Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y., left) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. (File photo)
ALBANY, N.Y. — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand recently announced that approximately $4 million in capital region funding has been set aside as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 spending bill.
“This nearly $4 million in federal funding will be a significant investment in the Capital Region's premier educational institutions, providing the equipment students need, whether it's RPI's state-of-the-art robotics lab or HVCC's maintenance school in Albany. “We are helping to provide the most practical and practical training at the airport – to ensure Capital Region residents have the skills they need for in-demand careers,” Schumer said in a news release. “This funding will also hit local health systems, helping institutions like Albany Medical Hospital and Ellis Hospital strengthen their infrastructure and better serve their patients.
“I am proud that we have fought hard for major investments in these important local projects. We are providing the federal support that workers and families in the Capital Region need to thrive. I will always keep fighting to get it.”
“This nearly $4 million in federal funding will support critical local projects that improve the quality of life for residents in the Capital Region,” Gillibrand added in the release. “This funding will help solve a wide range of issues, from expanding workforce training to improving mental health services and expanding STEM education.
“I am proud to have fought to secure this funding and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure families, workers, and students in the Capital Region have what they need to thrive. I’ll go.”
Funds secured by senators will be distributed as follows:
• $1,000,000 to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to establish a Robotic Manufacturing Systems Center. RPI will use the funding to install state-of-the-art equipment and sensing equipment and establish a robotic manufacturing systems center. This will enable New York State and the National Capital Region to become a center for research, training, and regional collaboration. Activities related to advanced robot manufacturing.
The center will serve as an incubator environment for testing new robotic manufacturing systems and technologies, leading to the establishment of new startups and entrepreneurship ventures supported by RPI's Severino Technology Entrepreneurship Center.
The center's workforce development activities in the area of manufacturing robotics include training RPI undergraduate and graduate students, technical education partnerships with Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) and other local community colleges, and employment opportunities with local partner companies. The aim is to provide training and skill improvement for staff and employees. We offer opportunities to current manufacturing employees through short training modules.
• $1 million to purchase equipment for a new science complex at Siena College.
Siena College will use these funds to build a pipeline for future STEM talent through increased enrollment, support for middle and high school students, and expanded professional development opportunities. Enhanced science spaces on campus will require the latest technology and state-of-the-art equipment that will allow Sienna to educate and support more of her STEM majors, ultimately leading to more of Upstate New York's Leading to expansion of her STEM workforce. Fields such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, applied physics/engineering, web development, data science, forensics, biomedical research, and related medical professions.
With this new equipment and administrative funding, Siena will expand enrollment at on-campus summer camps by 20 percent and increase enrollment in credit-earning college classes in physics and computer science for high school students. can be increased by 50 percent.
• $500,000 to upgrade the inpatient mental health unit at Ellis Hospital. The funds set aside for Ellis Hospital will be used to bring inpatient mental health services up to CMS and DOH facility standards and to continue operating the unit. This funding will allow us to continue to provide the care that adults and youth in our community need.
• $500,000 to establish an Aviation Technology Institute at Hudson Valley Community College. HVCC will use the funding to open a new FAA-approved aviation maintenance technician school at Albany International Airport in Colonie.
The funding will provide scholarships to low-income students and allow the school to obtain additional state-of-the-art aviation equipment and supplies needed to conduct federally certified aircraft mechanic training at the airport. The HVCC Aviation Technology Institute (ATI) also provides critical support for regional aviation maintenance personnel needs.
• $500,000 for Albany Med Health System to implement an electronic records system. These funds will be used to modernize and integrate health information technology infrastructure across the system to improve health care delivery and patient outcomes.
• $322,000 for FuzeHub, Inc. to implement equity in its manufacturing innovation program. FuzeHub is rolling out its Equity in Manufacturing Innovation program across three regions of upstate New York (Central New York, North Country, and Southern Tier) to engage 30 people from historically marginalized populations. We convene a customized suite of training and technical assistance resources to support manufacturing entrepreneurs. innovation ecosystem.
This includes programs such as entrepreneurial training, technical assistance, providing entrepreneurs with free or subsidized access to prototyping equipment and services, and matching entrepreneurs with mentors.