GLOW With Your Hands 2025 Kicks Off

GAINESVILLE, NY – Workforce, business, education, and economic development officials from across the GLOW region unveiled details at New York Chips for the 7th Annual GLOW With Your Hands career exploration festival which will take place at the Genesee County Fairgrounds on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

“We are building a ecosystem where businesses have access to a skilled and educated workforce,” said Angela Grouse, GLOW With Your Hands Co-Chair. “GLOW With Your Hands and local workforce programs foster mutually beneficial relationships between our local workforce and businesses, allowing for companies to relocate and expand in our region while candidates live, work, and recreate in local communities that build neighborhoods and support the local economy.”

GLOW With Your Hands officials once again anticipate that over 1,000 students from thirty school districts across the GLOW region will attend the exposition. More than sixty vendors have already committed to participating, featuring hands-on activities and simulations in the advanced manufacturing, agriculture, food production, skilled trades sectors as well as the various branches of the military.

“We have been committed to GLOW With Your Hands since its inaugural event in 2019 and our region has taken pride in building a workforce development mindset that has directly impacted our hiring success,” said New York Chips, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Chad Heeb. “Bringing in prepared and well-educated individuals strengthens our operations and allows us to empower new hires to grow within our organization.”

After the event at New York Chips, there was a tour of the Letchworth High School agriculture department showing students working in the barn with a herd of livestock, welding and repairing equipment, cultivating greenhouse plants, and maintaining surrounding trails and harvesting sap for maple syrup. The agriculture department is another example of providing opportunities for students to explore careers and skills offered outside of the traditional classroom setting.

“GLOW With Your Hands provides our students with exposure to local businesses that connect what they have learned in the classroom with career opportunities available in their backyards,” said Letchworth High School, Agriculture Instructor, Forrest Hess. “The skills learned in our Agriculture Program and similar curriculum across the GLOW region helps students truly understand how their skills and interests translate into exciting, real-world jobs.”

Three companies will be first time participants in GLOW With Your Hands including Schuler-Haas Electric Corp., an electrical contracting company based in Rochester; CropCare Drone Services, a cutting-edge drone technology that provides an efficient solution for crop management from LeRoy; and electrical contractor Tambe Electric, a first year vendor and sponsor that provides significant annual support for Camp Hard Hat.

“After seven years, the commitment of the private sector has elevated this event and the attendance of local students from the GLOW region,” said Karyn Winters, GLOW With Your Hands Co-Chair. “Companies continue to expand, grow, and relocate to the GLOW region, knowing they are selecting from a local candidate pool that is well- prepared to contribute immediately in a professional setting.”

GLOW With Your Hands still has room for vendors, sponsors, and volunteers. For more information, please visit https://www.glowwithyourhands.com/contact-us to sign up!