BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Northland Workforce Training Center, taking shape in the Grider neighborhood on Buffalo's east side, is expected to open in August with classes beginning in September.

A building vacant for decades, the facility will then serve as an extension of SUNY Erie and Alfred State and provide college credit education for six programs.

Northland Workforce Training Center CEO Stephen Tucker says there are more than 3,000 openings in advanced manufacturing in Western New York. The program will help graduates find these "jobs of the future" through a partnership with the Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Alliance. Tucker says they'll pay around $50,000 a year.

The $65 million project is the crown jewel of the $100 million transformation of the Northland Corridor. Partially funded by the state's Buffalo Billion, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul believes it helps dispel criticisms that the governor's restoration initiative overlooked swaths of the city.

"This has been long overdue in our judgment and the vision and the catalyst that this will bring other parts of the neighborhood back. This is just the beginning," said Hochul, D-New York.

"This investment is for members of the community, members who want to participate, members who want to acquire family-sustaining wages, members who want a better life," said Tucker.