A new trade school has opened its doors near the former Central Park Plaza, on Buffalo's East Side.
The Craft Technical Institute, at 243 Manhattan Avenue, offers training for a variety of jobs in the construction industry.
School Director Frank Daniel says there is a lot of building going on in Buffalo but there is a shortage of qualified skilled workers. Daniel says courses are written specifically for each industry and include a lot of hands-on training.
"Our training is five hours a day. One hour in the classroom, four hours in the lab. Real work. And so when our students come out they hit the ground running," Daniel said.
Daniel says the first program available will prepare students for a career in welding. In the coming months, he says, classes will be added for HVAC installation and maintenance, heavy equipment operations, and sheet metal fabrication.