UTICA - A ground breaking was held this morning for a new facility that will allow for students, at Utica College to study Economic Crimes.

And it’s not just a new building they’re getting. They are also getting the expertise of some of the country’s top-ranking government officials.

The new facility will provide the education opportunity and research space for the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection. In layman terms: Studying how to attack 21st century crimes such as identity fraud and other types of cyber crimes.

The center will allow for Utica College to provide identity management research with highly classified and highly confidential material. Also it will allow for criminal justice students to receive specialized training with law enforcement personnel.

And that training will come right from the top with assistance from the secret service, the FBI and U.S. Marshals.

Utica College officials said that since the program was founded last year, it has gained national attention, allowing for grants from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration, and the Department of Justice construction on the project will start in next month, and officials are hoping to complete it by the same time next year…only about 13 months away.