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
to 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-the-art 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 Queensbiury 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.
Courtesy SUNY Adirondack