Moran announces $5 million in federal funding for STEM improvements at Pittsburg State

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran wants to ensure there are high-quality jobs and a ready workforce in rural Kansas, and to that end announced on Tuesday $5 million in congressionally designated spending for STEM improvements (science, technology, engineering, and math) at Pittsburg State University.

"I have a desire to create a workforce in Kansas so that good things can happen. I want to make certain that communities across the state have a future so that our kids grow up and raise their kids here," he said.

That means investing in K-12, community colleges, technical colleges, and universities, he said.

The funding will be spent on improvements to theSTEM ecosystem, including equipment and research labs in Heckert-Wells and Yates Hall, which housethedepartments of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics.

Associate Professor Christine Brodsky, chair of Biology and Chemistry and director of the Polymer Chemistry Initiative, said new equipment and renovations will "make a strong impact on student research at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."

"We are thrilled to have the support of Sen. Moran in improving our teaching and research facilities here at Pittsburg State," she said. "This funding will be an excellent mechanism to support STEM student's educational experiences, especially in regard to Pittsburg State's founding principle of 'by doing learn'."

President Dan Shipp said that the improvements will benefit "our research scientists, our faculty, and most importantly, our students," and in the long-term, it's a "multigenerational investment in the quality of life of the community."

Moran, who has had a longstanding relationship with Pitt State dating to his days as a state senator and who has endorsed several other recent projects here, praised the university for being innovative at developing plans and programs to benefit the entire Southeast Kansas region.

"This area needs growth, needs jobs, and each time I come back to campus, what's happening here shows the future is very bright," he said.

Moran said Kansas is "poised for significant economic opportunity," and referenced the Panasonic facility being built in DeSoto as something "other companies likely will follow."

"But it will only happen if there's a workforce to meet their needs," he added. "Pitt State does a yeoman's job, perhaps beyond what one would think its capability, of helping Kansas meet that need."

He expressed gratitude to Shipp and university leadership for "making opportunities possible with projects that make sense and make a difference."