SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Thanks to a recent grant, construction will pick back up in the spring on the Central New York Biotechnology Research Center. The center will receive $4.2 million from the state.

Construction was stopped in July when the project ran out of funding.

"The exciting part of it is that we're going to be able to build a new environment where not only SUNY Upstate and ESF work side by side, but we're going to be able to have office and laboratories in the same building from industry leaders such as the Welch Allyn, potentially Brystol Myers Squibb, other bio-pharma, as well as bio-engineering companies that can work side by side to develop new products," said SUNY Upstate President David R. Smith.

The center is a joint venture between SUNY Upstate Medical University and SUNY ESF and will serve as a 60,000 square foot facility for biotechnology, educational and research programs.