Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester, plus more than 100 public and private institutions, applied this week for a $54 million federal grant to further develop Upstate New York into a globally recognized technology corridor, with a strong focus on the semiconductor industry.
It is possibly the first time the region’s business community has partnered at this size and scale.
The move comes after the Upstate consortium beat out hundreds of other applicants across the country last year to become one of 31 federally designated tech hubs. The win came in large part to the region’s resources – including water, energy and workforce – and its willingness to collaborate.
It’s all part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a broad federal plan to return manufacturing to America, create jobs, and foster a new economy around semiconductor production, especially in small cities and rural areas. The act opened up a pot of money – $10 billion – to create these Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs.
“This is the greatest game changer in Upstate New York in modern history,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.
Schumer sponsored the federal legislation that included $52 billion in incentives for semiconductor manufacturers to expand in the U.S.
Senator Chuck Schumer shows the president his orange socks on his visit to Syracuse in 2022. President Joseph Biden made a trip to celebrate the federal government’s effort to spur domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors, Oct. 27, 2022. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com
Schumer pointed to Micron, which announced shortly after the law’s passage that it plans to invest $170 billion into building four memory chip fabrication facilities in Syracuse over the next 20 years, generating nearly 50,000 jobs; and TTM Technologies, a high-tech manufacturer aiming to hire 400 more workers and spend more than $120 million to expand its operations in DeWitt.
The Syracuse-Rochester-Buffalo cohort is joined by more than 100 public and private institutions, including: economic development agencies like CenterState CEO; schools like Le Moyne College, the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University at Buffalo; philanthropists like The John R. Oishei Foundation; and manufacturers like Micron, GlobalFoundries and Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed Martin’s TPY-4 radar in the anechoic chamber at the company’s Electronics Park campus in Salina. (Lockheed Martin)
If the group’s application for funding is successful, each region will focus on a different topic area meant to expand the semiconductor ecosystem:
- Rochester’s Monroe Community College will take on workforce training.
- Syracuse University will wrangle the region’s research and development assets, improve access to facilities for making prototypes, and host semiconductor innovation conferences.
- The University at Buffalo will use the funds to focus on the semiconductor supply chain and scale up three regional Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (public-private partnerships that serve small- and medium-sized manufacturers).
- Empire State Development, the state’s business agency, will invest in tech startups and entrepreneurs to accelerate growth.
The three organizations leading each region’s involvement are the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Rochester’s ROC2025 and Syracuse’s CenterState CEO. The leaders of each organization agreed that this appeared to be the first time in the state’s history that the region had partnered on a venture of this magnitude.
Buffalo Niagara Partnership President Dottie Gallagher called it “the most significant regional collaboration between Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse in history.”
“I think it’s beautiful, I think it’s necessary, and I am convinced it’s going to pay huge dividends for Upstate New York,” said CenterState CEO President Rob Simpson.
CenterState CEO President Robert Simpson speaks to the audience at the business leadership organization's annual meeting at the Oncenter in Syracuse on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.
The group wouldn’t share the completed application, citing competitive concerns, but provided a four-page summary of its pitch (detailed below).
The consortium should expect to hear back from the U.S. Economic Development Administration about its potential funding in late June or July, according to Schumer.
Congress has so far appropriated $500 million out of the $10 billion authorized for the program.
How the money will be spent
The group’s effort is the latest development in a whirlwind of activity in Upstate New York since the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act.
In addition to Micron and TTM, Edwards Vacuum – which makes equipment used for manufacturing semiconductors – announced in November 2022 its plans to build a $319 million plant in Genesee County, spurring 600 jobs.
GlobalFoundries, based in Saratoga County, said recently it will invest more than $11.6 billion over the next 10 years to expand its existing semiconductor manufacturing site, creating more than 1,500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.
An aerial view of the GlobalFoundries computer chip plant in Malta, N.Y. The company wants to triple its production capacity by building a second plant.GlobalFoundries photo
Binghamton University’s NENY Storage Engine will see up to $160 million in federal investments over the next 10 years to grow the domestic battery industry.
And Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in December a $10 billion partnership with industry leaders like IBM, Micron and Applied Materials to establish a “next-generation semiconductor research and development center” at Albany’s NanoTech Complex.
- A worker at the Albany NanoTech Complex monitors a semiconductor-making machine known as extreme ultraviolet (EUV), lithography, considered the most advanced manufacturing machine ever created. Micron Technology plans to use EUVs in its fabrication plants, or fabs, in Clay. Albany NanoTech Complex | Special to syracuse.comAlbany NanoTech Complex | Specia
In comparison, the consortium’s $54 million (if awarded) seems like a drop in the bucket.
Simpson, along with Gallagher and ROC2025 President Joe Stefko, acknowledged that fact.
“The $50 million is effectively the carrot that brings us all to the table,” Simpson said. “The market opportunity is what’s going to keep us there.”
The money would be matched by $10 million from New York State and spent this way:
- $8 million would be used to create a Supply Chain Activation Network. This will be used to scale up Manufacturing Extension Partnerships for training and support, create a directory of regional supply chain companies, and provide access to capital for small- and medium-sized businesses.
- $17.5 million to match industry partners with semiconductor supply chain companies, start employer-led training programs, and create an industry council to align training with employer needs.
- $15 million to “expand access to research and development facilities, subsidize prototyping for small and minority-owned businesses, establish a cross-institution intellectual property sharing framework, organize innovation conferences, and fund research experiences for underrepresented students.”
- $15 million to recruit diverse founders, identify investment opportunities and provide seed funding to semiconductor firms.
- $6 million for governance costs (such as administration and marketing).
The consortium has also secured up to $38 million in in-kind contributions from partners, though there’s no plan yet for how that would be spent.
Brad Racino is a business enterprise reporter for Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, where he covers workforce development and CNY’s future economy. Reach out with story ideas, tips or concerns to bracino@syracuse.com.