Statement from Destler on Executive Budget

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A. Sue Weisler

RIT President Bill Destler

Rochester Institute of Technology President Bill Destler issued this statement following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement of a proposed $137.2 billion 2014-15 state budget that includes $327,119 for RIT’s Center of Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing and $3.25 million for the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute, which is located at RIT:

“We are pleased and encouraged to see RIT’s Center of Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing and the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute included in the governor’s Executive Budget proposal. This is recognition of the significance of these programs and the good work that they have been doing to support the state’s economic development and environmental goals.

"We will be working with our legislative delegation over the next few months to ask for their support in securing funding for these programs in the final budget, and in particular to ask that the Center of Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing be funded at the level that is recommended for six of the centers in the Executive Budget.”

About the Center of Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing

Established two years ago, Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing—housed within the Golisano Institute for Sustainability—provides research and technology transfer activity between industry and RIT. The technology created by the center allows New York companies to compete more effectively in global markets. Centers of Excellence support high-technology ventures through a collaborative approach among the state, academia, private-venture capital companies, and other private and public sector parties and are designed to encourage rapid commercialization of scientific breakthroughs and stimulate job creation.

About New York State Pollution Prevention Institute

NYSP2I, located at RIT, was created in 2008 by the state and is supported by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The institute provides statewide, comprehensive and integrated programming in technology research, development and diffusion, training and education aimed at making New York state more sustainable for workers, the public, the environment and the economy. Additional partners include Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Clarkson University, State University of New York at Buffalo and New York’s 10 Regional Technology Development Centers.