By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – The state is providing $400,000 to Erie Community College for a state-of-the-art ammonia refrigeration lab.
Local businesses in the food processing and meat packing industries have sought such a lab to train students in refrigeration engineering.
State Senators Mary Lou Rath and Dale Volker were instrumental in securing the state funding for the lab at ECC's North Campus.
ECC President William Mariani said partnerships like this one are key to improving the local economy.
"This is a great example of how we bring together in our institution, known as p-3 partnerships," said Mariani. "It's a great example of how we bring together the private sector andd the public sector... to address a concern...a local concern, a Northeast concern, for an industry that employs over 10,000 people here locallly."
ECC will have the only lab of its kind on the East Coast. The college will begin offering courses in ammonia refrigeration this fall.