Area campuses of the State University of New York (SUNY) will share in newly announced grant funding benefitting four projects in the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge grant program.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 3 awarded a total of $60 million in equal amounts to the projects. The 19 SUNY schools collaborated, developed, and submitted the economic-development projects.

Cuomo first unveiled the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant program in May 2011. The governor signed the NYSUNY 2020 bill on Aug. 9 of that year, providing a “rational tuition policy” for the SUNY system, maintenance of state funding invested into each system, and capital funding for SUNY’s four university centers, according to the governor’s office.

Cuomo announced the program’s second round in his 2012 State of the State address with the $60 million appropriation enacted as part of the 2012-13 state budget. The Democrat also announced a third round of $55 million in this year’s State of the State address, which is included in the 2013-14 budget.

SUNY Institute of Environmental Health and Environmental Medicine

SUNY ESF, Upstate Medical University, SUNY Oswego, and Onondaga Community College will share the $15 million awarded to the SUNY Institute of Environmental Health and Environmental Medicine.

The project, described as “the first of its kind in the nation,” intersects medicine, environment, engineering, entrepreneurship, technology and education.

It will expand new research, provide academic and industry collaborations, and offer associate through doctorate degrees with a focus on improving health through understanding the environment’s impact on health and medicine.

The Institute will collaborate with area industry partners including Welch Allyn, a medical-device maker headquartered in Skaneateles Falls; the C&S Companies, an engineering and architectural firm in Salina; O’Brien & Gere, a Syracuse–based engineering firm; Utica–based ConMed Corporation, a medical-technology company; and Philadelphia–based Colden Corporation, an occupational health, safety, and environmental consultant that operates an office in Dewitt.

The project expects to create 400 construction jobs, 651 permanent jobs in the wireless-technology field and other areas of development, and expanded-student enrollments. It also expects to contribute to 20 patents and at least 22 new start-up companies in five years, according to the governor’s office.

SMART

The SUNY Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) in Marcy, Mohawk Valley Community College, Herkimer Community College, and Morrisville State College are among the campuses sharing $15 million for the SUNY Manufacturing Alliance for Research and Technology Transfer (SMART).

Through this collaboration, SMART will operate as “the educational core” for the Center for Global Advanced Manufacturing (CGAM).

CGAM will directly support manufacturers by coordinating education and training of the workforce and by providing incubation, acceleration and technology-transfer facilities in the Mohawk Valley and Mid-Hudson Valley regions.

It’ll provide training in “areas of high demand” for both employers and students, according to the governor’s office.

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, the governor’s office said.

NYS Bioenergy Learning Collaborative

The SUNY College of Agriculture at Morrisville will share in the $15 million awarded to the New York State Bioenergy Learning Collaborative (NYSBLC), which proposes to develop three commercial-scale, one megawatt (1 MW) anaerobic biodigesters at the SUNY campuses in Morrisville, Cobleskill, and Delhi.

The anaerobic biodigesters are intended to result in energy production, waste reduction for an “expanding” dairy industry, and training academic and applied expertise for a scalable waste-reduction, energy-producing initiative.

The project helps to create “an economical avenue to dispose of regional agricultural residuals,” including cow, horse and other livestock manure, the governor’s office said.

It also includes partnerships with Greek yogurt producers Chobani and Fage; Orange County, N.Y.–based food processor Beech-Nut; and local fast food restaurant franchises including McDonald’s and Burger King; along with area dairy farms, feedlots, vegetable growers, apple growers, and other regional agri-businesses for feedstock supply.

The NYSBLC is also expected to create 200 construction jobs and 30 engineering and project- management support jobs at each of the locations for a total of 690 jobs worth over $8 million.

The project can also sustain about 75 private-sector jobs in dairy production, food-processing and yogurt-manufacturing industries worth more than $3 million with $734,000 in annual payroll and benefits as academic support at the colleges, according to the governor’s office.

Broome Community College will also share $15 million with three other SUNY campuses in Alfred, Corning, and Jamestown as part of the project, called “Retooling the Southern Tier.”

The project responds to industry demand to provide more skilled and technical workers and to stimulate and grow the economy through the support and development of the local manufacturing base across the Southern Tier.

Retooling the Southern Tier

Retooling the Southern Tier is a training program with local advanced-manufacturing companies that includes The Raymond Corp. of Greene. It will expand manufacturing training programs by 50 percent to meet local demand.

The initiative will provide training courses for the companies for up to 300 students annually who will become qualified candidates for new and expanded manufacturing jobs. Training would be linked to stated needs of companies across the region and identified through a collaborative Industrial Advisory Board, the governor’s office said.

Each campus has plans to create a facility, develop training programs, implement and expand academic programs, while leveraging outside funds at a ratio of 1:1.

The Retooling the Southern Tier initiative estimates that an additional 2,340 jobs will be introduced to the Southern Tier region by 2022, with an estimated 1,100 introduced within the first three years due to facility obligations, faculty hires, and industry hires and retention.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com