Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wants to connect more New York universities with the manufacturing and engineering work force.


Monday, the Senator took to Binghamton University to discuss new legislation called the Manufacturing Universities Act of 2015.


The legislation would designate 25 universities as "manufacturing universities" and provide schools $5 million per year for four years to build engineering programs to meet the needs of modern manufacturers.


Gillibrand says college programs that provide more qualified students in the manufacturing workforce would boost the economy.


Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, "In order for a school to receive a manufacturing designation funding universities will be required to apply and submit a plan for how they hope to achieve these goals within 4 years.New York has the highest quality of and hardest working men and women in the force. What we don't have and what we'll finally get with this new bill is a process to connect more of our high engineers with careers in manufacturing."


According to the SUNY system, stem careers which includes jobs in manufacturing are growing 2.5 times faster than other fields in New York.