Senator Charles E. Schumer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 13, 2010

SCHUMER ANNOUNCES NEARLY $20 MILLION IN FEDERAL GRANTS TO EXPAND AND UPGRADE COMMUNITY COMPUTER CENTERS AND PROVIDE COMPUTER TRAINING IN NEIGHBORHOODS IN NEW YORK CITY

Nearly $14 Million Grant Will Upgrade And Create New Computer Centers And Provide Computer Training For As Many As 44,500 Needy New Yorkers

Nearly $6 Million Grant Will Pay For Computer Training and Refurbished Computer Centers For High School Students In Danger Of Dropping Out

Schumer: These Significant Federal Grants Will Go A Long Way Towards Making Sure All New Yorkers Develop The Necessary Computer Skills Needed To Succeed in the Job Market

New York, NY – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced nearly $20 million in federal grants that will provide computer training skills and infrastructure to at risk communities in New York City. The first grant for $14 million aims to provide computer centers and training to communities that are historically slower to adopt broadband technology. The second, for $6 million, will provide computer training and new computers to troubled high-schools students. Schumer pushed the Commerce Department to support New York City’s application in August of 2010.

“The bottom line is that computer skills are more and more essential to succeed in school and in the job market and this program will go a long way to ensure no child in New York City gets left behind on the high speed digital super highway. This program will go a long way toward making sure kids from across the five boroughs have access to computers and receive the training necessary to make them competitive with their peers around the country and around the world,” Schumer. “By providing new and improved equipment as well as intensive computer training, these grants will help ensure that all New Yorkers have the opportunities and skills necessary to succeed in the information age.”

Both grants are a part of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The nearly $14 million grant will upgrade over 80 computer centers and create over ten new centers, with over 480 new computers and 550 upgraded computers throughout the city. The new centers will hold an estimated 40,000 additional weekly users. The program will also train as many as 44,500 residents over the three-year course of the project, in addition to building the Center for Technology, Exploration, Training and Support, a public computer center that will provide training for 300 New York City senior centers.

The nearly $6 million grant will provide approximately 160,000 hours of training – including online connectivity and career building – as well as refurbished computer equipment and Internet access subsidies to as many as 6,100 transfer school students at 43 transfer high schools. These students are not currently enrolled in normal high school, are not on track to graduate, and face a much greater risk of unemployment and poverty.

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