Kudos to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Mohawk Valley Community College President Randall Van Wagoner and County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. for their efforts to create a semiconductor and advanced manufacturing training facility at Mohawk Valley Community College’s Utica campus.

The trio, along with several other local and state officials and dignitaries from semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed and other business leaders, announced creation of the new training facility on Thursday at MVCC. With $2 million in federal funding, MVCC will be able to purchase state-of-the-art industrial equipment for its Science and Technology Building, which will undergo a significant renovation and expansion.

Schumer highlighted the CHIPS and Science Act, a law he championed, which promises $52 billion in incentives for businesses to build semiconductor plants in the U.S. While the announcement is certainly good news for Schumer, Picente and MVCC, those who stand to benefit the most from the creation of this state-of-the-art training facility are the current and future workers of the Mohawk Valley, who stand to be able to compete for these important, and well-paying, jobs.

“One of the questions when these companies, Wolfspeed, Micron, the others, came, was ‘Do you have the labor force that we need?’ because these are high-end jobs, they’re good-paying jobs, but obviously, they need some training,” Schumer said at Thursday’s press conference. “Thanks to the federal incentives that I made sure were in the bill, we can answer the question that they asked us.”  

“Students who graduate from our local high schools, Proctor and everywhere else, can then come here to MVCC, get the training, and they know that with the increase in need for them, they’ll get a good-paying job and stay here, they don’t have to go somewhere else,” he added.  

The new Science and Technology building, where the equipment will be held, will also allow for MVCC to improve and expand its existing technology programs, like robotics and electrical engineering. This will allow for MVCC to educate over 2,400 students in STEM fields in the first three years alone after the project is complete.  

MVCC President Randall J. VanWagoner said the Science and Technology building will be completely redeveloped, with the help of Oneida County and from state representatives like Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon and other elected officials.  

“The college, when we’re at our best, we believe we transform lives through learning,” VanWagoner said. “This investment, that goes into this facility, this building will transform this campus and this investment from the senator and the senator’s support will transform this project.”       

“My goal has been to make Upstate New York a huge tech center,” Schumer said. “And we’re getting that to happen. With semiconductor chips and advanced quantum research in the Mohawk Valley.” 

While it is far too soon in the process to declare the senator’s goal as a reality — what is undeniably true is that there is a shared optimism that this vision for the region’s future may indeed come to pass, and we’ll have projects like this to thank for it.

A correction was made to this editorial on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023.