Electrical and Computer Engineering Major David Bone came to SUNY Polytechnic Institute from the Albany area. He was in the school's Additive Manufacturing Lab on Wednesday afternoon.

"I transferred in here while this room that we're standing in was being built, and this was actually one of the big drives for me to come here, was to work in a space that's going to be open to students to just go and learn on their own," said Bone.

He's excited to hear about North Carolina-based company, "Cree," building a new silicon carbide wafer fabrication facility in Marcy.

"I think it's great," Bone said.

The facility will be powered by hundreds of employees. It sounds daunting, but Mohawk Valley EDGE leaders behind the announcement said it's a quota that can be met.

"The region has a strong history in terms of manufacturing so we think we can support their particular ramp," said Mohawk Valley EDGE President Steve DiMeo.

Many local schools like Mohawk Valley Community College are preparing students for tech jobs in more than one field.

"There are a number of different types of jobs. Industrial controls, and industrial control experience is going to be extremely useful and we build industrial controls into a number of our technical programs," said Tim Thomas, Mohawk Valley Community College's assistant vice president of Learning and Academic Affairs.

Staff at SUNY Polytechnic Institute said their students will also be ready to apply for jobs at the new Cree facility.

"SUNY Poly also has world class leading research expertise in silicon, carbide devices, and materials. So not only we will provide the workforce, but also the workforce who have the best and most updated knowledge of the technology," said SUNY Polytechnic Institute Interim President Grace Wang.

That's music to the ears of Bone, who hopes to find a tech job in the Mohawk Valley.

"It's actually a pretty low cost of living so it's a great place to get started, and there's definitely a lot of tech businesses around the area. So yeah, I would be interested," he said.

Construction is supposed to be finished by 2022. The average salary for new jobs at Cree is expected to be around $75,000.