Penn State DuBois campus (FILE)
DUBOIS, Pa (WJAC) —As students and staff at Penn State DuBois are continuing to prepare for the campus’ upcoming closure, the university is touting a hefty investment that will transform the campus facilities into a regional manufacturing and innovation hub.
On Monday, Penn State, along with Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick, announced a $39.9 million federal grant that will be used to transition the Penn State DuBois campus into what will be known as the ‘DuBois Center for Innovation’ (DCI).
This is about turning a challenge into an opportunity for DuBois and the entire region,” said Senator McCormick. “I’m proud to have helped push this project forward and am grateful to Secretary Lutnick for investing in Pennsylvania’s future. This is a major win for Pennsylvania workers.
Both university and federal officials say this investment will help support new and continued workforce development in the north-central region of the state.
“Pennsylvania continues to lead in advanced manufacturing, and under President Trump it will continue to do so. With this grant and more than $160 million in private sector commitments behind it, we will train hundreds of workers each year and give companies the tools they need to stay at the front of American manufacturing,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The investment comes as the future of the Penn State DuBois campus remained uncertain for months, following the university’s plan to close seven of its commonwealth campuses.
This investment represents an opportunity to strengthen one of Pennsylvania’s most important manufacturing clusters while accelerating economic development in a region that has faced long-term economic challenges,” said Andrew Read, senior vice president for research at Penn State, whose office oversees the University’s entrepreneurship and commercialization efforts. “The DuBois Center for Innovation will provide the United States the domestic pressed materials production needed for a strategic manufacturing capability essential to economic and national security and technological leadership, while creating opportunities for businesses and workers across north central Pennsylvania.
Penn State is expected to lead this new project, providing training, research and additional support to area manufacturers, with the goal of having hundreds of newly trained workers prepared for the innovation industry within the coming years.
Classes at Penn State DuBois will cease at the end of the 2027 spring semester.
You can read more about the innovation project on the university’s website.
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