ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Cuomo announced a privately-funded
$15 million fund as part of the Global 450 Wafer Consortium (G450C)
headquartered at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering on Sunday.
The fund will support specialized education and training
programs designed to increase the opportunities for women and minorities,
including Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises, or MWBE, to take
advantage of New York's fast-growing nanotechnology industry.
The announcement comes as construction nears completion on G450C's new headquarters
building, NanoFab Xtension (NanoFab X).
Working in partnership with the Greater Capital Region
Minority Business Association, CNSE has engaged more than 50 MWBE firms for
non-specialized equipment, materials, and labor related to the project.
"Over the past two years, the state has worked hard to ensure that our Minority
and Women-Owned Business Enterprises play a leading role in New York's economic
recovery," Governor Cuomo said. "This $15 million fund created by leading tech
businesses who have chosen New York State to invest in next generation computer
chip manufacturing will help create opportunities for students and workers from
underrepresented groups to be a part of the state's rapidly growing
nanotechnology sector. The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering has led
the way in helping create a high-tech workforce here in New York, and I commend
all the corporate partners who joined together to launch this fund that will
help ensure the diversity of New York is represented in the nanotech sector."
The education and training initiative is funded by the five leading
international companies – Intel, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, TSMC and Samsung – that
are collectively investing $4.4 billion in G450C, which is spearheaded by CNSE
and targets the development of the next generation of computer chip technology
in New York State. These leading-edge technology advances may facilitate the
possibility of building a 450mm chip manufacturing (chip fab) facility in New
York, with these plants projected to cost in excess of $10 billion each.
The fund will support the formulation and implementation of the complete
spectrum of education and training programs – from elementary education to
certificate-level skills training to Master's and doctoral degrees – that
target the attraction, retention, training, and re-training of students and
workers from underrepresented social groups in science and engineering to
enable careers in nanotechnology.
Further, the fund will support the design and deployment of an attraction and
recruitment strategy to assist qualified individuals from underrepresented
social groups in science and engineering to find employment opportunities
within the nanotechnology industry in New York. At the same time, the program
is designed to nurture and enhance the capacity and aptitude of minority and
women-owned enterprises and companies to compete successfully for business
opportunities in the burgeoning nanotechnology industry sector in New York
through CNSE- sponsored competitiveness training programs.
NEWS10 ABC
