SPRINGFIELD – In a large vacant area on the first floor of Union Station, a new facility will help grow cyber security in Western Massachusetts.

Area elected and educational officials met on Oct. 31 at Union Station to announce a Security Operation Center (SOC) operated by Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), which will provide threat monitoring and other cybersecurity services to Massachusetts towns and cities as well as small businesses and non-profit organizations. It will also have a new testing lab, called a cyber range, to provide training to local companies, colleges and universities and other organizations.

The new facility is funded through a $1.5 million grant through the Baker-Polito administration and the MassTech Collaborative and a $500,000 commitment from the city of Springfield for the design and the construction of the facility.

The facility is planned to be opened in either the first or second quarter of 2024. It will have a classroom and a conference room among other features. STCC will operate the center in partnership with Bay Path University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Western New England University, Elms College and Springfield College, which will all offer certificate and degree programs in a range of majors.

With the announcement Union Station will stand at 80 percent occupied, according to Amanda Pham, executive director of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA).

Present for the event were Congressman Richard Neal, Mayor Dominic Sarno, members of the SRA, STCC President Dr. John Cook, CEO of CyberTrust Massachusetts Pete Sherlock, Director of the MassCyberCenter Stephanie Helm and members of the Western Massachusetts legislative delegation.
Cook said the center will allow STCC to “remain current with workforce and employment needs of the region.”

Sherlock noted the center will make Massachusetts a national leader in cybersecurity, while Helm said the center will be “setting the trend” in cyber security.

Sherlock said in a written statement the center will be a “first-of-its-kind” facility with its collaboration between business, higher education and government.”

Neal said, “Cyber security is a big deal everywhere. He noted the recent prime minister of Great Britain was hacked and that most of the cyber threats are coming from Russia and China.