Skip to main content

MCC Daily Tribune Archive

MCC’s New Center at Eastman Business Park Awarded State Funding


MCC has been awarded nearly $12 million in state funds to establish the Finger Lakes Workforce Development (FWD) Center in Eastman Business Park aimed at producing skilled workers across a variety of manufacturing sectors and technical occupations.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that the FWD Center is one of three Rochester-based anti-poverty projects to receive state funding. The investments complement Finger Lakes Forward, the region’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative blueprint aimed at growing the economy.

A collaboration between MCC and Eastman Kodak Co., the FWD Center will support the Pathways to Prosperity focus of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council plan and is designed to connect individuals with the skills needed to advance in today’s economy.

The FWD Center will take a multi-faceted approach to creating a 21st-century workforce by matching workers with high-technology companies dealing in energy, biomaterials, functional films and photonics.

MCC’s vision for the center includes creating flexible spaces that support a variety of credit and noncredit programs and allow us to quickly modify programming to match the skills the College has measured as being most in demand within the region’s key technology clusters.

The FWD Center’s curriculum will include applied training in fields such as mechatronics, precision tooling, hydraulics and computer applications and will offer enhanced training in entrepreneurial skills, effective communication, teamwork and critical thinking. The facility will be newly outfitted with portable training equipment to support MCC’s curricula. A portion of the dedicated space in the facility will be used for noncredit apprenticeship training for skilled trades careers, such as electricians and pipefitters.

Over the next five years, the FWD Center is expected to train more than 2,300 workers and add $90 million in economic benefits to the region in the form of worker salaries and increased supply chain value.

The first phase of the facility's development will be funded through $6 million in NYSUNY 2020 awards, with the remaining phases being supported by $5.4 million in Upstate Revitalization Initiative grants through Empire State Development. Additionally, the project will leverage the recently awarded $6 million grant through the federal America's Promise initiative, and a private investment of $320,000 from JPMorgan Chase, to support student tuition and fees for qualified students and programs.

The FWD Center ( <https://www.workforceforward.com/Produce21stCenturyWorkers> ) is an outgrowth of EDIWS’ key workforce development efforts over the past five years and is one aspect of a larger vision to strengthen our community’s workforce, better meet employers’ needs and improve our regional economy.

The other two projects to receive state funding are Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative’s new "Mentors for Success" pilot program and the long-standing Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection youth mentoring program. These three anti-poverty projects are the first to receive funding through the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council's "One Community Plan," which identifies priority projects that develop cradle-to-career workforce readiness initiatives. Poverty reduction is a core goal of the Finger Lakes Forward strategic plan, which supports multiple "Pathways to Prosperity" for all.

Anne M. Kress, President’s Office;
and Todd Oldham, Economic Development and Innovative Workforce Services
12/01/2016