The Business Review

Capital Region businesses must be willing to invest more in education—both financially and through human capital—if they want to build a workforce that can support local economic development.

That was the theme of a panel held today at TEC-SMART, the $15 million clean-energy, semiconductor and technology campus in Malta, NY that is operated by Hudson Valley Community College of Troy.

Public-private partnerships are becoming even more vital as New York’s schools prepare students for college and technical careers against a backdrop of less government funding, property tax caps and unfunded mandates.

“No one entity can do it alone,” Johanna Duncan-Poitier told the audience of 250 people during her opening remarks.

Duncan-Poitier is senior vice chancellor for community colleges and the education pipeline for the State University at New York.

Panelist Dan Pickett, CEO of nfrastructure, said his 250-person Clifton Park technology company will invest several million dollars this year to train and educate its employees, and make improvements to its equipment and other infrastructure.
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