Becky Robbins introduced Ellen Ditonto, who is a Chautauqua County native who has held a number of positions locally in higher education, government and utilities.
Ellen started in technology services at Jamestown Community College where she was the first instructional computing director. In County government, she was the first Chief Information Officer at a time when server-based programs were starting to be implemented across county agencies. She connected 23 county government sites together with fiber services and helped local leaders understand that network connectivity was as important as other infrastructure services.
She worked as Director of Sales and Business Development at DFT Communications for several years before returning to JCC. She became the Executive Director of the Faculty Student Association.
Ellen is now employed at the BPU as their Business Development Coordinator. She is working with many economic development partners and organizations in southern Chautauqua County to help retain and attract new businesses and to promote the region - especially Jamestown where we enjoy low-cost utilities and reliable services. A large focus of her position now is the Retool WNY Initiative, based on a $750,000 grant from the New York State Research and Development Authority (known as NYSERDA). The multi-year grant is targeted at regional manufacturers, educators and business support organizations. The BPU is working to help them learn about the economic opportunities in the clean tech/climate tech sector. The BPU hopes to transform the region into a hub to support the supply chain in alternative energy areas and to develop a work force that can support these new technologies.
The Retool'22 conference for manufacturers, scheduled for October 17-19, in downtown Jamestown was the focus of Ellen's presentation.
Ellen reiterated that the $750,000 grant they received was targeted at regional manufacturing, clean energy. "Build it Clean, Build it Here".
16 organizations have partnered with the BPU which could help change the trajectory of the economy of Western New York. Also helps in raising awareness of Climate Tech/Clean Tech which is helping to spark innovations. You can find out more by visiting jamestownbpu.com.
As for the Retool'22 conference for manufacturers; New York State has set aggressive targets to decarbonize the economy, driving the need for significant changes in industry and creating once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for manufacturing. Please save the date October 17-19 and register at bit.ly/Retool22.