SUCCESS STORY: Talent Connect Helps Process Engineer’s Family Make Niskayuna Home

Jash and Amy Pabbi are no strangers to professional relocations. In 2004 Jash’s career as a process engineer saw the couple moved from India to Canada, initially in Toronto, then Alberta and then Vancouver. After seven years in the Vancouver they moved again, this time to Long Island. And in winter 2015 they moved to the Capital Region after Jash took a job as the director of quality assurance for Beech-Nut, a baby food manufacturer in Montgomery County.

For several months after starting at Beech Nut, Jash commuted between the Capital Region and Long Island. But by the summer of 2015 the Pabbis and their two high school-aged children were ready to move again. Amy was switching into research mode, trying to identify the best schools in the region, when her husband mentioned to her that Beech-Nut was going to provide them with services to help them acclimate to the Capital Region. That’s when Joanne Bucher, the program manager of the Center for Economic Growth’s Talent Connect, called.

To help the Pabbis make the move, Joanne, an Albany native, referred public and private schools and hotels at which they could stay during their home search. The Pabbis also went on a group tour of the Albany area hosted by Talent Connect. Despite settling in three countries in 11 years, Amy still called their move from Long Island to Niskayuna “a big move.”

“It was nice to have someone who knew the community,” she said.

To help the Pabbis feel more connected to that community, Joanne introduced Amy to a social group of women in Niskayuna who welcome newcomers. Talent Connect clients receive via email a monthly calendar, which outlines Capital Region community events in which they can participate. They also receive a quarterly newsletter that features articles with job search and other tips as well as spotlighting “Career Seekers” who are spouses or partners of Talent Connect newcomers looking for employment in the Capital Region.

Joanne also helped Amy with her job search, reviewing her career background, experience and interests and assisting with editing and revising her résumé. Joanne assisted with professional networking and lined up several informational interviews, one of which resulted in an accepted job offer with a local hospital. When Amy found this job was not the right fit, Joanne helped her recommence her job search. Joanne arranged an interview with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), where Amy is now happily employed, helping refugees settle in the Capital Region.

Whether a newcomer is a refugee or a new hire, Amy said a move can be daunting without years of experience from relocations or an organization such as Talent Connect. In some Canadian provinces the Pabbis had received government-provided relocation services, but the family did not benefit from any such services in the United States, let alone one that was employer-provided, until they moved to Niskayuna. Consequently, Talent Connect has helped create for a more positive, warmer impression of the Capital Region for the Pabbis, with Amy saying it is friendlier and “more welcoming” than Long Island. And that is not all she got out of the program.

“Now I can say she’s like my friend,” Amy said of Joanne.

All CEG members have access to Talent Connect services. To schedule a New Hire Navigation, or to learn how Talent Connect can help your business attract or retain skilled workers, call Program Manager Joanne Bucher at 518-465-8975, ext.222 or email her at joanneb@ceg.org.