The $1.5 billion Nano Utica project will have a large impact on our region, bringing in many high-tech and support-related jobs. The joint partnership with SUNY Polytechnic Institute and technology-driven companies Advanced Nanotechnology Solutions Incorporated (ANS), SEMATECH, Atotech, and SEMATECH and CNSE partners, including IBM, Lam Research and Tokyo Elect, is expected to bring in 15,000 jobs.

This is great news for our region; however, it means we have to help support area residents with the education and tools needed to land these jobs. Many of the jobs being created will require that applicants have a strong education in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).

In this year’s state budget, we increased local aid for a total of nearly $85 million to help pay for computers and software to ensure our schools are equipped with the tools needed to teach children. Additionally, overall school aid was increased and more was done to close the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which unjustifiably took funds from our schools to close a budget deficit. This increase in local aid will help schools invest in more STEM programs, classes and supplies.

Currently available to prospective college students is the NYS STEM Initiative, which is awarded to students who were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class and enter into a STEM program at one of our SUNY colleges. More information can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/nyssteminitiative.

Additionally, there is a bill in the Assembly that would encourage more prospective college students to pursue an education in STEM fields. The bill (A.6620) would create the STEM College Affordability Program. The program would help 1,000 eligible students realize an affordable higher education in STEM by capping the four-year tuition at $10,000, or $2,500 per year. This is for students from households earning less than $200,000, or $150,000 for independent or emancipated students. Students would have to maintain a 2.5 GPA in an approved program at one of the SUNY or CUNY colleges.

Finally, I am proud to have helped spearhead the “21st Century Initiative,” which creates a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) diploma to give equal footing to students who pursued vocational training in high school. It’s the welders, machinists, electricians and other skilled workers who are supporting the high-tech industry boom.

These programs and initiatives will help prepare our region for the coming jobs at Nano Utica. I always look forward to your input. Please share your ideas with me by emailing me at blankenbushk@assembly.state.ny.us or by calling my office at 493-3909.