UTICA, N.Y. -- Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul came to Utica Tuesday to recap Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address and share what plans are in store for the Mohawk Valley.
She highlighted the push for infrastructure funding, marijuana legalization, and announced several local grants.
One of the most notable, is $6 million to Masonic Medical Research Lab in the form of renovations and about 30 new staff hires from all over the world, some of which are already established.
Officials with Masonic say that this grant means more than just the obvious increased research abilities.
"It's a tremendous opportunity for the growth of this community. So we've already brought in 19 individuals and they've all brought in their families. So they're usually two working families so they've brought in a spouse that is also going to contribute to the community and they've also brought in children that will be a part of our educational system and they've also brought in all of the resources that accompany being a part of the research institute as well,” said Maria Kontaridis, the director of research at the Masonic Medical Institute.
Masonic Research Lab is in the midst of working on a patent for a research project that they could not comment on at this time.
