11.30.22 - Hochul: $46.5 million in training grants for three colleges
' New York State will invest $46.5 million in building projects at three local colleges to prepare students and others for careers in high-technology fields, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Tuesday.
The grants to Farmingdale State College, Long Island University and Stony Brook University are from the $350 million Long Island Investment Fund, which was established by Hochul and the State Legislature in the 2022-23 state budget.
Hochul said the three grants will be matched by $122 million in private funds and other government spending.
"We're building an ecosystem for the life sciences that will attract the smartest people to Long Island," she told about 200 people at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on the LIU Post campus in Brookville.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Three Long Island colleges have won $46.5 million in state grants
- The money will be used for projects to train students and others for technology careers.
- Four grants have been awarded so far from the $350 million Long Island Investment Fund
"We're going to create thousands of jobs — and we're just getting warmed up" in selecting local projects worthy of state grants, she said.
Together, the projects announced on Tuesday will initially create 158 high-paying jobs for educators, researchers and others, according to Hochul.
The largest grant — $30 million — will go toward constructing a 40,000-square-foot building to house Farmingdale State’s Center for Computer Science and Information Technology Systems. The center will be home to seven programs that make up the college’s Division of Computing.
The project, first proposed in 2016 and with a total cost of $75 million, will create 35 jobs. The remaining $45 million in building expenses will be covered by the SUNY Construction Fund, Hochul said.
Farmingdale State president John Nader said the initiative "will yield a growing supply of talented graduates and skilled professionals to serve the region's tech sector." He said the college awarded more than 500 degrees last academic year in computing and information technology. '