The money comes through congressionally directed spending from the Department of Education. Neal included funding for this project in the fiscal year 2023 spending bill that was signed into law on Dec. 29. It's one of 15 projects totaling $20.4 million Neal included for the district in that funding package.
Back in October, Neal, D-Springfield, and others welcomed a $1.46 million state grant for the center.
"The threats facing our nation at both the national and local level are significant, and having the cutting-edge technology capable of countering these threats is of the utmost importance," Neal said in a statement. "Union Station has become a world-class intermodal transportation hub for the Greater Springfield community, and it will now serve as home to a state-of-the-art cybersecurity training center. This will give the brightest young minds in our region the resources they need to combat these threats, ultimately expanding the region's skilled workforce and shoring up the resiliency of our cybersecurity in western Massachusetts and beyond."
The center will be an essential piece of the Massachusetts Cybersecurity Consortium and will give students seeking a career in the growing cybersecurity field with professional opportunities and hands-on training, the news release said.
That consortium includes Springfield Technical Community College and other area institutions including Bay Path University.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said: "I want to thank Congressman Richard Neal, who once a mayor, always the heart of a mayor, who continues to provide exemplary leadership for our Springfield and Union Station. This $3 million will support STCC and the transformative and dynamic Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at our historic Union Station, which supports my administration's workforce development objectives around cybersecurity initiatives by promoting diversity and supporting more of that good four-letter word, Jobs!"
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