Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse tech hub wins $40M for semiconductor production – Central New York Business Journal

DeWITT, NY — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday announced a $40 million federal grant for the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse technology hub, officially known as the NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub.

The millions of dollars in federal funding are intended to “further position Upstate New York as a semiconductor hub for the world,” Schumer’s office said in Tuesday’s announcement.

“We are making I-90 America’s semiconductor superhighway, and in a few years, a quarter of all chips made in the United States will pass through this corridor,” Schumer said in his speech. The lawmaker announced the funding during a morning visit to Inficon Inc. at 2 Technology Place, off Fly Road in the city of DeWitt.

“This is a historic day for upstate New York,” Schumer said at the start of his speech. “A day I have long imagined and spent years fighting for.”

The NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub is the “first in the nation” to receive a major tech hub award from Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law, the Democrat noted.

Schumer announced the technology hub designation for the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse line during a visit last October to Saab Inc.’s Syracuse operations in DeWitt. The technology hub designation was created under the federal CHIPS & Science Act.

At the start of the competition, 400 regions had applied for funding and 31 had been designated as tech hubs. Only 12 of those were awarded advance funding for the tech hub program, Schumer said.

“This is going to train the next generation of our workforce. This is going to fill gaps to ensure that Micron’s $100 billion investment not only attracts new companies in the supply chain, but also helps existing companies grow and enter the semiconductor industry,” Schumer told those gathered at Inficon, including local officials and Inficon employees watching from the stairs and upper floors.

He went on to say that the funding will help fuel new startups as we commercialize the research and activities being done by some of the region’s companies and chip manufacturing facilities, including Inficon.

The senator called the award prestigious, noting that when international companies look to expand into the United States, they will look to regions designated as technology hubs, including upstate New York.

“I met with a whole bunch of Japanese semiconductor suppliers and a whole bunch of Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers, 20 or 30 of each, and I moved forward with our I-90 semiconductor superhighway, so that really helps,” Schumer said.

He also boasted: “It certainly didn’t hurt that the Senate Majority Leader called the White House and the Secretary of Commerce (Gina Raimondo) to tell them that upstate New York is the perfect choice for the future of (American) chips.”

Joining Schumer and speaking at the event were Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon; Hannah Henley, President of Inficon, Inc.; Robert Simpson, President and CEO of CenterState CEO; J. Michael Haynie, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation at Syracuse University; Greg Lancette, President of the North Central New York Building and Construction Trades Council; and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh.