MCC to house $11.4M workforce training complex

Monroe Community College’s downtown campus is the new site for the Finger Lakes Workforce Development Center. This moves the $11.4 million workforce development training complex from its originally planned location at Eastman Kodak Business Park to MCC on State Street.

The new “MCC Forward Center” will be more easily accessible to students, residents, and community partners. It will support Eastman Kodak Business Park tenant companies as programs in skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, and industrial technology will be provided at the center or as on-site contract training, while opening up this opportunity for support to additional businesses located outside of the business park.

The MCC Forward Center will take a multi-faceted approach to creating a 21st century workforce. The training complex will match in demand workers with the Finger Lakes area high technology companies that deal in energy, biomaterials, functional films and photonics. Photonics is the centerpiece of the regions Finger Lakes Forward economic blueprint.

Over the next five years, the MCC Forward Center is expected to train over 2,300 workers and add $90 million in economic benefits to the region in the form of worker salaries and increased supply chain value. Added benefits include available space for long-term expansion while providing substantial savings in operating and staffing costs for MCC. The downtown location will be supported by a $5.4 million Upstate Revitalization Initiative grant as well as a $6 million NYSUNY 2020 Challenge grant. The project is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2023.