A working alliance of nine SUNY schools in the Hudson Valley and Mohawk Valley regions have been awarded a $15 million grant in the second year of the NYSUNY Challenge Grant program created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The SUNY Manufacturing Alliance for Research and Technology Transfer (SMART) is one of four projects uniting SUNY schools that will receive equal shares from a $60 million appropriation included in the 2012-2013 state budget.
The manufacturing alliance includes SUNY Institute of Technology near Utica, Westchester Community College, Ulster Community College, Dutchess Community College, Rockland Community College, Orange Community College, Mohawk Valley Community College, Herkimer Community College and Morrisville State College.
Cuomo”™s office said the schools will cooperatively develop curricula to meet the needs for an effective manufacturing workforce and continuing education requirements for manufacturing professionals. The partner institutions aim to use the awarded funding to leverage a 5 to 1 return on investment.
SMART will operate as the educational core for the Kingston-based Center for Global Advanced Manufacturing (CGAM). CGAM will directly support manufacturers by coordinating education and training of the workforce and by providing business incubation, acceleration and technology transfer facilities in the Mohawk Valley and the Mid-Hudson Valley regions.
State officials said training will be scheduled in areas of high demand for both employers and students. The initiative will generate or preserve an estimated 1,700 jobs in the two regions through new product development, process improvements; access to regional, national and global supply chains and employee training and education.
