAT plan. It's obviously our membership value, but safety, workforce, dev and advocacy, and they all kind of intertwine. We shouldn't even really call them pillars, right?
Right.
Because they're not, because they definitely connect and this is just another great example of that.
I agree and I've seen over the years as we've worked on the STRATGIC plan, it really is just a foundation and really, you know, it's, you know, as you said, it's not just pillars, it's all interconnected.
You know, as we go and speak to our elected officials or agencies, you know, we're always discussing the programs we have, the emphasis we put on safety, the goals that we've achieved, and you know, I have to say they've definitely taken notice and we really, you know, we're continually working to raise the awareness to what the industry is doing.
And, you know, our member companies benefit from that. You know, I know the company I work for, we've benefited for many years, you know, and, you know, we have younger people in our company involved.
You know, we just recently sent somebody through the leadership program, which is one, actually, I failed to mention the Shea Legacy Foundation is now running the leadership program.
We're in, we have our third class, which just started in September, and, you know, we've had people that come through that program. One's been a board member and now we're a TANI employee.
You know, we've identified new committee members that are becoming active. We're hoping to identify new board members and we have former graduates now training, you know, doing classes.
So, you know, we really, you know, and, you know, I'm a big advocate of becoming a member of TANI, but the values there and, you know, the results are there and we're on the cusp of really raising the impact that the association has on the industry and the general public to another level.
Yeah, absolutely. And the foundation is going to play a huge role in that. Any closing thoughts that you might have?
You know, I think we've covered a lot and I'm really proud to be the first chairman and to have been in the, you know, the grassroots of the foundation.
I really think this is going to give us the opportunity to help us with, you know, a challenge that all industries have, bringing in, you know, new talent, bringing in the next workforce.
And, you know, I'm pretty excited to be a part of it and I mentioned it before, really happy for the support we get from the TANI board to be able to, you know, continue and move forward.
Yeah, that's great. Just like Superman helping out there when you need them.
Well, thank you so much, Barry, for joining us. It's always a pleasure seeing you talking to you.
I really enjoyed having you in the studio with us today. I think that wraps it for another Key Up New York.
Be sure to like us or follow us anywhere that you listen to your podcasts and we'll see you next time.
Thank you.