SUNY Adirondack will be the recipient of
a $9.7 million grant enabling it to build the
Adirondack Regional Workforce Readiness
Center that will house extensive applied learning
and training initiatives to help prepare
the Capital Region’s workforce for the jobs of
the future.
The grant announced by the state is part of
the fourth round of NYSUNY 2020 Challenge
grants.
“As upstate New York’s economy continues
grow, we must ensure that our workforce has
the skills and training needed to fulfill the jobs
created by new and emerging industries,” Gov.
Andrew Cuomo said. “This grant will allow
SUNY Adirondack to build a state-of-theart
facility that ensures workers receive the
training they need, so that new businesses are
assured of a quality workforce.”
It will be built on the Queensbury campus.
SUNY Adirondack President Kristine Duffy
said the new facility funded by the grant "will
place SUNY Adirondack at the center of workforce
development in our region. This new,
state-of-the-art facility will support healthcare
workers in high demand, small business development
and growth, and create dedicated space
to invite a cutting-edge Lyme disease research
and testing lab to our region."
Duffy said it will result in a single-stop
for the business community to engage with
students and faculty "to create meaningful
experiences that support a 21st-century learning
environment where students apply their
classroom knowledge to real-world settings
through partnerships with area businesses and
education leaders."
State officials said the Workforce Readiness
Center will work with local employers to train
students to meet regional workforce development
needs, support the goals of SUNY and
the Capital Region Economic Development
Council, and, above all else, contribute to helping
residents secure employment in the region.
It will include state-of-the-art training
simulation labs for the region's healthcare
workforce, create a single point of contact for
small business start-up and growth in a largely
entrepreneurial-minded community, and
centralize the college's workforce development
staff and resources.
The physical components of the facility
include a 10,000-square-foot addition connecting
SUNY Adirondack's existing Regional
Higher Education Center to the college's science
building. Key components of this new
space are planned to include:
• Business Central, a "one-stop" solution
center to connect businesses with prospective
employees, career readiness partners and other
resources used to help small business grow
• Healthcare Simulation Labs, a local training
center for nursing and healthcare workers
that leverages SUNY Adirondack and SUNY
Plattsburgh's new RN-to-BSN articulation
program
• Lyme disease research and testing labs
in partnership with the German company
InfectoLab
• Expanded and enhanced facilities for the
college's growing Office of Continuing Education
and their workforce training and personal
enrichment programs
• High-capacity, adaptable conference and
training space for college and community
functions and events.
State Sen. Betty Little of Queensbury said,
"I can't wait to see the students take advantage
of all that this new workforce readiness center
will have to offer … I was very pleased to support
SUNY Adirondack's 20/20 application and
could not be happier."
Assemblyman Dan Stec of Queensbury said
the investment into educating the workforce
"will ensure that our region's workforce has
the skills needed to succeed in the jobs of the
future."
SUNY Adirondack's Workforce Readiness
Center proposal for the SUNY 2020 grant was
based on a comprehensive study of its Facilities
Master Plan, current facility usage and a review
of the needs among the region's business communities,
state officials said. It demonstrated a
clear need for a dedicated location to further
the college's many existing applied learning
and workforce training initiatives.
According to the governor's office, the
project is identified as an industry model for
community college/business partnerships that
support community and workforce needs.
"The Adirondack Regional Workforce
Readiness Center will serve as an important
industry model, showcasing the exceptional
opportunities created for students and faculty
when community colleges partner with the
local businesses community to provide job
training and collectively answer workforce
demand," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L.
Zimpher.
SUNY Adirondack has locations in
Queensbury, Wilton, and online and serves
more than 4,000 students each year via its
credit degrees, certifications and continuing
education programs.