Cassandra Gehrig

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CASSANDRA GEHRIG has been named first VP of marketing at Pathfinder Bank. She will continue leading all marketing efforts, spanning traditional and digital channels, public

Kate Auwaerter

People on the Move

KATE AUWAERTER has been appointed preservation planner in the Syracuse Office of Zoning Administration in the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development (NBD). Auwaerter will

Naturally Lewis student-pitch competition accepting applications through May 15

Education & Training, Featured, North Country, Subscriber Only

LOWVILLE, N.Y. — Naturally Lewis will continue accepting applications for its first-ever, student-pitch competition through May 15. The effort targets young entrepreneurs in Lewis County and seeks to help them reach small-business ownership. Through the competition, students will have access to business tools, resources, and connections, enabling them to turn their ideas into functioning businesses

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State announces Mohawk Valley workforce initiative and SUNY Poly semiconductor center funding

Education & Training, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering, Mohawk Valley, Subscriber Only, Technology

New York State has launched Mohawk Valley Empowers, a new three-year, $10 million initiative designed to strengthen the region’s workforce ecosystem and improve workforce participation by expanding wraparound services and redefining career readiness. The state also announced new funding for SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s semiconductor processing lab, according to a Tuesday news release from Gov. Kathy

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The state also announced new funding for SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s semiconductor processing lab, according to a Tuesday news release from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Mohawk Valley Empowers is the result of collaboration across six counties including nine colleges and BOCES locations, 22 nonprofit partners, and industry experts. Through data analysis and stakeholder engagement, the initiative identified actionable solutions to address the core challenges hindering workforce participation in the region.

“The Mohawk Valley is becoming a destination for semiconductor manufacturing and research, and this initiative will empower New Yorkers to take part in the transformative economic potential and future that lies ahead — both in this industry and beyond,”Hochul said in the release.

The region’s workforce participation rate has remained flat at less than 60 percent since 2011, and about 74 percent of the region’s current working-age population does not have bachelor’s degrees.

Mohawk Valley Empowers seeks to change that by empowering individuals through culturally sensitive and community-driven approaches to meet the growing demands for workers in the tourism, agribusiness, and STEM sectors while also creating pathways out of poverty.

Projects and programs that address fundamental barriers to employment, advance professional-skills development, empower individuals, and promote workplace participation are encouraged to apply for a share of the $10 million by submitting a consolidated funding application online before June 28. More information about the initiative and eligibility requirements is available online at:https://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/file/mohawk-valley-empowers-guidance-document.

To complement the new initiative, Empire State Development has awarded a $4 million capital grant to support SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s $26.5 million Semiconductor Processing to Packaging, Research, Education and Training Center in the NY Creates Quad C building, currently occupied by Semikron Danfoss. The center will serve as an epicenter for semiconductor research, education, and training with a goal to increase graduates across advanced-manufacturing disciplines by 10 percent over the next four years. The facility will include 5,000 square feet of cleanroom space, two classrooms with space for 30 students, and office space and will train up to 150 students a year.

“We are grateful for the investments New York state has been making in SUNY Poly and for the Mohawk Valley Empowers program, which will simultaneously elevate individual lives and the economy of our region,” SUNY Poly President Winston Soboyejo said in the release. “SUNY Poly’s new Semiconductor Processing to Packaging Research, Education, and Training Center will have a transformational impact on the Mohawk Valley, New York state, and beyond.”

Semiconductor and supply-chain companies Wolfspeed, Danfoss, Micron, Indium, Marquardt Switches, Menlo Micro, and NoMIS Power, along with NY CREATES, will collaborate with SUNY Poly, Working Solutions-the Workforce Development Board of Utica, Fulton Montgomery Community College, Mohawk Valley Community College, and Onondaga Community College to establish a curriculum with wraparound services for in-demand jobs in the industry.

“Today’s announcement continues to solidify Oneida County and the Mohawk Valley as the premier hub of the semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing industry,” Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. said. “The new center at SUNY Poly will be the epicenter of semiconductor processing and packaging research education and training, producing the next generation of advanced manufacturing workforce right here in Oneida County. That workforce will be strengthened through the MV Empowers Fund, that will allow this county and its regional partners to supercharge the local ecosystem.”

Google awards SU’s IVMF a $3.5 million grant to train veterans on cybersecurity, AI

Education & Training, Technology

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Google has awarded Syracuse University’s (SU) D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) a $3.5 million grant. SU’s IVMF will use

FuzeHub awards manufacturing grants to TDO, Binghamton University, Cornell University

Education & Training, Small Business, Southern Tier, Subscriber Only, Technology

ALBANY, N.Y. — TDO of Salina, the Research Foundation for SUNY at Binghamton University, and Cornell University are among the regional organizations announced as recipients in this year’s first round of FuzeHub grant funding. The nonprofit FuzeHub is an Albany–based organization that works to connect New York’s small to medium-sized manufacturing companies to the resources,

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The nonprofit FuzeHub is an Albany–based organization that works to connect New York’s small to medium-sized manufacturing companies to the resources, programs, and expertise they need for technology commercialization, innovation, and business growth.

It awarded a total of $455,000 in grants to facilitate research and development, technical advancements, and process improvements for New York manufacturers.

The FuzeHub funding comes from the Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund, which has more than $1 million annually supporting activities designed to spur technology development and commercialization across New York.

As part of the fund, FuzeHub offers manufacturing grants to New York state-basednonprofit organizations, including higher–education institutions, that propose projects in partnership with a New York state-based small– to medium-sized manufacturer.

The awards are also made possible through funding and support from Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) and the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), per the announcement.

“This round of awardees showcases a sample of the endless innovation coming out of New York State,” Elena Garuc, executive director at FuzeHub, said. “From artificial intelligence and machine learning, to wellness and the treatment of chronic ailments, there is no limit to the ingenuity of our companies. I take pride in our commitment to support them through essential funding and support services.”

Regional recipients

FuzeHub awarded $65,000 to the partnership of TDO of Salina and Floe Inc. of New York City. TDO, which started as the Central New York Technology Development Organization, is a manufacturing extension partnership (MEP) center. It is working with Floe, a startup from MIT and Yale University that has developed a product to deal with the problem of ice dams. This project seeks to advance Floe’s development through “improving design for manufacturability, adding Wi-Fi compatibility, conducting engineering validation testing, and obtaining key safety certifications,” FuzeHub said.

FuzeHub also awarded $65,000 to the Binghamton University Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM). CAMM is working with Natrion Inc., a Binghamton–based battery-technology company, to scale production of Natrion’s LISIC component for rechargeable lithium batteries.

With the help of CAMM facilities and expertise, Natrion is “pioneering advanced low-cost, high-yield manufacturing processes with which the company will be able to service the growing mass-market electric vehicle battery sector.”

Cornell University’s Praxis Center for Venture Development will use its $65,000 grant award as it works with REEgen Inc., a startup spun out of Cornell University.

REEgen is working to develop a “clean, sustainable rare earth” manufacturing facility in upstate New York. Its “clean rare earth manufacturing uses natural, bacterial processes engineered for commercial success, and the company promotes circularity by recovering the elements from a variety of waste and end-of-life consumer goods,” FuzeHub said.

Navigating Building Decarbonization in New York State: Strategies for Commercial & Industrial Leaders

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People news: Bassett names new chief of pediatrics

Health Care

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Bassett Healthcare Network announced it has appointed Dr. Brandon Greene as its new chief of pediatrics. Greene joined Bassett in 2022 as

Wells College in Aurora to close at the end of the current semester

Education & Training, Subscriber Only

AURORA, N.Y. — Citing financial difficulties, Wells College on Monday announced plans to close at the end of this academic semester. Wells College is located in the village of Aurora in Cayuga County on the eastern side of Cayuga Lake. “As trustees, we have a fiduciary responsibility to the institution; we have determined after a

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AURORA, N.Y. — Citing financial difficulties, Wells College on Monday announced plans to close at the end of this academic semester.

Wells College is located in the village of Aurora in Cayuga County on the eastern side of Cayuga Lake.

“As trustees, we have a fiduciary responsibility to the institution; we have determined after a thorough review that the College does not have adequate financial resources to continue,” Marie Chapman Carroll, chair of the Wells College board of trustees, and Jonathan Gibralter, president of Wells College, said in a letter posted on the school’s website on Monday.

It’ll be the second prominent private Central New York college to close in the last year, following the closure of Cazenovia College on June 30, 2023.

The Wells College letter went on to acknowledge that many small colleges like Wells have faced “enormous financial challenges,” which have been “exacerbated” by the global pandemic, a shrinking pool of undergraduate students nationwide, inflationary pressures, and an “overall negative sentiment towards higher education.”

Carroll and Gibralter lauded the work of Wells College board members, leaders, faculty, staff, and graduates on creating strategic plans, handling fundraising campaigns, launching new programs, and managing the school’s resources “with care.”

“But revenues, unfortunately, are not projected to be sufficient for Wells’ long-term financial stability,” they said.

Wells College says it has reached an agreement with Manhattanville University in Westchester County to become the school’s “preferred teach-out partner,” helping to “ensure that Wells’ current students matriculate and our institutional mission and legacy continue.”

A teach-out agreement is a contract between schools that will allow students to finish their program of study at one or more schools, per the federal government’s website dedicated to federal student aid.

“We have developed additional teach-out agreements with these other teach-out partners: Excelsior University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Keuka College, Le Moyne College, Mercy University, SUNY Brockport,” the Wells officials said in the letter.

Wells College says it has created a website which lists additional information. “We will continue to update this website and communicate with our stakeholders as we finalize plans for the closure of Wells,” per the letter.

The college’s 156th and final commencement ceremony is set for the morning of May 18.

Wells College was founded in 1868 by Henry Wells, who was one of the founders of the American Express Company and Wells Fargo & Company.

Wells Seminary, as it was originally called, had an original goal “to educate women who would further society’s “intellectual culture” as wives and mothers,” a mission that evolved as the campus grew, per the history page on the Wells College website.

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