Syracuse, N.Y. – City councilors today voted unanimously to approve $1.75 million for construction of a $10 million state-run workforce training center in Syracuse that would prepare people for construction jobs, commercial driving licenses and other trades.
The city’s financial commitment rounds out local funding totaling $3.3 million, which local officials hope the state university system will match two-to-one to make the project happen. At this point, however, the state funding is not assured, said Tim Penix, vice president of the Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center.
Penix said he hopes to learn this month whether the State University of New York will approve funding for the project.
The Educational Opportunity Center hopes to build a 12,000-square-foot training facility at 908 Montgomery St. and have it operating by the spring of 2023. The site is now occupied by a vacant commercial building that would be demolished.
Besides the city of Syracuse, Onondaga County officials have agreed to contribute $1.25 million. The private Allyn Family Foundation has promised $30,000.
The new training center would be down the street from the EOC’s existing training site at the corner of Montgomery and New streets, which is one of 10 centers operated by SUNY throughout the state that offer tuition-free college prep and vocational training services to adults in urban communities.
If it gets approved, the new facility would expand the EOC’s capacity to train people for jobs in the building trades, Penix said. Center officials plan to train at least 330 students a year to start, he said.
The project has taken on some urgency among local public officials because of the approaching reconstruction of Interstate 81, which will create hundreds of jobs in the area.
“We’re talking about a lot of potential employment opportunities,” Penix said.