Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced $1,387,104 in funding for the Research Foundation of SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY- ESF). The federal funding will be used to train and educate local students and workers in the defense, automotive, electronics and medical technical manufacturing sector. In December, Senator Gillibrand wrote a letter to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and encouraged the Department of Labor to fully fund SUNY – ESF’s grant request to increase the productivity and global competitiveness of today’s manufacturing workforce in New York.
“This is an important investment for our workers right here in Syracuse,” Senator Gillibrand said. “The funding will allow SUNY-ESF to be a leader in training our students and workers for the manufacturing industry of the future. With the help of this training funding, we will see ‘Made in America” again, here in upstate New York.”
Dr. Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr, President, SUNY-ESF said, “The faculty, staff and students at SUNY-ESF are very pleased to earn this $1,387,104 award for the United States Department of Labor Solicitation Grant Proposal Enhancing American Jobs and Global Competitiveness: A Collaborative Initiative in Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing, which seeks to seek to educate and train New York State workers in leading edge sustainable materials and manufacturing. These are the jobs of the future and such jobs call for a highly skilled and educated workforce. SUNY-ESF’s more than a century direct support for sustained forest products and natural resources industry applied research make us an ideal leader for our New York State coalition including CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity (Centerstate CEO), Central New York Technology Development Organization (CNYTDO), Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), New York Academy of Science (NYAS), New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), New York Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), Onondaga County Workforce Development Board (Onondaga WIB), Partners for Education & Business (PEB), RadTech International North America, Rapid Cure Technologies Inc., and The Manufacturing Institute. Together we will work to implement strategies to fill a documented need to train U.S. workers in the essential, $1B annual revenue radiation curing of resins manufacturing disciplines including a post baccalaureate Certificate In Radiation Curing of Resins and an industry-wide recognized Certified Production Technician credentials. Everyone should know that SUNY-ESF was immeasurably aided in this competitive federal effort by our dedicated elected leaders and advocates in Washington.”
SUNY- ESF will use the funding to educate and train local students and workers in sustainable materials and manufacturing. Specifically, SUNY- ESF will focus on creating and initiating post baccalaureate Certificate in Radiation Curing of Resins and industry-wide recognized Certified Production Technician programs. The radiation curing of resins is a vital aspect of many important economic engines such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, building products and medical technical industry.
The H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant Program through the U.S. Department of Labor is designed to help train, educate and job place U.S. workers in sustainable materials and manufacturing industry jobs where employers are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers. The technical skills training program was authorized under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA). The program is financed by a user fee paid by employers to bring foreign workers into the United States under the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program.