Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Three New Locations Selected for $200 Million ON-RAMP Program

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Capital Region, Finger Lakes and Mohawk Valley have been selected to advance to the planning stage of the $200 million One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships (ON-RAMP) program. The regions join Central New York, in which Syracuse was established as the program's flagship location, and will create a network of high-impact workforce development centers to connect New Yorkers with careers in dynamic, high-growth advanced manufacturing industries. These workforce centers will equip New Yorkers with the skills they need and create an “on-ramp” to training, internships, apprenticeships and permanent employment and capitalize on the State's success in attracting and expanding advanced manufacturing companies such as Micron and GlobalFoundries.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Good morning. Please be seated. Who traveled the furthest in an ice storm this morning? Northland. I see Stephen Tucker. I know Rob may be second. Great to see everybody. That just shows the gritty spirit of Upstate New York. And we're all connected, and I suspect many of you came here on the I-90 — a great connective tissue that follows the path of the Erie Canal that we're celebrating its 200 anniversary this very year. But, the canal has been replaced by a highway — the Thruway — and it's been a place where we link millions of New Yorkers. But it's also a huge artery of commerce and it's really become the innovation corridor for our state.

And that's why this ON-RAMP initiative, you know what ON-RAMP means? It's how you get on the superhighway, right? You have to get on the on-ramp first. That on-ramp creates the opportunity for people who otherwise might be left in the ditch or on the side of the road to be able to participate and be part of this incredible thoroughfare.

So ON-RAMP is a new initiative and it connects the backbone of so many of our workforce development sites all across this fascinating corridor. And there's places where thousands of New Yorkers will develop skills they never dreamed possible. And even jobs that didn't exist when they were in grade school, or high school and older ones — it's even college; these jobs didn't even exist. Anyone knew what they were and they're also high-paying jobs which is what I'm so excited about in technology and advanced manufacturing. So today we gather to announce a major update on our ON-RAMP investments, and I do want to thank the people who have joined us, our elected leaders.

We have many people acknowledge, but I want to thank our County Executive Dan McCoy — you'll be hearing from him shortly for his particular vision for this property. Our mayor, Kathy Sheehan, doing an incredible job over her many years of service. Our newly minted Senator, one of the most experienced senators because she was an Assemblymember for so many years before that, Senator Pat Fahy.

Assemblymember John McDonald, thank you very much for being a great champion for this area. Assemblymember Gabriella Romero, thank you, good to see you. Also, you're going to be hearing from an individual who works at GlobalFoundries, but he's going to tell you the story of how it almost didn't happen — that there was a path that didn't exist before and he was able to find it. Leo Saldana, you're going to hear from him shortly. Let's give him a round of applause as well. And the leader of Empire State Development, who covers as much territory as I do, our leader, CEO, President Hope Knight. Thank you for coming.

What we're talking about is finding a way to deliver more jobs, more opportunities, and revitalizing communities and properties like this one, and helping them reimagine their future. That's how we become a more prosperous state. And you know what my priorities are, I was very clear. Anybody attended my State of the State address last week, a couple weeks ago?

Okay? All right. What did I say? Affordability, public safety. Public safety, affordability. It comes down to those two cornerstones of what is expected of all of us in government to deliver for the people of New York. And I laid out my priorities very clearly, and it's about helping families get ahead. Putting forth an affordability agenda. Whether it's the millions of dollars in middle class tax cuts — the largest in 70 years — whether it's the inflation rebate, you've heard me explain it, which says because all of you and our citizens paid so much in sales tax, everything they bought was 15, 20 percent higher.

We collected more in sales tax in the state. Now, that was good for us but it wasn't so good for our residents. So I said, “We can't keep this money, it's not ours. Let's put it back in their pockets.” So families will receive $500 back in their pockets and child care, one of the greatest expenses and the cost of raising little kids.

We're putting more money back in people's pockets. And so, we're doing so much more, even universal school meals. Think about this, what this means to families. To not have to have the extra $1,600 spent or the time spent. It's a great equalizer now. Something that's important to people in this room, too, is community college.

Even with what we consider fairly low-cost tuition, it adds up. By the time you pay for the tuition, the books, the materials, up to $8,000 a year. We have said that if you're an individual 25 to 55 years old, and you either had not thought about getting a degree beyond high school, or you just found a job or an opportunity that required it, let's make that available to you and make it free — free for all these individuals in high need skills like nursing, education and advanced manufacturing. This is how we draw more people. Get them the training, get them the jobs that are begging for workers. This is what I hear from employers. I'm glad to hear this because when I was growing up, there were no jobs.

Our greatest export from Upstate New York were our young people, including most of my family. It's changed now. The jobs are here. We have to make that connection between the people, the training and then the jobs. It's that simple. That's how you make New York more prosperous. So I'm very excited about this.

And this is where ON-RAMP comes in. We announced last year $200 million. It was very simple. We wanted to provide New Yorkers, especially those who start out life in a more disadvantaged community — they have extra barriers; they don't have role models necessarily in their own home or their own families; they don't have the nurturing environment that other communities may have. It's sometimes harder to get that ticket out to get a better job and come back to that community and reinvest in it. How you create generational wealth, which is so important. They just need the skills to find these jobs because the jobs are there — and we're talking about great companies.

Anybody hear of Micron? Rob? It's all we talked about since my first day as Governor. How to land America's largest private sector investment in history right here in Upstate New York, and the ripple effect is not just for Central New York, it is all over the state — indeed, all over the country. We build advanced manufacturing, make semiconductor chips so we're not so reliant on foreign supply chains which can be so disrupted — and I won't even say the word “tariff” because I don't know where we're going with that.

But Micron, GlobalFoundries, our neighbor here, one of the early pioneers, the true believers who said we can do this here in New York and defied all the odds. But boy, have they been growing. It's so exciting to see them. Wolfspeed, went to their ribbon cuttings down the road, I-90. IBM, $20 billion investment in quantum computing, they're doing that right in New York State. Countless other jobs and opportunities.

So, here's the good news, friends, there's no shortage of opportunities. Unemployment is low, I just need more trained workers. Our employers need more trained workers. We have 400,000 open jobs in the State of New York right now. Right now. The ON-RAMP fills that gap: helps pave the road; brings the asphalt; fills in all the potholes, the empty spaces, right? And it takes a holistic approach to workforce development that is generally transformative.

I will tell you, from the beginning, I've never liked the phrase workforce development. Sorry, Steve and everybody else. But didn't I tell you this? I told you, come up with a more catchy phrase. ‘Workforce development’ sounds — but you know what? Behind those words, it's life changing. It's powerful. You got to work on the branding, but it's powerful. It's powerful, right? And the ON-RAMP is what we're talking about.

But here's what we're talking about, not just the skills training, but wraparound services — understanding that people, in order to be lifted out of their circumstances, have to get transportation and partnerships with human service providers in the neighborhood. Child care, one of the great barriers to bringing more women into the workplace: who’s taking care of the kids at home? We're training the workers of tomorrow while looking after their needs today. That's how you get ahead as a state.

And we're going to build on the proven success of a place called Northland Workforce Training Center. Now, Stephen Tucker, please stand up. I want to give you recognition for what you did in Buffalo: 62 percent of their students have graduated — three times the national average for community colleges, three times the national average — 83 percent of the graduates find employment. And that other 17 percent, I’m not sure what they're doing. The jobs are there, right, Steven?

I've toured that so many times. I saw the model. I saw success involving the community, the local jobs, the community colleges. I saw how that was working and I said, “Why not all over the State of New York? Why not export this; spread it all over, especially down the I-90 corridor?” And we know how to do that now. We have the formula. We'll have opportunities to tear down the roadblocks.

As I mentioned, we have Leo Saldana today, who is a graduate of a workforce development program. And the skills he learned, he'll talk about what that means to his life and his family now. And I'm sure it's going to simply change lives. And so, in addition to what we did at Northland, we're also going to announce three more regions. We go big or we go home. We go big or we go home. We're going to go bigger. We're going to build more.

Now, we're going to do it again in Syracuse. This is how you meet the Micron moment, the opportunity. Finger Lakes at the ON-RAMP. We'll be at the Monroe Community College in Rochester, a place I've visited countless times. I see what they're doing there. It is so innovative. Mohawk Valley ON-RAMP Center at the Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, we're going to make sure Utica's part of the story. Have I forgotten any area? Capital Region ON-RAMP led by the Center for Economic Growth. And I'm proposing it, not just right here in Albany, but how about on the college campus, the former College of Saint Rose, right here, right now, let's get it done.

And this is being developed with industry leaders. We can't do this in a vacuum. We have to ask the business leaders, “What do you need? What skills do you need taught?” I've been saying this since I was a member of Congress, “What do you want us to do?” You're the ones who are driving innovation. You also know what skills you’re going to need five years down the road. This is what businesses do, they think long term. We need to start thinking long term; teaching skills now that someone's going to need five years from now. That's how you win the competitive race, the global economy, and New York is right at the forefront of that.

So, that's how we're going to continue working. And the Finger Lakes will work with Plug Power, Edwards Vacuum — Edwards Vacuum, I'm so excited. I actually called the CEO when I was there in London. They had to work on the time zone there. I said, “How would you like to come to Upstate New York and be part of the whole synergy with Micron coming and others,” and they're here as well. Bausch + Lomb, legacy companies — never forget our legacy companies, the ones who never gave up on our state, even through good times and bad. Bausch + Lomb. Kodak, they're on fire. They're doing great things now and too many others to name. Mohawk Valley, we have Danfoss, Indium, Wolfspeed — they're all going to be beneficiaries of this, but we want their voices at the table right now. This is where it makes sense.

And we're going to be working with the Capital Region, GlobalFoundries, Regeneron, GE and so many other companies right here as well, because this is the place people will understand. If you're a company in the Capital Region or within the surrounds, come here, a place that since the last graduating class came through after 100 years of being here, graduating students, sending them on to their futures, this place became very quiet. It was almost deafening how quiet it got. It’s like, there should be life here. There should be energy. And it was so quiet you could actually hear the 190 in the distance. That's too quiet.

And we know what this campus meant to the community. It said — you just felt like, what does this say about us? Does this mean that our better days are behind us? But there are others who didn't give up. People who believed. Our County Executive, our Mayor, others who pulled together elected leaders from our State Legislature who said, “We can do better. We can do something spectacular, Governor. Just give us a chance. Sign this piece of paper and we can make it happen,” right? I signed that piece of paper.

I'm glad I did for Pine Hills because I believe in this community. And we've had many governors live here — come and go, but for many, it was a primary residence. We had Teddy Roosevelt, we had Franklin Roosevelt, we had Rockefeller, we had — you know them all. I have spent more time here than any Governor, I guarantee it. I love this community. I love this community. And I knew when I made a commitment to revitalize Albany, I would bring in my partners in government, but I said, “Sometimes you just have to put a big number out there and make the jaws drop.”

They said, “$250,000.”

I said, “Go up.”

They said, “$300,000.”

I said, “Go up.”

They said, “$350,000.”

I said, “How about $400 million dollars?” How about $400 million dollars for this community to have reborn, re-catalyze, reinvent Albany? I have some great ideas as well, but I'm going to defer to my locals. I think we're all on the same page.

$150 million for renovations at the New York State Museum to make it a showcase for our state. We can do this. It'll be spectacular. Yes, we have collections from the past, but let's talk about the future.

I want people to walk through there and little kids to see the possibilities and technology unfolding and know the history of the progressive marches through time that all started here. Whether it was the Civil Rights Movement — you know where it started everybody? Buffalo. Niagara Falls, the Niagara Movement — it was the precursor to the NAACP, right?

We had the Women's Rights Movement, 1848, Seneca Falls. We had Storm King Mountain, the environmental justice movement, the LGBTQ movement started at Stonewall over 50 years ago. We are the place where people come together and innovate new ideas and move progress forward. We've always been that and I want that showcased in a place here in our Capital so people feel that pride and the whole era from Henry Hudson to today, to the future. There's something really special here.

But also I talk about the highways, the roads, the connective tissue. The next phase of 787, this is how we reclaim our community and make up for decisions of the past that severed our community. Separated us from the waterfront.

It happened in so many places. Why didn't people value the water? I mean, look what happened in Buffalo, the 1-9; look what happened in New York City; all over the state. People just put more asphalt down and either severed communities or just didn't care about creating connections to the waterfront. And the water here is so beautiful. It's so beautiful. We can do so much more with our waterfront, I know we can.

We're going to transform Albany starting right on this campus. I believe we can get it done here. It's a new day for New York. I look forward to hearing the vision, but ON-RAMP right here on this campus says this place matters. It has value and we're just getting warmed up.

I'm so excited. I want to thank everybody who's part of this vision, and someday we'll look back and say, “The future of Albany got jump-started, revitalized, new life in it, on this cold, dreary day in February in 2025, and the best is yet to come.”

Thank you very much, everyone.