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Ulster BOCES, colleges team up for workforce hub at iPark 87

Ulster County officials and college administrators celebrated the signing of multiple leases to create a new workforce innovation center at iPark 87 Monday.
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Ulster County officials and college administrators celebrated the signing of multiple leases to create a new workforce innovation center at iPark 87 Monday.

A number of schools and colleges in Ulster County are coming together for a new educational hub at the iPark 87 development in Kingston.

The new “Sustainable Ulster Workforce Innovation Center” is a collaboration between the county, Ulster BOCES, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Ulster, Ulster YouthBuild, and more. Speaking at a press conference Monday, County Executive Jen Metzger says the 40,000-square foot hub will provide programming space for all involved and house multiple county departments related to workforce development.

Metzger, a Democrat, says she hopes the deal marks a new chapter for Ulster County – and for iPark 87.

“One that we hope will ignite the kinds of investments in job opportunities that we want for our people here in Ulster County," she adds.

Officials have long struggled to redevelop iPark 87, a former IBM complex that has been largely vacant since its closure in the mid-1990s. After years of acrimony between the county and the site’s previous owner, Alan Ginsberg, the real estate and investment firm National Resources purchased iPark 87 last year and has been working to find new tenants, like internet provider Archtop Fiber.

National Resources President Joe Cotter expects the new hub will play a crucial role in his conversations with companies. As other parts of New York state snag deals with Micron, GlobalFoundries – and even IBM in East Fishkill – he hopes a well-trained workforce will convince CEOs to consider Ulster County.

"There’s such a need for jobs, employees, skills and housing in the Hudson Valley to attract workforce, that this is a very appropriate timed endeavor, in our opinion," says Cotter.

Alongside the Workforce Innovation Center is a major expansion by Ulster BOCES, which has signed a 10-year lease to relocate its Career & Technical Center (CTC) from Port Ewen to iPark 87 beginning in fall 2025. District Superintendent Jonah Schencker says the CTC’s current facility is too small to meet demand, but iPark 87 will give it the opportunity to grow, both in capacity and curriculum. Furthermore, BOCES’ Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning will be able to grow, as those classes (for middle and high school students with special needs) will be able to move into the Port Ewen facility.

“This move will allow us to keep programming here in Ulster County, and provide access, opportunity, and viable pathways for futures for all of the students in Ulster County," Schencker explains.

Schencker notes National Resources has agreed to cover the cost of retrofitting the iPark 87 space, which measures roughly 105,000 square feet. Once classes launch in September 2025, BOCES says the new lease will cost districts $16 per square foot, plus maintenance fees.

Clayton Van Kleeck, deputy supervisor of the town of Ulster, says the hub has him optimistic about iPark 87’s future. Of course, there's still a long way to go: many of the buildings need to be rehabilitated, and National Resources says it expects to invest at least $200 million in the campus. Ulster County recently received a $10 million state grant to put toward the cause.

But finally, Van Kleeck says, things appear to be moving forward. Last week, he says the town approved a site plan for iPark 87’s south campus that would include more than 800 units of workforce housing.

“This was a big, if I wouldn’t say huge, step for us – together," says Van Kleeck. "I can assure all of you, and our community, that the officials and staff of the town of Ulster will continue to work diligently and with integrity alongside all other government agencies to help the iPark team make this site a renewed gem of the Hudson Valley.”

Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."