CAMPUS EXPANSION
HVCC, GlobalFoundries announce partnership in Malta project
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. >> Hudson Valley Community College’s HVCC North campus is expanding. Officials from the college and GlobalFoundries announced a partnership toward establishing a new training and apprenticeship center in Malta.
HVCC President, Dr. Roger Ramsammy, and Fab 8 Vice President and General Manager at GlobalFoundries, Peter Benyon, announced the project at the college’s Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Renewable Technologies (TECSMART), in Ballston Spa, Thursday morning. The center is a portion of the college’s $12.5 million expansion project focused on ramping up workforce training efforts in high-demand sectors.
The announcement coincides with the July news of GlobalFoundries’ plans to build a new chip fab in Malta, which is anticipated to double the site’s capacity and create more than 1,000 jobs for Capital Region residents.
Helping further that goal, Benyon presented Ramsammy with a $500,000 gift geared for specialized equipment for workforce training.
“Hudson Valley Community College is thrilled to partner with GlobalFoundries to create a new Workforce Training and Apprenticeship Center as part of our HVCC North expansion project,” Ramsammy said.
“GlobalFoundries has long been a valued partner to the college, and we very much appreciate their support in kicking off our HVCC North fundraising with this generous donation. Hudson Valley recognizes the significant economic growth that GlobalFoundries continues to create in our region, and as an institution committed to training the Capital Region’s workforce of tomorrow, the college is pleased to continue to grow and strengthen our partner
ship with such a prominent workforce development leader,” Ramsammy explained on the vital partnership.
Benyon also acknowledged the importance of their collaborative efforts.
“GlobalFoundries’ $500,000 donation continues a long history of collaboration between Hudson Valley Community College and GlobalFoundries,” Benyon remarked.
“It is critical to the industry to have a partner in education that keeps pace with the rapidly evolving semiconductor industry. There is real value in the proximity of HVCC North to GlobalFoundries, and through our continuing partnership, we envision opening our doors to each other for the benefit of Hudson Valley, GlobalFoundries, and the entire Capital Region. We hope GlobalFoundries’s corporate contribution will inspire other regional businesses and community organizations interested and vested in the future of the Capital Region to come on board and support this important capital project that will expand opportunities in STEM and skilled trades and will provide benefits and long-term success for us all,” Benyon noted on the growth he hopes the project will spur in the future.
Upon completion, the center will enable the college to prepare more students though credit and non-credit workforce training programs and apprenticeships as well as through associate degree programs such as Electrical Engineering Technology; Semiconductor Manufacturing; Mechatronics; and Clean Energy Management to fill key positions at GlobalFoundries and in other companies and industries throughout the region. GlobalFoundries’ gift will also help HVCC to forge a new advanced Radio Frequency/Vacuum Technology laboratory and a new innovative Mechatronics laboratory, as well as allow for the conversion of the mock clean room laboratory currently located at TEC-SMART to a Class 10,000 ISO clean room.
The HVCC North expansion project also encompasses renovations to present facilities at TECSMART and the creation of a new two-story, 14,500 square foot STEM Education Center, which will see brand new, state-of-the-art labs for microbiology, anatomy, and physiology, chemistry and biology, and new classrooms, student support spaces, and offices.
Once completed, HVCC North will establish the space and resources needed to enable the college to increase access and broaden education and workforce training opportunities in the highly specialized and growing fields of healthcare, STEM, and skilled trades.
Saratoga County Administrator lauded the project as a boon for an already continually growing county.
“We are thrilled with what’s going on here,” Bulger said.
“President Ramsammy actually came before our board of supervisors last month and gave a presentation for the board to lay out the vision here, what the project’s going to look like and it was very impressive. He did a great job and I can tell you there’s strong support among the elected officials, not only here but throughout the county for this project and we’ll do all we can to help make it happen,” Bulger noted on the vision for the project.
“We all know we are one of the fastest-growing counties and there’s a reason for that. In fact, I think what the census is going to show when it’s released next month is Saratoga County is the fastest-growing county out of the 53 counties north of New York City,” Bulger added in hopes that the jobs created will add to the quality of life in the county.