Standing on the main steps of Brunner International on Bates Road in Medina on Tuesday morning, politicians, community members and businesses along with several graduates of the Iroquois Job Corp, demanded that funding be restored immediately and that all seven Job Corp locations in New York remain open. There are 123 Job Corp locations throughout the United States and the program is in all 50 states.
Press release
Orleans County’s Iroquois Job Corps Center Provides Residential Workforce Training In Healthcare, Construction, Tech, And Other Fields With Worker Shortages To Over 200 Students Every Year, But For Months Has Been Stuck In Limbo After Trump Called For All Centers To Close Despite Longstanding Bipartisan Support
Schumer Says Rash, Potentially Illegal Move By Trump Admin Is Gut Punch To Worker-Starved Businesses In Western NY & Rochester-Finger Lakes That Rely On Iroquois Job Corps Students; Senator Leads Charge To Demand Trump Reverse Cuts & Call On NY House GOP To Stand Up To Trump And Continue Funding Job Corps In Annual Appropriations Bill To Block Trump’s Effort To Totally Eliminate Funding For Next Year
Schumer: We Must Save Job Corps For Upstate NY’s Students, Small Businesses & Other Local Employers
With the Trump administration attempting to eliminate Job Corps, one of the nation’s largest workforce training programs, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer will stand with Iroquois Job Corps students, staff, alumni, local employers, and community supporters at Brunner International’s factory in Orleans County to demand the Trump administration stop its cruel, potentially illegal attempts to close Job Corps centers and eliminate funding for the program, hurting students, small business, and other local employers in need of trained workers across Upstate NY. For over 60 years, the Iroquois Job Corps Center in Orleans County has helped nearly 225 students every year get the skills they need to enter in-demand careers, which is essential for Upstate NY small businesses and other employers that rely on Job Corps for a pipeline of new, skilled workers to fill jobs at local companies like Brunner International in Medina which manufactures brakes for tractor-trailers, buses, and dump trucks.
While courts have initially blocked the Trump administration’s cruel attempts to shut down Job Corps centers this year, in his Fiscal Year 2026 budget request, Trump said he wants to permanently eliminate funding for the program, shutting down the program forever, which would mean firing hundreds of employees across Upstate NY, kicking thousands of students to the curb, and leaving small business and other local employers without a way to get workers.
Schumer will detail how he is leading the charge in the Senate to save this program and will demand NY House Republicans stand with their constituents in fighting to save Job Corps by funding the program in the annual appropriations bill, rejecting Trump’s effort to eliminate all funds for this beloved local program that helps students get jobs and small business succeed.
Video of Press conference in Medina at Brunner International on Bates Road-August 5, 2025
Schumer will be joined by Iroquois Job Corps students, alumni, staff, local elected officials, local employers, Job Corps Community supporters from the Medina VFW Auxiliary, Medina Rotary, Albion Lion Club, Orleans Community Health, East Shelby Fire Hall, and others local businesses and community leaders who rely on Job Corps.
