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Hudson Valley Community College To Expand In Saratoga County

A rendering of the planned HVCC North building
Image provided by Hudson Valley Community College
A rendering of the planned HVCC North building

Hudson Valley Community College plans to expand its footprint in Saratoga County.

Hudson Valley Community College wants to build a satellite campus in Malta.

HVCC President Dr. Roger Ramsammy spoke to local leaders at the college’s TEC-SMART campus Wednesday morning. The facility trains regional high school students to enter high-tech fields, through partnerships with companies like GlobalFoundries and General Electric.

“The world as we know it is changing before us. And if we continue to sleep and believe that all we do is create for the present and not for what’s coming, we’re going to be at the end of the game.”

The Troy-based community college is planning to do two things: expand the existing TEC-SMART campus to allow more high-school students to move through its programs; and build a new satellite facility dubbed HVCC North, establishing a community college in Saratoga County, an area of New York state with a booming population.

“Saratoga is the fastest growing county around. It’s where the big businesses are coming. If business is coming, population will increase. More housing. More kids. And so ultimately, it tells you that if you really want to make sure you’re going to serve those kids, you’re going to have to follow them.”

Ramsammy said there are currently more than 1,700 HVCC students who travel south from Saratoga County to take classes at the main campus in Troy. The HVCC North campus is intended to accommodate 2,000 through more than 30 programs, with focuses on nursing and healthcare sciences, trades and STEM fields to meet local industry needs.

Wednesday’s announcement comes just over a week after GlobalFoundries, the semiconductor manufacturer nextdoor to the TEC-SMART campus, said it would build out its Fab 8 facility and add a second fab, promising thousands of jobs.

Ramsammy said GlobalFoundries has taken TEC-SMART students through an apprenticeship program, but needs more…

“We’re giving them 50 students every cohort, and it’s not enough. They were looking for 200 or more per cohort. So by expanding on an extension center, it gives us more room inside of this building to bring more students in – reconstruct in here – and that’s one of the big projects or reconstructing the TEC Smart building, to have more students training in here.”

Local officials praised HVCC’s plans to expand its footprint.

Democratic New York State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, whose 113th District includes portions of Saratoga and Washington Counties, commented on business growth in the green and high-tech economies.

“And they’re coming here. And so having a workforce training center located in Malta at the Hudson Valley campus here will only serve to meet those needs, but also encourage others to settle here,” said Woerner.

Dennis Brobston, President of the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, an entity that has worked to market the region to companies, said apprentice programs through TEC-SMART have been well received by local companies.

“So it’s very good for us as we continue to market Luther Forest, and Saratoga County and the Capital Region. Anybody that’s here doing what I do should be very happy to see this, because it will help everybody within the eight counties of the Capital Region, very easily.”

The TEC-SMART campus currently has partnerships with the Ballston Spa, Saratoga Springs, and Shenendehowa school districts.

State Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh’s 112th District includes portions of Saratoga and Schenectady Counties. The Republican hopes an expansion of HVCC’s skills-training programs in Saratoga County will bring STEM opportunities to more young people.

“I’ve heard about the need from so many employers and just people living in the community that they need people who are trained in these areas, so however we get there so that we can allow the maximum number of students to be able to take advantage – wherever they’re from, whatever school district boundaries there are – I think that we need to take a bigger look. And I think that that is one of things that I really liked about the conversation today, is the idea that we need to think differently.”

Renovations at the TEC-SMART building are already underway. With a capital campaign ongoing, HVCC is hoping to break ground on its new building in the fall, with completion expected in 2023.

willard_weekend_ramsammy_1_on_1_.mp3
Dr. Roger Ramsammy speaks with WAMC's Lucas Willard about the proposed expansion in Malta

Lucas Willard is a reporter and host at WAMC Northeast Public Radio, which he joined in 2011.
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