Governor George E. Pataki today announced that the State is providing nearly $930,000 to two colleges - Marist College in Poughkeepsie and the College of Staten Island -- as part of a new comprehensive initiative to spur technology-based applied research and economic development across the State.
"We're proud that we have made New York a national and world leader in the field of high-tech and biotech research and development," Governor Pataki said. "These new funds will build on our efforts to bolster and expand high-tech research at our colleges and universities - like Marist and the College of Staten Island - and spark new job-creation and economic development opportunities all across the State."
"As we move forward with Phase II of our high-tech and biotech job-creation efforts, we are creating new opportunities for our young people to secure good paying, high-tech jobs so they can build their future in New York," the Governor said. "With every new high-tech job we create, we come even closer to realizing our goal of creating one million new jobs by the end of the decade."
The new grants are from the NYS Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research's (NYSTAR) College Applied Research and Technology (CART) Center initiative. The grants will be used to encourage applied research collaboration and innovation with industry, promote workforce development, and better leverage State funds with investments from the Federal government, industry, foundations, and not-for-profit economic development organizations.
Under the program, Marist College in Poughkeepsie will receive $500,000 in the first year, and a total of up to $2.5 million over five years for its Center for Applied Research in Collaborative and On-Demand Computing. The Center, located at Marist, is a new research center that will spur economic growth of distributed systems technology providers and generate new economic activity by leveraging Marist's large-scale enterprise system and creating secure collaborative and on-demand computing environments.
In addition, the CART program will provide CUNY's College of Staten Island, with $428,331 in the first year, and a total of more than $2.3 million over five years for its Center for Engineered Polymeric Materials, which will serve as a framework to expand collaborative efforts with the private sector for the advancement of New York's polymeric material industries through collaborative applied research and technology transfer within the industry, industry-oriented education and training, and outreach and networking.
Senator Steve Saland said, "I am pleased to have worked closely with Governor Pataki and Marist College to help secure this grant. Governor Pataki continues to advance and promote far-reaching strategies which will ensure a stronger regional economy by generating future job growth and investing in New York's technology base to better compete on a global level. The selection of Marist College as a recipient of this highly competitive grant designed to promote technology research and workforce development will ensure the Hudson Valley's future role in the related economic growth generated by this initiative."
Senator John J. Marchi said, "The felicitous response to the recent effort made by the College of Staten Island and by those who have the responsibility for formulating further progress, has happily resulted in an affirmative response. This will enable the joinder of effort to give a strong support to move closer to defining the high-tech investment of job creation in the goal of creating 1 million new jobs by the end of the decade. We are delighted and proud that Governor Pataki has indeed enriched his comprehensive technology strategy in placing New York in front as the nation's high-tech leader. The prologue is that the best is yet to come and that is clearly visible on our shared horizon."
Assemblyman Joel M. Miller said, "The Governor's grant to Marist College is right on target with advancing technology in New York State. You could not contribute to a better school more strategically located because of its proximity to high tech industries, such as IBM. The return to New York State will be many times the size of this investment."
Assemblyman Michael Cusick said, "This grant will help make the College of Staten Island a leader in an emerging industry -- strengthening the economy and creating good-paying jobs right here on the Island. This investment, along with the Institute for Basic Research, will help ensure Staten Island has a leading role in shaping the cutting edge ideas and technologies of tomorrow."
Russell W. Bessette, M.D., Executive Director of NYSTAR, said, "The CART Center awards will enable smaller research colleges in New York State to more fully contribute their intellectual strength and capacity to stimulate economic development activity. These centers will be an important link to industry in New York."
The CART program builds upon NYSTAR's successful Centers for Advanced Technology initiative, as well as State's efforts to promote a thriving high-tech economy in New York. The Governor's proposed Budget provides strong support for Phase II of New York's high-tech/biotech efforts to encourage new investment and job creation in emerging high-tech and biotechnology industry in New York.
Phase II of the Governor's plan includes: $350 million for a Higher Education Capital Matching Grants Program; a new Biotech Capital Access Program; additional support for the Centers of Excellence Program; and the establishment of a new High-Tech Council.
Each CART Center is expected to conduct applied research and technology transfer with industry leading to quantified economic impact in New York State, help incumbent workers expand their skill sets through short courses, seminars, and workshops and provide industry-driven research assistant opportunities for students, and partner with other organizations to develop outreach networks and ensure that companies receive access to required non-research assistance such as general business consulting.
Governor Pataki and the Legislature have advanced several major initiatives to expand high technology and biotechnology business and job-creation opportunities in New York. The Governor's Centers of Excellence initiative, along with Strategically Targeted Academic Research (STAR) Centers and Advanced Research Centers (ARCs), focus on critical emerging technologies that are expected to become major high-tech growth areas. Each Center is designed to complement other specialized academic centers in a seamless network of high-tech research and economic development. ###
