Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse dubbed ‘semiconductor superhighway’ with $40M in federal support

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Upstate New York is leading the way in a plan to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., spoke to News10NBC about what the federal CHIPS and Science Act money means for the field.

Semiconductors are a critical component of the microchips that power everything from phones to airplanes. The majority of semiconductors are currently manufactured internationally, but this bill provides federal funding to help change that.

Of the 400 regions that applied for the funding, only 12 received it. The Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse region, dubbed the “Semiconductor Superhighway,” received $40 million plus an $8 million state match. That money will be used to continue growing the region’s tech industry by attracting companies, research and jobs.

“Once you put something like this in place, the payback process starts to happen – it starts to snowball; more companies locate here or are founded here because of that investment,” said Tom Battley, executive director of NY Photonics.

There are already many companies doing this in the region; they just don’t have the brand awareness of companies like Kodak.

Each upstate city is expected to focus on a key component of manufacturing growth. Rochester is focused on workforce development, with a first-in-the-nation precision manufacturing program available at Monroe Community College.

“Rochester built America, but we lost a lot of that manufacturing. Everybody remembers the devastation that was caused by the layoffs that Kodak announced and the downsizing of Xerox. With this semiconductor superhighway, with this technology hub, that’s turning the tide,” Schumer said.

There is no specific timeline for the release of these funds. Some of these funds will be paid immediately to the MCC, while the other part will go to companies that are engaged in the field, whether on the research side, on the manufacturing side or as a consumer of semiconductors.

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