SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Le Moyne College is expanding its ERIE21 technology-education program to both the Onondaga Central and LaFayette Central school districts.

Onondaga County has awarded Le Moyne $250,000 in funding to enable the expansion.

ERIE21 stands for Educating for our Rising Innovation Economy in the 21st century. The program is designed to address the region’s “twin problems of persistently” high poverty in Syracuse — particularly among Black/African–American and Latino residents — and the challenges employers face in attracting and retaining the skilled workers needed to fill current job openings in technology, per Le Moyne’s Thursday announcement.

Focusing on early intervention (middle school) and providing ongoing support to students in high school and college, ERIE21 is “strengthening the region’s capacity to develop pathways that generate local talent to feed the growing demand for computational, software and engineering professionals,” Le Moyne contends.

“Since it was launched in 2018, ERIE21 has focused on providing transformative learning experiences for middle- and high-school students within the Syracuse City School District,” Le Moyne College President Linda LeMura said in the school’s announcement. “Our long-term goal has been to bring those same experiences to students throughout Central New York. Thanks to the generosity of Onondaga County, this goal is now becoming a reality.”

Students from the two school districts will begin work in the ERIE21 program starting this spring.

“With cutting edge companies like JMA Wireless, SAAB, Inficon, Lockheed Martin and many others already calling Onondaga County home, it is imperative that we make strategic investments in our young people now to train them for these high-demand jobs,”Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said in Le Moyne’s release. “With Micron soon coming, we must be prepared to meet the moment and create the workforce necessary to fill these jobs. Thanks to our partner at Le Moyne College and their innovative ERIE21 program, students in the City of Syracuse – and now OCS and LaFayette – will be part of that critical effort.”

Le Moyne’s ERIE21 program has partnered with organizations across the region that include M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), KeyBank (NYSE: KEY); JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Empire State Development; City of Syracuse; Onondaga County; CenterStateCEO;MACNY, the Manufacturers Association; PEACE Inc.; and the Syracuse City School District, Le Moyne College said.