Monroe Community College has completed a $69.6 million advanced technology center at its main campus in Brighton, Monroe County, moving training programs from an older West Henrietta Road facility and expanding space for optics and other technical fields. State and county officials said the building is intended to connect students with employers in the Finger Lakes' growing manufacturing and semiconductor sectors.
The Sydor Optics Advanced Technology Center brings automotive, precision tooling and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning training together with the college's science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs. It also gives MCC's Optical Systems Technology program a new home. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the completion at a ribbon-cutting on the campus.
What students will study
The optics program is a two-year route into technical work that has grown sharply. The governor's written release said enrollment has risen 3,520% since 2015. A separate transcript of her remarks gave a 2,400% increase since 2019 and said more than 150 students are enrolled this year. The figures use different starting years; neither document provided the underlying yearly enrollment counts.
The center also offers training for automotive technicians, precision tooling workers and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning service technicians and mechanics. A new solar lab will support instruction for photovoltaic-panel installers, solar-installation managers and service technicians, according to the state.
By relocating technology programs to the Brighton campus, MCC is bringing them closer to its STEM instruction. Officials said the expanded building should give students more hands-on training and provide room for further growth in the optics program. The state described that program as a direct path to employment for hundreds of students, though it did not provide placement figures in the announcement.
How the project was funded
The state's contribution totals $34.6 million, including $10 million for a STEM addition that Hochul announced in February 2024. Monroe County provided another $34.8 million; the county amount includes $3.5 million in federal funding secured by Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Joe Morelle, according to the governor's office.
Those stated state and county contributions total $69.4 million, while the announced total project cost is $69.6 million. The release did not explain the remaining $200,000. MCC President DeAnna Burt-Nanna also cited philanthropic commitments from Sydor Optics, the Rochester Auto Dealers Association, the Gene Haas Foundation and SPIE, but the state did not give amounts for those gifts.
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said the facility is meant to support the region's optics and advanced-manufacturing workforce. Burt-Nanna said the building will expand access to hands-on training and strengthen ties with industry partners. Their statements describe the expected effect of the completed facility, not measured job outcomes.
Part of a wider workforce strategy
The project sits within a broader effort to train workers for semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing jobs in western and central New York. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded a $40 million second-phase Tech Hub grant to the NY SMART-I Corridor consortium, which brings together the Finger Lakes, Western New York and Central New York regions and more than 80 organizations.
That consortium is working over five years on workforce placement, research and commercialization. The governor's office said its work is coordinated with Empire State Development's semiconductor office. The MCC center is a local training investment within that larger regional effort, not the entire Tech Hub project.
MCC also is slated to lead the Finger Lakes center in New York's $200 million One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships, or ON-RAMP, program, with RochesterWorks. The Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley and Capital regions advanced to the program's planning stage in February 2025; Syracuse was selected as its flagship location. The program is intended to link people with training, internships, apprenticeships and jobs.
Separately, construction is underway on a RochesterWorks Downtown Career Center at MCC's downtown campus with a $5.5 million Regional Revitalization Partnership investment. Officials said that site is meant to connect job seekers with training, service providers and other support. The downtown campus also houses the state-supported Finger Lakes Workforce Development Center, which offers shorter technology-oriented programs.
Hochul said the Brighton project grew from discussions about matching college training to future employer needs. In her remarks, she recalled visiting MCC programs in 2011 and asking business leaders what skills they would need five to 10 years later. The opening now gives MCC more space to deliver that training; the state did not provide a new enrollment target or a completion date for the separate downtown project.
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