PLATTSBURGH -- New York state is accepting applications for an additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, New York State Department of Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith said, "This is expected to infuse $850 million in the state economy, including $22 million in the North Country."

There are 22,000 more state residents claiming unemployment benefits than one year ago, Smith said, and more than 250,000 people would have exhausted their benefits this year without the extension.

The benefits are available for workers who have exhausted the regular 26 weeks of benefits and remain out of work through no fault of their own. It includes people who lost their job since May 6, 2007, and are still unemployed.

The State Department of Labor will send advisory letters and instructions to claimants who might meet those criteria. The measure is meant to help people who are facing increasingly long struggles to find another job in today's economy, while also providing an economic stimulus to local businesses.

Smith was on her second visit to the North Country since taking office in the spring of 2007. John Masella, manager of the department's local OneWorkSource office, said she's the first commissioner to make full-day visits in his 30 years with the department.

Smith was in Plattsburgh to announce $795,000 in grants for investment in workforce development and training programs in the North Country. It includes $500,000 for development of significant and emerging industries, which includes aerospace and transportation equipment in the North Country.

Programs expected to benefit include Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute, the revamping of Clinton Community College's electrical program and the introduction of Clarkson University classes at the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce.

Other grants include $195,000 for meaningful internship programs directed at small- and medium-sized businesses and $100,000 to the chamber for promotion of on-the-job training programs.

The grants are aimed to help attract and retain young professionals in the North Country. It comes at a time when the federal government offers increasingly lower workforce funding.

Smith said in 1978, when a high-school diploma was almost a guarantee of finding a middle-class job, the federal government invested $9.5 billion in workforce development. Today, when that diploma no longer carries the same weight, that investment would need to be $30 billion but has dropped to $3.3 billion, she said.

City of Plattsburgh Mayor Donald Kasprzak said Smith recognizes the issues and challenges facing the North Country.

"To keep our youth here is a priority," he said. "To train our workforce is an absolute necessity."

Plattsburgh State University President Dr. John Ettling said the funding will help his commitment to work with the city and chamber to ensure jobs are available when students graduate. He said he believes there are more students from outside the region who come to school and stay in the area after graduation than local students who graduate and leave the area.

Plattsburgh State's greatest number of transfer students are those who have received their associates degree from Clinton Community College, Ettling said.