Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse Collaboration Wins $40 Million Federal Grant for ‘Tech Hub’

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A collaboration between the cities of Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo will receive a $40 million grant after being named winners of a federal “Tech Hub” competition, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday.

The funds will go toward the New York Semiconductor Manufacturing and Research Technology Innovation Corridor initiative, investments in the Interstate 90 corridor region to accommodate its growing semiconductor manufacturing industry.

The NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub is one of 12 areas across the country that received the federal grant. The grant is for projects that aim to innovate technology and increase U.S. economic competitiveness under the federal CHIPS and Science Act, according to the U.S. Economic Development Administration website.

“With this major investment, federal officials are shining a national spotlight and confirming what I have long known: that the future of American semiconductors runs through the heart of upstate New York, along the I-90 corridor,” Schumer said in a press release Tuesday.

Schumer, who proposed the program and secured designation of the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region as a tech hub in late October, said in Tuesday’s statement that the award will fund workforce development along the I-90 corridor, support the existing community and facilitate new supply chains.

Micron Technology announced in February 2023 that it would build a 1,400-acre, $100 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility in Clay, which is expected to bring about 50,000 jobs to the area. Since then, Central New York has received billions of dollars to promote development in the area ahead of Micron’s arrival, including a $6.1 billion CHIPS Act grant in April.

According to Schumer’s statement, more than 100 institutions from across the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region, including Syracuse University and SUNY ESF, plan to support the project’s goals. The Tech Hub consortium consists of local universities, technology manufacturers (such as Micron, Lockheed Martin and Wolfspeed), labor groups, workforce development organizations and other community partners.

Schumer’s statement released Tuesday detailed several “key areas” the state plans to address using the funding, including workforce training, supply chain and marketing.

SU will lead efforts to use the Tech Hub’s “key assets and commercialization facilities” to promote local companies and connect them with resources related to semiconductor entrepreneurship and innovation, the release said. These efforts will primarily target startups as well as small and minority-owned businesses.

“Syracuse University is proud to lead this higher education collaboration that will help drive innovation and establish the NY SMART I-Corridor as a premier entrepreneurial incubator in the semiconductor industry,” University Chancellor Kent Syverud said in Tuesday’s press release. “This substantial new grant builds on the major investments the University has made.”

According to a press release issued Wednesday by SU News, SU will lead the NY SMART I-Corridor Collaboration and Commercialization Center, or C3. The center, which will also include Cornell University, Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester and the University at Buffalo, will award grants and establish collaborative partnerships between universities and regional businesses, the release said.

Duncan Brown, vice president of research at Southwestern University, said in Wednesday’s news release that C3 will serve as an “entry point” for regional companies looking to join the semiconductor supply chain. The center will also create an online inventory of “semiconductor-relevant facilities” and connections between relevant stakeholders, the Southwestern news release said.

SU’s five-year academic strategic plan calls for an increased focus on the university’s STEM programs, which SU leaders say is tied to the arrival of Micron’s Clay fab. Mike Haynie, SU’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, previously told The DO that the university and the semiconductor maker have established an “academic partnership.”

The C3 will also utilize SU and Onondaga County’s future $20 million Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Center, which the university first announced in mid-May. The project is part of SU’s more than $100 million investment in its STEM programs.

Monroe Community College, located in Rochester, will focus on workforce training and development efforts, according to Tuesday’s release.

According to the release, MCC will lead the new Semiconductor Talent & Employer Partnership in Upstate New York, or STEP UP initiative, which aims to prevent a projected job shortage in semiconductor manufacturing. STEP UP will focus on underrepresented communities in the technology industry, the release said.

STEP UP will also offer new academic programs and certificates that will prepare students to work in semiconductor-related industries, such as Onondaga Community College’s associate degree program in electrical technology developed with Micron, and MCC’s associate degree program in precision optics, according to the release.

The Tech Hub will also use the funds to expand the capabilities of existing semiconductor suppliers in the region, the statement said.

President Joe Biden awarded more than $500 million to winners of the Tech Hub grant competition on Tuesday, according to a White House press release. Only 12 of 31 Tech Hubs were selected for the grant in the second phase of the program, according to the release. Four hundred regions applied for the first phase of the program, which determined which would be designated as Tech Hubs, according to Schumer’s statement.

The NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub consortium has not yet finalized details on how it will use the $40 million award, syracuse.com reported. CenterState President Rob Simpson told the publication that the hub hopes to launch its proposed programs by the end of the year.