MALTA — Governor Kathy Hochul announced the groundbreaking for Hudson Valley Community College’s new STEM Education Center at the Hudson Valley Community College North extension center located in New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Saratoga Technology and Energy Park in Malta, Saratoga County. Once completed, the new two-story, 14,500 square foot building will include state-of the-art labs for anatomy, biology, chemistry, microbiology, and physiology, as well as classrooms, student support space, and offices to serve approximately 1,100 students.
The center is one part of the college’s $12.5 million HVCC North expansion project, which includes New York State investment of approximately $8.5 million. In combination with renovations to the college’s existing Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Alternative and Renewable Technologies TEC-SMART facility, the new STEM Education Center is a key component of the college’s plans to increase access to education and workforce training opportunities through new facilities, technology, and instruction.
HVCC North, which is expected to be completed in Fall 2023, will create the space and resources needed for more than 30 degree and certificate programs, as well as non-credit, short-term workforce and professional education offerings. It will also broaden education and workforce training opportunities in highly specialized and growing fields of healthcare, STEM, and skilled trades. HVCC North will allow the college to train hundreds of graduates and address urgent industry needs—while keeping the workforce local and providing a significant economic boost for the Capital Region as the college trains a larger share of the workforce faster.
The project was supported by a $2.5 million Empire State Development capital grant recommended by the Capital Region Economic Development Council. Additionally, major contributions to the project’s funding have been made by SUNY ($6 million) and Saratoga County ($1.5 million), as well as organizations including GlobalFoundries, Northern Borders, and the Hearst Foundation.
Last summer, GlobalFoundries announced a $500,000 gift toward the project that will create a Workforce Training and Apprenticeship Center at HVCC North. The gift will help upgrade the college’s existing facilities and create new ones, including an advanced Radio Frequency/Vacuum Technology Laboratory, an innovative Mechatronics laboratory, and the modernization of the Clean Room Laboratory currently located at TEC-SMART.
U.S. Congressman Paul Tonko has also named the HVCC North project as one of 15 FY2023 Community Funding Projects that he recently submitted for funding of $2,065,000 to the House Committee on Appropriations for federal funding contributions.
Assemblymember John T. McDonald III, RPh said, “The new Hudson Valley Community College STEM Education Center is a tremendous investment in emerging technologies of the future. Thank you to Governor Kathy Hochul, Congressman Tonko, Hudson Valley Community College, and all of the partners who are working to ensure that New York is at the forefront of STEM education and can develop the workforces necessary to bring new ideas and progress to the fields of healthcare, STEM, and the skilled trades”